The final slice of DLC for The Outer Worlds, Obsidian's superb action-RPG, Murder on Eridanos attempts to switch things up by ditching the mostly combat-centric action of the main game in favour of a narrative-driven whoddunnit that throws you into a tangled web of intrigue on a floating island of treachery and lies.
Before we get into the meat of this one, however, the first thing you're going to want to do is ensure you've got yourself a save file with a character who's been pimped out to around about level 25 — the DLC states 30 but we were fine starting out five notches lower. You'll also need to make sure you've gained access to the landing pad on Stellar Bay in the main campaign or you won't be able to get started on Eridanos. It's a bit of a pain in the backside for those who want to get stuck in right away but don't have an old save floating about, as it's gonna take you a good ten hours to reach a point where you can actually start your investigations here.
Right, with all of that admin out of the way, let's jump in shall we? Murder on Eridanos sees your spaced out ranger called upon to investigate the death of celebrated Aetherwave actress, Halcyon Helen, who gets killed to pieces in the game's stylish black and white opening cutscene. A highly prized spokesperson for Rizzo Beverages, Helen is murdered just as the company is about to release a brand new Spectrum Brown Vodka range and you, the preeminent freelancer in the galaxy, are immediately drafted in to figure out who's done the dastardly deed.
Of course we won't spoil any of the mystery in this review but what's here is, as expected from Obsidian, a fantastically well-written bit of DLC that really leans into the narrative side of things, giving you tons of quirky characters and shady charlatans to question at length and enabling you to pick and choose from an impressive array of responses as you go. Be helpful and gracious to those you meet or act like an absolute tool, the choice is yours!
In order to get the most out of Murder on Eridanos, we suggest you settle in and take your time as you explore its brand new island setting. You can blow through this one in about five hours if you charge at it, but you'll miss so many delightful little distractions, side stories and intriguing characters if you play it this way. The colourful islands of Eridanos are absolutely stuffed full of tidbits of information and revelations, and we had a blast slowly uncovering every little detail as we worked our way towards figuring out the mystery at the heart of the narrative — a playstyle that saw that running time upped to around eight hours.
The best part of the action that's presented in this final piece of DLC, then, is undoubtedly questioning suspects and shaking info out of them. This one is at its strongest by some margin when you're enjoying its top-notch writing. However, the entire endeavour definitely suffers a little for the fact that, as you progress, you'll find that your choices in conversations — and actions elsewhere — don't really feel like they have any huge consequence on how things play out in the end. Yes, there are a few crucial decisions to make that skew things slightly one way or another, but it all feels a little inconsequential when the final denouement plays out pretty much the same regardless.
Murder on Eridanos also introduces a new tool, the Discrepancy Amplifier, which you can use to investigate clues as you move around areas of interest. It's initially a pretty fun gadget and is fully voiced so as to enable it to constantly bark smart remarks at you. However, it's also a little overpowered in our opinion, always letting you know exactly what's needing to be done and where to go next and, alongside the great big green waypoint showing you where your current objective is, it adds to a feeling of being on-rails to some extent with very little in the way of actual thinking required. Not a great look for a detective romp.
Combat is also a little on the weak side here, with little in the way of enemy variation and, at this point, you've got a character and set of companions who can absolutely power through every battle that's thrown your way. Action was never The Outer Worlds' strongest point and here it feels pretty much played out, a means to an end and something to change the pace up a bit as you move between islands on your investigation.
We also had some issues with how changing companions works. Eridanos is made up of a series of floating islands strung together by long bridges and you're gonna find yourself traipsing back and forth across these far more than you want to in order to switch out your crew back at the penthouse suite you've set up as your base of operations. It's not a huge deal, but we sure did get tired of marching back and forth to the Grand Colonial Hotel here.
However, these issues aside, Murder on Eridanos is still a fun send-off for The Outer Worlds, the vast majority of the characters and writing are of such a high quality — the companions here really are some of our favourites in any game — that it's just a good time to wander around, converse, read PDAs and immerse yourself in the vibe that Obsidian went with. It's not the strongest of the two DLCs, for sure, we absolutely preferred Peril on Gorgon's antics, and it's not a patch on the main game itself, but overall Murder on Eridanos delivers a decent handful of hours in a universe we've come to love visiting over the past few years. If you enjoyed the core campaign and Peril on Gorgon, you'll find plenty to like here.
In terms of performance, Obsidian has done a good job of cleaning up this Switch port of The Outer Worlds in general and, besides the expected downgrading of visuals — something which can see distant objects and the like appear quite blurry, especially in handheld — and some long and quite frequent loading times, we didn't have any significant issues in docked or portable modes here.
Conclusion
Murder on Eridanos is an entertaining final slice of DLC that leans into the narrative elements of Obsidian's action RPG, delivering plenty of well-written dialogue and characters in the process. Yes, the combat is pretty much played out at this stage and the whole thing feels a little bit too linear, but this is still an enjoyable return to one of our favourite action RPGs of the past few years that's well worth picking up if you enjoyed the core campaign.
Comments (15)
🥇st
Also, I won't read this until I've completed this DLC to my favourite Switch Game.
I forgot about this game. Glad to see the visuals and performance have improved a lot. It's probably time to pick it up, DLCs included.
@the_beaver
It's worth it when it's on sale. Bit of a disappointment IMO. It feels like something like a poor man's Obsidian rpg. A bit too lightweight somehow. At least now with both DLC out on Switch, the game at least got some length now. The base game is only about 8-10h.
@RasandeRose To me, the short length was not much of a negative. And I think being lightweight is partly what made it feel fresh. But yeah, it should be easy to find on sale.
@Strumpan
Yeah, I know some people is into that sorta thing. Myself, Im not that into the more casual approach of this particular game. At something like 29.99 or "free" on gamepass, Id like it. But it do feel a fair bit overpriced at 59.99, esp if you expect a big RPG as you would when it's from obsidian
Pretty sure I still have my old save, may have to see if my library has a cart I can borrow so I can give this a go (traded my copy away).
I've gotten so used to buying late ports of gold editions
or 'remasters' of games in used but good condition,
Wii and Wii U were my main consoles in their time,
don't ask me why I randomly decided to rhyme.
So seeing season pass prices still make me blink twice,
lean in closer, think, and rub my eyes,
then take a few steps back and say to myself
"I'm okay with a now incomplete game on my shelf".
@Gwynbleidd It is still pretty ugly compared to the PS4 and Xbox ones (or so it seems from Youtube) but they have smoothed it out a fair bit and the framerate and textures are comparable to a decent PS3 game now. If it's your kind of thing then I'd say it's worth a pickup, especially if you like playing in handheld. I certainly haven't regretted it and will be picking up the DLC when I'm not broke. It goes on sale fairly often too, along with its DLC, so there's that.
I'll pick this up eventually as I enjoyed the game and it probably as close to Fallout that I am going to get on Switch. But to be honest, I am playing another cycle of Dragon's Dogma and still enjoying it so I am not really in a hurry at this point.
@the_beaver "I forgot about this game. Glad to see the visuals and performance have improved a lot."
Improved, yes. "Improved a lot" is probably an overstatement. Even with the post release patches, The Outer Worlds is still undeniably ugly on the Switch. And I say that as someone who otherwise really enjoys the game.
This game is on sale on the eshop as is the downloadable content. Good game!
This was my game of the year when it released, I played it originally on my Xbox One X thanks to Gamepass, liked it so much I decided to pick it up on the Switch, I plan on playing through it again as a portable. I beat the game on Xbox and got the best ending, but I never played the DLC. I'll probably do a bad guy run and just play this DLC on the Switch. Should be a lot of fun as I'll have some new experiences.
@Gwynbleidd You're welcome, enjoy. Personally I think it's a good game.
MoE is a really good DLC, not sure why the reviewer criticized swapping out companions, this is something that has always existed.
It's a lush planet featuring several floating islands and is dripping with upper crust fancy architecture and style - it's fantastic.
Picture Bioshock: Infinite mixed with Fallout New Vegas' Old World Blues DLC. It's a playground of fun quests and items and really funny dialogue.
Yeah, glad I only paid like $15 (Australian, so yeah, imagine the normal price 😒) cause it looks and runs like complete ass on Switch... Grabbed the DLC on PS4 a while back now and finally got a PS5 a few months back so I'll Install it on that and finally give it a go 👍
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