The Worlds Outside has a wonderfully realized world with a small scope that allows developer Obsidian Entertainment to focus on quality over quantity. Its dystopian world destroyed by the latest stages of capitalism is full of clever jokes and all kinds of nooks and crannies for players to get through. But its console versions are severely diminished by constant, long loading times that artificially lengthen the process and drag it down. The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Editionan improved version of the original, thankfully addressing that one annoying shortcoming, though it’s not the most important remaster otherwise.
The Worlds Outside there are open areas, but it’s not an open world game. This delineation means that it is not a contiguous space because it takes place on many different planets with many different hubs. Planet hopping and moving between sections provides The Worlds Outside lots of visual variety, but also means the game always seems to be loading something.
These transitions are simply chaotic, long, and widespread. Loading a new area in the last generation of consoles is almost always upwards of 30 seconds and it hurts the journey because it is always removed from the immersive world. Obsidian fills this new universe with a lot of life, but that immersion is often broken with static loading screens that linger for too long. Not even the intricately detailed art that adorns them makes them bearable.
Spacer’s Choice Edition dramatically shortened screens, leading to a more even-flowing experience with fewer intrusive interruptions. Many sections that used to take 30 seconds or more to load now take just four or five seconds to boot; there is not enough time to get bored to look at the second screen. Loads rarely exceed five seconds and hardly exceed 10 in the worst situations, making even the longest load here far from the fastest boot times of the 2019 release. There are still loading screens and it would be better if traversing a planet was seamless, but this is a remarkable improvement.
Spacer’s Choice Edition Contains other technical improvements, too, but they don’t have the same effect. Many of the new visual changes can only be more noticeable when the two versions are compared side-by-side, because the new particle physics and updated time models are a little more understated.
The lighting, however, is very strong, as evidenced by its many neon signs and sun-drenched landscapes that illuminate the surrounding areas. The level of detail is also dialed down, as many objects look better the further away they are, leading to better environments. The Worlds Outside not really a technical showpiece and still not even these improvements, but they make the game look sharp and a little more modern.
The frame rate tweaks are probably the weakest part of the package, as they look a bit out of whack with the two new graphical modes. Surprisingly, the last-gen version running in backward compatibility mode seems to run more smoothly since Obsidian released a patch in March 2021 which boosts its performance on Xbox Series X and PS5. The team also claims that there are some non-cosmetic upgrades such as improved AI and better animations, but the most obvious changes are Spacer’s Choice mascot guy in The Groundbreaker now flaps his robotic lips when he speaks, which is obviously a big shift.
The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice EditionA bunch of updates that slowly improve the experience still don’t add up to how important faster load times are. Not having to wait nearly as much streamlines the game and puts fewer distractions between the player and Obsidian’s elaborately layered worldbuilding, witty dialogue, and flexible combat. Snappier load times and other enhancements ensure that the original is not the best choice; IT Spacer Selection.
Disclosure: The publisher provided a PlayStation 5 copy for us The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice Edition part. Played on version 1.002.000.