Alright, so hype is kind of a pain in the ass.
Let me clarify that statement.
You might remember two years ago, I reviewed The Outer Worlds. It was a hoot, and I still hold it up as a really neat game. Sure, it's Fallout in Space but rather unlike certain games that wallowed in what they were clearly supposed to be a stand in for, The Outer Worlds felt to me like something with enough of a unique identity for me to be able to enjoy it. The hype was certainly a thing, though... and there was too much of it for what it ultimately turned out to be.
It had a striking (though not jaw-dropping) visual style and really good, dry humor that worked very well for it. Sometimes, that's all you need. Being able to shoot things was kind of a bonus. So, having decided to poke my toe back into game reviewing - you know, that thing I actually had started this entire blog for and have just kind of wandered off to do other things - I thought that the two DLCs for the game would be a neat place to look. As of this writing, I have played one of them to completion: Murder on Eridanos. So, let's dig into it.
"Talk to the hand!"
Murder on Eridanos can only be even triggered by Captain's of The Unreliable who are Level 30 or higher, which you should more than be by the Point of No Return in the main game. Thus, I stepped back into the boots of Alex Hawthorne... I mean Emmett... I mean Emmett Hawthorne, the eyepatching-wearing, smart-mouthed, copyright friendly equivalent of Revolver Ocelot Captain of The Unreliable. Receiving a transmission from a definitely morally upright and trustworthy individual running a reputable hotel, Emmett found himself pulled to the planet of Eridanos, where the reputation of the man whose name and ship he had stolen preceded him and he was asked to add a new hat to his Captain's one - the hat of an Inspector.
A murder, most foul, had been committed to one of the brightest stars of the aetherwaves - Halcyon Helen. Administrator Ludovico wants the whole matter cleared up quickly, and he could very well get his wish... if the murder of the starlet was the only thing going on here. The Grand Colonial Hotel, however, has many secrets and many people had the motive to murder Helen in cold blood... but who did? Plus, why do all the Rizzo's employees here seem so... happy... eerily happy, with big fat smiles plastered all across their faces?
... is that a tentacle in their neck? Is it moving?!
Needless to say, there's more going on here than just a simple murder mystery. Eridanos has hidden secrets that people want buried, people trying to dig up those secrets, and a whole bunch of other wacky mess thrown into the mix to make for a very interesting, if confusing, time.
Here, alas, is where my criticism of the mystery must begin... it really doesn't matter who you finger for the crime, because there's only one person who is doing the time as is revealed by the endgame. I won't spoil, but if you do manage to figure out who it is before said endgame... it really doesn't make it any less disappointing. I'm aware that Obsidian wasn't going to program fifteen separate endings or whatever, but it makes it all in the end feel like a bunch of fetch quests that lead up to the same conclusion no matter what you do. Not really feeling like my choices matter from the same developer who gave us Fallout: New Vegas. That said, I know this is just a DLC... which they still gave us that same feeling in all of the New Vegas DLCs. So, again... not really sure why they skimped out here.
There's also not an ending slideshow to show you what your choices ended up leading to. You just get a farewell from what NPCs remain and head back into The Unreliable to talk to ADA to finish things up. I have to admit, more than a little underwhelming.
 |
| ...nah, she's probably fine. |
You can bring any of your companions that you've brought along from the base game into Murder on Eridanos... but there's really not too much for them to say or do beyond a few quips and assisting you in combat. There aren't any companion side quests or anything of the like, though Parvati in particular seems psyched to be there and she's always pretty infectious at least for me.
On the whole, Murder on Eridanos is something that I enjoyed, but I know not everyone will. It has problems, some of which I've listed here, but the plot was enough to keep me interested even if it was a case of all roads leading to the same conclusion in a rather railroad-y kind of way. Given how much I enjoyed the base game and how much of a stickler I am for murder mysteries and the like, this was a treat for me. It may not be for others.
So, in writing this review, it appears that I've played the DLCs out of order... oops. Next time (hopefully!) we'll be digging into the first of the two DLCs - Peril on Gorgon! See you then, spacers!
The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos comes to us from Obsidian Entertainment and Virtuous
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