The Outer Worlds 2 introduces new villain the Protectorate with a museum heist

Faculties and oldsters frequently take their children to museums to make training a bit extra enjoyable. The Outer Worlds 2, launching on Oct. 29, takes the identical strategy in a mission I noticed as a part of a hands-off public demo on the ground at Gamescom. Solely on this journey, you’ll be able to steal every part after touring the reveals.

The heist takes place on the Tomb of the Matriarch, the ultimate resting place of the founding father of the Protectorate, who established her dictatorship on Arcadia by spectacular expertise. It’s an particularly private mission for Niles, one of many sport’s companions, since he’s from the Protectorate. The developer taking part in the sport in the course of the demo took alongside Tristan and Niles, who could be specced as DPS or tanks, exhibiting off among the gear they’ll equip and the advantages of the completely different builds.

The Outer Worlds 2 retains the Artwork Nouveau fashion used within the first sport, which makes highly effective factions really feel much more haughty, however for the Protectorate they’ve additionally used the aesthetics of the pre-World Struggle I Prussian monarchy. That’s particularly apparent within the uniforms of the guards you’ll must kill to sneak in. A tactical time dilation gadget slows down time, making it simpler to get a headshot from a protected distance.

The primary show you see upon coming into the tomb is the golden shroud of the primary sovereign of the Protectorate. You’ll get to equip this spectacular coat by the point you’re carried out. However first you’ll must disable the safety round it. A scan reveals what the place’s safety protocols will do if activated, and it appears like we’d be shortly fried by lasers. The scanner is a pleasant characteristic for bypassing the conventional approach of discovering out that type of info: getting killed. There’s a management panel that may be overridden with a hacking rating of 9, however because the character solely has the talent at 5, they’re prompted to discover a guide to bypass it.

That requires exploring the attractive area. The primary room is a shrine the place mourners present their devotion by lighting candles within the Matriarch’s honor and bemoaning that although she died at 90, she might have carried out extra “if solely she had a couple of extra years.” Heading into the museum correct reveals loads of Protectorate propaganda offered in retro shows. The Matriarch is depicted as a benevolent goddess determine who launched new automechanical designs that saved individuals time and likewise established peace with the Order of the Ascendent, a non secular group that’s an offshoot of the Order of Scientific Inquiry from the primary sport.

A lot of this space is unguarded, providing you with loads of time to be taught and discover at your individual tempo. However head down right into a decrease part crammed with artifacts on show and there’s a hulking Protectorate dragoon. Fortunately you’ll be able to distract it with one other talent test to override the programming on one of many automechs sustaining the place. The robotic wanders downstairs and begins arguing with the dragoon about whether or not it could possibly be malfunctioning. It insists that it couldn’t be, as a result of it was designed by the Matriarch. “Your logic is infallible, just like the Matriarch,” the dragoon responds.

Whereas this humorous vignette concerning the perils of propaganda performs out, you’ll be able to sneak previous, choose a lock to get right into a again room, and discover the “Good Topic’s Information to Electrical Methods” that permits you to hack the safety system. Going again up and activating these lasers by yourself phrases immediately disintegrates the mourner and leaves the museum docent whimpering, making them a straightforward goal for an additional headshot.

The docent was carrying the important thing to the show to get that candy coat. When you’re at it, you may as well seize a retro-style revolver and a pitchball card – a part of a set of collectibles portraying Obsidian Leisure workers. The entire place is our present store.

Not everybody loves museums, and you possibly can most likely get by this mission with out bothering to be taught a lot concerning the Protectorate. However I discovered the setup to be a artistic strategy to provide up loads of lore for gamers who’re . I additionally appreciated that the choices for sneaking across the place went past simply stealth and capturing, making it really feel extra like a correct heist. My transient academic area journey made me wanting to see extra of The Outer Worlds 2 this fall.

The Outer Worlds 2 releases Oct. 29 for PlayStation 5, Home windows PC, and Xbox Collection X.