A friend described The Outer Worlds (Obsidian Entertainment) as a summer-beach-read kind of experience, and I think that’s a fairly accurate description. The game is a fun, fast-paced action RPG set in a future in which humanity has colonized distant planets and moons. The combat and RPG character building is fairly streamlined and straightforward. For example, the guns utilize one of three bullets (heavy, light, or energy), making it easy to build up ammo and jump into using any cool weapon that comes along. The maps are also rather small, which means there’s less exploration but it’s easy to work through the quests quickly (perfect for my present mood).

Owned and operated by corporations, the people who live in these communities are beholden to the corporations, forced to spout ads as greetings and entirely dependent on their good will. While there are some counter factions, they have less access to resources and struggle to stay alive on these alien worlds populated with hostile flora and fauna. That said, no one is really doing all that well, as resources are slim and the buildings and operations are all running down.