The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon Review – A Safe Head Of Snakes
That’s really Peril on Gorgon’s biggest selling point – it’s more The Outer Worlds. All of the hallmarks of last year’s game are here in full force; the stellar writing and humour, the comfortable RPG gameplay loop with a steady stream of loot and dedication to player agency. Placed alongside the content of the base game it might even seem indistinguishable, but play through it and it becomes clear that Obsidian has paid attention to what resonated with players the first time around and honed in on those qualities in particular. On the flipside, those going in expecting fresh ideas or new takes on existing concepts might be disappointed that this is a surprisingly ‘safe’ outing. Perhaps to avoid inadvertently throwing off the equilibrium of the core experience, Peril on Gorgon doesn’t do too much to shake up the game mechanically.
There’s a smattering of new gear, some kooky new science weapons and perks and a level cap raised by three, but that’s as different as it gets. The new weapons are neat enough (if you manage to find most of them) and a couple of the half-dozen new perks are deviously left-of-field, but compared to the utter goofiness of some of its story and mission content this expansion feels quite a bit more tame than I’d expected.
It’s hard to describe exactly why without going into too much detail and ruining some great moments, but it really can’t be understated how much fun Peril on Gorgon’s quests, character interactions and other narrative content can be. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments and delightfully ridiculous situations (my personal favourite has something to do with a mercenary captain who can’t tell a llama from an alpaca), and the same biting satire that the game is known for and still none of the drama of its noir mystery underpinnings is lost. It can be disappointing initially to realise that Obsidian has little intent to flesh out any existing stories in the game’s universe, and though the current ones are well-integrated it’s a bit of a bum note that there are no new companions to meet and bond with. Once the realisation sets in though that this entire DLC expansion equates to one violent, crass, over-the-top middle finger to big pharma it’s not hard to be gleefully engrossed in what it does have to offer.
At the end of the day, Peril on Gorgon is more The Outer Worlds. Whether that’s for better or for worse will largely depend on how much you’re itching to re-enter the Halcyon Colony and how satisfied you are with the game as it is. Obsidian have doubled down on delivering best-in-class RPG design backed by fantastic writing and quest structure and a solid gameplay loop, even if it gets there without much of an attempt to break the mould. Hopefully the next expansion throws caution to the wind a little more, but if you’re dying to jump back in I can absolutely recommend nipping off to Gorgon for a weekend.
