Fallout 5 Might Want to Watch One Part of The Outer Worlds…

Summary

The Outer Worlds 2 introduces TTD, giving players new ways to strategically target enemies.
The game enhances combat with power sliding, offering increased mobility and cool factor.
Fallout-inspired TTD and V.A.T.S. Mechanics could influence the evolution of RPG shooters.

The Outer Worlds 2 is slated for release later this year, and the developers at Obsidian Entertainment have spoiled fans with gameplay footage and deep dives into some of the new features the game has to offer. The Outer Worlds 2 takes plenty from its predecessor, and much like the legacy series from which it draws much inspiration, it is looking to take the critically acclaimed RPG shooter to new heights.

Obsidian is best known for Fallout: New Vegas, a standalone built on Bethesda’s Fallout 3 engine. Regarded as one of the best RPGs of its era, it helped that Obsidian is composed of the developers who made Fallout for Interplay. One major feature from Fallout, the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.), was the main inspiration for a feature in The Outer Worlds.

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By Emma Neeson

The Outer Worlds 2's TTD vs. Fallout's V.A.T.S.

Tactical Time Dilation (TTD) slows time, allowing the player to pinpoint weak spots and obtain special bonuses when attacking enemies. In-universe, it is also known as skip flu, as it’s a side effect of extended hibernation, such as during interstellar travel. Much like The Stranger from The Outer Worlds, the protagonist — known either as the Earth Directorate Agent, the Agent, or the Commander — of The Outer Worlds 2 is coming to the Arcadia Star System from afar, meaning they will likely spend some time in hibernation. It’s still unclear whether their TTD will be a result of interstellar travel or a result of the rifts in spacetime that make up the backbone of The Outer Worlds 2’s story.

Some of the cooler features shown in The Outer Worlds 2 gameplay are the new ways that TTD can be utilized. In one clip, the player tosses a grenade from cover, goes into TTD, and shoots the grenade midair over an enemy’s head. Grenades were not present in the first The Outer Worlds, but this feature was present in some form in Fallout 3 and Fallout 4, where the player could throw a grenade, go into VATS mode, and target the grenade with their firearm, granted that they had enough accuracy and luck.

One thing Fallout doesn’t have, and has never had, is power sliding. It's one of many mechanics used in modern shooters that gives players extra maneuverability through the environment. The Outer Worlds lacked this feature as well, but not anymore. Later in the same clip from The Outer Worlds 2, the player power slides from a running start, and then once again — while sliding — tosses a grenade, goes into TTD, and shoots the grenade midair. It shows that the player has much more freedom in how they can mix and match skills to achieve a certain outcome and up the cool factor.

Bethesda’s Fallout 3 played with a more shooter-oriented style over the isometric point-and-click style of Interplay's original Fallout games. Obsidian honored and improved on Bethesda’s vision for Fallout by adding aim-down-sight (ADS) to the guns in Fallout: New Vegas. Fallout 4 leaned even further into the shooter by improving the gun mechanics, adding sprint, and making it so that V.A.T.S. Slows time rather than stops it.

What TTD's Evolution in The Outer Worlds 2 Means for V.A.T.S. In Fallout 5

With that in mind, Bethesda is likely to stay on that road with Fallout 5, looking for more ways to evolve and position it as a modern RPG shooter. One of the best ways it could do that is by providing more maneuverability for the player, particularly inside V.A.T.S. It could be that the player character’s ability to do things like power slide and shoot grenades in V.A.T.S. Are tied into their Perception and Agility S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Stats and associated perks, as Fallout 4 changed it so that Perception now affects V.A.T.S. Accuracy.

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