'The Outer Worlds 2' Is Like a "Circle Jerk," According to Synthetic Man

“It’s hard to rate something when political propaganda is a major factor,” says Synthetic Man, when asked in a Super Chat what he would give The Outer Worlds 2 on a scale of 1 to 10. “It’s hard to say,” he continued with a chuckle, “It’s between a 3 and a 4, really, is what it is.”

The Outer Worlds 2 is Obsidian Entertainment’s newest first-person, open-world RPG that closely follows the established formula of Bethesda and Obsidian’s previous titles, particularly Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The game is a standalone sequel to The Outer Worlds (2019) and is set in a new solar system with a new cast of characters and an expanded focus on action gameplay.

In a recent stream, Synthetic Man (or “Synth” for short) promoted the game play as “serviceable” but also provided that Western RPGs are not so much played for their gameplay. “I don’t care how bad the shooting is for Fallout: New Vegas,” he said, citing an example. “You’re playing it for the story.”

Despite liking Fallout: New Vegas, Synth admits often that it had some proto-woke elements in it, such as how half of the NCR soldiers are women and many NCR officers are also women. This reflects Synth’s capacity to remain objective with his reviews, regardless of his personal taste.

With regard to the writing in The Outer Worlds 2, Synth says he is not even sure whether to call what he sees “propaganda” anymore.

“It’s more like a circle-jerk,” he says. “It is written only for people who agree with the writers’ personal politics.” For instance, “Auntie’s Choice” or what Synth calls the “late-stage capitalism faction” is a group which he has said “has no complexity or depth to it whatsoever...It’s literally ‘trillion dollar mega corporation bad’!” According to Synth, this faction’s members exist as “mindless consumer slaves” and the game’s story uses them to stoke a shallow commentary about how factory workers are treated.

Synth further claims the second major faction, the Protectorate, are meant to be “generic fascism.” But he is quick to note, “actually, it’s Communist Russia.” Here, he decries the developers as misinformed given how they, apparently, don’t understand how fascist dictatorships have worked historically. His comparison to Soviet Russia is due to the way the faction actually operates in the game. Synth observes, “You execute [your] own people, you brainwash them, You turn in your neighbors for defying the state...” the last part, in particular, being a trademark aspect of Soviet oppression.

Moreover, Synth chalked up the poor writing and lack of historical accuracy to fear. “The reason is that the writers are too cowardly to actually portray anything that could trigger somebody,” he said, further noting that there was no “hated group” that the Protectorate rounded up and exterminated. “That would be the lazy way, you would think, of portraying Fascism,” he says, speculating that the writers are too afraid of offending their audience with something of that nature.

“The third major faction worships an equation,” Synth says. “A math equation. They’re all math nerds,” further insisting how uninteresting this is.

Finally, Synth mentions that, “every faction is extremely diverse” and “there is nothing that defines the factions other than the really gay-looking armor.” Surprisingly, this diversity even extends to the Fascists whose leadership also includes an abundance of women. “They worship a woman!” Synth says, “The matriarch who they worship also founded the faction!”

Synth has said he will make a proper review of the game in the future.

The Outer Worlds 2 is scheduled to release on October 29, 2025, for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S.

Synthetic Man’s review channel can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/@SyntheticMan.

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