Outriders review – an enjoyable if flawed grind through the gears

As launches go, Outriders’ was a doozy.

Strictly speaking, Outriders isn’t a live-service game. There’s not much in terms of “end-game” content, there are no microtransactions (!), and the campaign can be played entirely in single player. The caveat, of course – one which screamed into focus to bite developer People Can Fly squarely on the arse this week – is that for all its ifs and buts, it might as well have been live-service given the servers went tits up the moment it went live and no one could bloody play it.

Outriders reviewDeveloper: People Can FlyPublisher: Square EnixPlatform: Played on PS5Availability: Out now on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC, PS4 and PS5

For three – three! – whole days, Outriders was essentially unplayable. For a full 72 hours, players all over the world sat patiently (or if, like me, you’re a little less zen about this kind of thing: impatiently), waiting for the “Authenticating” to become “Signing in!” to become… well, something. Anything.

The most maddening thing of all about this bungled launch is that it’s likely turned away players that might otherwise have loved what Outriders has to offer.

Let’s Play Outriders PS5 Demo – DON’T ENOCH IT UNTIL YOU’VE TRIED IT! Watch on YouTube

Of everything I enjoy about the latest looter-shooter – and there’s quite a bit – what I love most is that it doesn’t demand all my attention like a teething toddler. I’ve been an early adopter of all the games you’ve seen Outriders compared to – Destiny, The Division; you name it – but none of those games have been so generous in terms of giving me back my free time… and no, I don’t just mean the server downtime.