Square Enix and People Can Fly made available a demo of Outriders , their new game, which will be coming to Xbox Game Pass from day one , and which takes other genres as a reference. A very interesting proposal, which despite the mixes, does not end up being a disaster.

Walking in known genres

Outriders begins with a basic tutorial, gradually introducing the mechanics of the title. First we create a character, who will be our avatar throughout the adventure and then he teaches us the skills step by step. So if you are restless, like me, you will have to be patient, because we go one movement at a time.

Here you can already see a clear reference, Gears of War . Let's remember that People Can Fly was in charge of the not-so-beloved Judgment and the mechanics are traced. Even some character and setting designs are too. Those first few minutes feel just like Gears , only with faster movements.

These first few minutes are just to put us in context of everything, history, mechanics, characters. At this point we cannot invite anyone, it is necessary to complete this part of the mission to activate one of the most publicized options of Outriders , to join the game at any time.

A bit of The Division

Once the tutorial is completed, it is necessary to make a momentous decision, the class of our character. It is extremely important because once selected, it will not be possible to change it. The options are four: Pyromancer, Technomancer, Trickster, and Ravager. Each one with its corresponding active and passive abilities.

As often happens in RPGs, each class is inclined to a certain role, this is how we have tank, rank, support or dps . The decision is to the taste of the consumer, but if you have a group of friends to play with, it is important to think about strategy. Because from this moment on it is possible to play in company.

Each chapter has levels, the higher the level, the higher the reward, which is also affected by the number of people in the party , but also the difficulty, which is no small thing, because the enemies know how to attack and do hurt. This reminded me a bit of what The Division has presented to us .

looting

Another important aspect of Outriders is the loot . Both enemies and scenarios have elements that we can use or sell. Armor, weaponry, money, clues, or junk. It is important to walk around the place and take what we find, because the customization possibilities are many, without counting on the classic skill trees.

This is where the importance of revisiting the chapters with different levels lies, in addition, because we have secondary missions, which will also be a source of tools to overcome the strongest enemies.

Variety of enemies

Speaking of enemies, the Outriders demo introduced us to a handful of these, but it's a pretty significant sample, because we got to know a little about everything. From the most basic to the bosses, who like us, also have skills and facing them is quite fun.

I consider that the combat section, already when you have the powers, the most interesting thing about the title, because that mixture of weapons with powers turns it all into chaos. Of course, going Rambo is not an option, not even being a tank, because, and here I must put my but, melee combat does require improvements.

Maybe the button combination is not adequate or the movements are not the most polished, but it does feel somewhat disconnected from the other mechanics and leads to a move away from close combat.

An interesting story

Outriders tells us the story of some people who bear the same name and who were thought to be missing many years ago. Having one back is a cause for surprise, even more so because the protagonist has a relationship with several of the characters in the plot from the beginning.

I really liked how the story shows us elements of these characters, but also the way it connects with the game, it doesn't feel like a filler. I mention it because normally in games of this type, the narrative takes a back seat and only the best statistics matter.

Conclusions The Outriders demo seemed like a good appetizer for this new Square Enix IP . An interesting graphic section, with a story that connects with the mechanics and the environment, as well as the possibility of playing alone or with friends or other people (through matchmaking) at any time.

Despite mixing several genres, some already overexploited, he does it consistently and none of them feel like a shoehorn. At one point I said "it's just another copy of Gears ", but when the tutorial is passed, it is a totally different game.