Outer worlds 2 is Obsidian Entertainment's second triple-A release for 2025. Where Open was the studio's foray into the world of high fantasy action, Outer worlds 2 is a sequel to a fairly popular sci-fi action RPG. It was a chance for Obisidian to improve on the formula it established in 2019, and by most accounts it seems the studio has achieved that goal. Moreover, at the performance level Outer worlds 2 is a stunning display, capable of high refresh rates and featuring an art style that instantly catches your eye.
You can read ours Outer worlds 2 review for deeper thoughts on how successful Obisidian Entertainment is in building on the platform of the first game. Many RPGs toy with the idea of impressive choices, but this game presents players with a real scratch. Their decisions have meaningful consequences and can shape the world/planets around them. Some elements may not be as prominent as others, but Outer worlds 2 completely rejects the idea of role-playing in the world.
From the performance level, the sequel makes the leap to Unreal Engine 5as well as Open. In fact, there are a lot of visual and stylistic similarities between the two, as well as some familiar nitpicking points about how the game runs.
Using our iBUYPOWER RDY Y70 TI B03 build, which boasts an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card and an Intel Core i9-14900KF processor, we explored The Outer Worlds 2 and saw how Obsidian's latest uses new technologies to deliver the smoothest possible experience.
Game Rant iBUYPOWER Test PC Specs
From a stylistic point of view Outer worlds 2 has a similar aesthetic to Open. The facial animations, menus, and even the sound effects are reminiscent of another version of Obsidian from 2025. Of course, Outer worlds 1 he came earlier Open, but there is a clear pattern that Obsidian is working with here. It does not try to push realistic graphics, but the opposite find a look that matches his style.
Some might argue that the game's performance is so smooth because the game doesn't push things too much visually, but I still think Outer worlds 2 is impressive with its semi-open world planetary zones that are full of interesting flora and fauna.
Outer worlds 2 boasts a fairly comprehensive selection of graphics settingswith Low, Medium, High and Very High options. I always appreciate when the menu highlights exactly what each setting affects, and Outer worlds 2 clearly outlines what vague settings like screen effects will change. Admittedly, this particular one seems a bit generic (ie no option to turn off chromatic aberration), but it's useful if you're just getting into PC gaming.
Graphics Options Outer Worlds 2
- Screen Effects: Low, Medium, High, Very High
- Show distance: Low, medium, high, very high
- Shadows: Low, Medium, High, Very High
- Anti-aliasing: Low, Medium, High, Very High
- Textures: Low, medium, high, very high
- Visual Effects: Low, Medium, High, Very High
- Leaves: low, medium, high, very high
- Global Illumination: Low, Medium, High, Very High
- Reflections: low, medium, high, very high
- Crowd Density: Low, Medium, High, Very High
Anytime you mention playing on Unreal Engine 5, there are fears that you'll stutter or stutter. Playing Outer worlds 2 before launch, I can say that there were quite a few hiccups, but updates/patches have dramatically improved performance. I also had what appeared to be a bad memory leak in the game's prologue, which required an update, but I didn't experience anything after that.
One of them was fear Outer worlds 2 jumped into open world areas with a bunch of NPCs running around that the frame rate would drop but experiences are all over the place. Even with some really cool background effects, the game runs really well on our device at the highest settings.
Currently, the only sequences that feature any significant hiccups are whenever the game's ship, the Icognito, lands on a new planet. This cutscene features a lot of stuttering, but everything smooths out from there.
Apart from that though Outer worlds 2 runs very well on highest settings. You can mix and match DLSS, FSR, XeSS for added visual enhancement and if you're on Nvidia use Frame Generation to push things even higher and the game supports 4x Frame Generation right out of the gate. You don't need to use the Nvidia app to overwrite. On my 4K 120Hz TV I was able to max settings and rarely did the game fall below that performance level, while on my 240Hz monitor performance was closer to high 100s/low 200s depending on settings and framerate generation.
The Outer Worlds 2 supports Raytracing hardware. It adds a little extra punch to the visual design, but if it affects performance, it's not a significant loss.
Even testing with the 2x Frame Generation offered by the 40 series GPUs, or even just DLSS, the performance boost in Outer worlds 2 it is large enough and the loss of visual clarity is not noticeable. For those who choose to play the game as a more traditional shooter, this increased frame rate is a huge benefit. The ability to move around the arenas and take quick and accurate shots makes the difference.
Maybe after a few more titles the argument could be made that Obsidian has become too well known, but right now if it ain't broke don't fix it. Performance is excellent in Outer worlds 2as well as Open before that, and the RPG experience seems to be resonating with fans who had early access to the game.
While players wait for two more big RPG series in the next The Elder Scrolls and others FalloutObsidian swooped in and delivered their own “versions” of these games. They may not be as massive in scale, scope or budget, but they are still well-made and enjoyable.
Tested by Game Rant Mafia: The Old Country on iBUYPOWER RDY Y70 TI B03. iBUYPOWER offers a range of customizable PCs that can meet the needs of any gamer. Check out Game Rant's iBUYPOWER build here or head over to iBUYPOWER for more PC game deals.
- Released
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October 29, 2025
- ESRB
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Adults 17+ / Intense violence, blood and gore, strong language
- Publishers
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Xbox Game Studios
