The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon DLC First Impressions (PC)

The Outer Worlds was definitely one of the more interesting releases from last year. While it didn’t reach the levels of popularity and publicity some of the year’s bigger releases obtained, it ended up not only being received rather well by both critics and fans, but also sold more than its publisher Private Division initially expected. The game was also nominated and ended up winning several industry awards.

In spite of its achievements and positive reception though, one of the few complaints players had with the The Outer Worlds was that while it mostly looked and played like a modern Fallout clone, it didn’t have the same length or breadth as the classic RPG series has. Now, developer Obsidian Entertainment is attempting to somewhat alleviate at least one of those issues with the game’s first piece of DLC, Peril on Gorgon.

The first of two DLCs planned for the game, Peril on Gorgon adds a new brand-new location with its own story and its own assortment of main and side quests for players to experience as well as new weapons, enemies, skills, perks, and more. We’ve already begun playing through Peril on Gorgon for our review but here’s our first impressions of the first hour of The Outer World’s first piece of DLC content.

The DLC is set on the titular asteroid of Gorgon, where the player is led to after receiving a rather shocking and ominous package. From there, the player begins to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding the asteroid and its inhabitants. The transition between the main game to the Peril on Gorgon DLC is pretty effortless and is significantly helped by the game’s planet-based location system, as it simply adds the Gorgon Asteroid to the galaxy map.

As soon as you arrive on Gorgon, you’re quickly briefed on some of the events that have transpired on the asteroid as well as some of the story behind the package you received that led you to Gorgon in the first place. You’re then set off on a journey to not only retrieve an item of importance somewhere among the ruins of Gorgon but also uncover what really happened on the asteroid; all this while helping out some of its surviving inhabitants. Even at first glance, Peril on Gorgon’s story is shaping up to be one of its stronger elements.

Most of the story missions, and even some of the side missions, that we’ve encountered so far in Peril on Gorgon have an aura of mystery to them. They have a noir-like and crime story character to them that make you feel more like a private detective, who also gets into a lot of firefights, rather than a space-faring mercenary. Even many of the visuals of Peril on Gorgon maintain the same 1950s Noir stylings, including the interiors and furniture of some of the buildings.

Apart from its missions and visuals, the game’s music contributes to the DLC’s immersion and theme of mystery while the newly introduced audio logs, which were also seen in Obsidian Entertainment’s other games such as Fallout: New Vegas, help make the mystery-shrouded quests of Gorgon more engaging and its characters–even the ones you don’t directly encounter, feel more alive.

The quest journal has also been modified to make it much easier to navigate with the introduction of the DLC. For those who were neck-deep in side quests in the base game, the quests for Peril on Gorgon feature their own design in the quest journal to easily identify them. Players can also filter the journal to put the DLC quests at the top, making them much easier to see, especially when they start piling up.

Even from the little we’ve experienced so far, Peril on Gorgon is already presenting itself as something that’s much more than “more of the same.” It’s interesting story and stylings help it stand out from the base game and, in spite of its expected shorter length, make it just as satisfying. Hopefully the rest of the DLC will be able to keep the themes it established in its earlier stages and grow exponentially from there.