In theory, The Outer Worlds should have been the perfect Fallout substitute, especially for players who preferred Obsidian’s New Vegas to Bethesda’s Fallout 4. Not only was The Outer Worlds created by Obsidian, but it was directed by the creators of the Fallout series, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. The similarities between the series are no surprise.
Just as the post-apocalyptic Fallout world maintains the ‘50s aesthetic from the rough time the timeline diverged, The Outer Worlds’ advertising and architecture resembles concepts from the Pan-American Exposition. This allowed him to finish his term and prevented Theodore Roosevelt becoming president and pushing through anti-trust laws, leading to the hyper-capitalist space-bound society seen in The Outer Worlds. In The Outer Worlds’ case, President McKinley was never assassinated at the Pan-American Exposition in 1901.
Just like Fallout, The Outer Worlds is a first-person RPG set in the future of a timeline that diverged from real-world history in the 20th century. If there was ever game more poised to spiritually succeed the Fallout franchise, it was The Outer Worlds.
