14 DAY TRIAL // Obsidian's exceptional The Outer Worlds RPG received its first DLC without much fanfare. The new content brings a new map and a story on par with the rest of the game, but Peril on Gorgon feels like more of the same instead of something new.
DLCs are so common that players usually expect to have something new for their favorite games soon after the launch. The Outer Worlds received its first DLC almost a year after the initial launch, which was somewhat disappointing for Season Pass holders.
Unfortunately, the DLC also comes with a small problem. Leaving aside the fact that it's challenging to remember the story and gameplay elements of a game I played a year ago, you can't play the DLC after finishing the game. Also, players need to have a save before just before the endgame content.
Peril on Gorgon can only start after finishing the main story arc on Monarch, which takes around 10 hours (but don't finish the game mind you!). Players get a message informing them a parcel was placed in the ship's hold (you may have to travel to a new location to trigger the message.)
The parcel holds the severed hand of a former friend of Alex Hawthorne, the previous owner of the ship you're now using, along with a message. The quest for the Peril on Gorgon starts with a great mystery and I only wish they keep up the ruse for a longer time.
Players find out about the Ambrose family and its Gorgon asteroid, which housed a secret pharmaceutical experiment. I could reveal more, but it might anger Firefly fans. As soon as I heard the plot, I immediately felt that it sounded familiar. It's not a rip-off of Firefly by any means, but I'm sure that anyone who saw the TV show and movie (Serenity) will likely make the connection. Not to mention the fact that the name Firefly is used in the DLC, which probably means Obsidian made the connection intentionally.
While the DLC is called Peril on Gorgon, players won't spend their entire playtime (somewhere between 7-10 hours depending on how thorough people are) on the same asteroid. The story will send them across the system. It was a good decision. As beautiful as Gorgon is, it would have been a bummer to spend so much time in a single place.
Conclusion
The story arc is straightforward, with a couple of twists along the way. Like in many similar situations in The Outer Worlds, players will have to make a choice that's neither good nor bad, but somewhere in the middle. It would have been nice to have some repercussions based on that decision, but that's not how the game is built.
Peril on Gorgon is only $15, making it great value for money, especially if you loved the original title. Since players usually devour anything coming from Obsidian's hands, playing it is not really a choice. The only downside is that it arrived so damn late.
