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Ah, the open road. Heading out into a world, exploring quieter spaces, reaching new areas, and finding new hallmarks along the way. In concept, Outbound should succeed since the game does involve going around open, natural environments, customizing a camper van that acts as your base, and perhaps even doing all that with other people. The problem is there are so many games that do it better. Exploration (and building) feels more fun in a game like Pokemon Pokopia. It’s more pleasant and fulfilling decorating and solving puzzles in Camper Van: Make It Home. Due to the lack of story and gameplay diversity, as well as some empty areas and a lack of expected QOL features like shortcuts make it feel basic and bland.
Since there’s no real story to Outbound, the whole sense of purpose quickly comes up in the opening moments of the game. Essentially, our avatar gave up a normal city life to buy a van and go driving around the country. It can also expand to feature a full set-up on top with things like a greenhouse, once you build things up enough.
And… that’s it. You’re given a countryside. You’re told to build the tools necessary to explore it. If you are going it alone, that’s it. You won’t ever meet any other people, though you will see buildings like cabins that suggest others do exist. You can get a pet dog, but I felt like my pet was more like a spare backpack and cosmetic accessory rather than a true companion. Since there’s no story, the quests often left me feeling unfulfilled. Yes, I’d get a gate open, repair a bridge, or build a greenhouse, but I didn’t feel as fulfilled as I did in games with stronger narratives.
Especially since the other gameplay elements tied to accomplishing tasks in Outbound can quickly get repetitive or tedious. You’ll need resources like scrap metal, wood, or berries for crafting tools, buildings, and food. However, you often need to run around the map to get such items, and there aren’t any shortcuts to get where you’re going. You always need to take the long way around. Especially since, if you’re driving when doing such things, it’s all too easy to get completely stuck or damaged if you attempt any kind of off-roading. There’s no fast travel. Also, even if you take the Path Maker van to start, none of the three base game vehicles feel very fast.
Especially since the routine for every area in Outbound is pretty much the same throughout the game. You get to a new place. You find the Signal Towers and collect Cap’n Snap blueprints for builds in exchange for bottle caps. (Bottle caps are everywhere.) You stop by points of interests. You light all the Campfires, interact with the Cairns, get the Gnomes, and collect Paintings. The starting forest, canyon, Pacific Coast beach, and mountains all feel and look very different, which is a pro. Once you get enough materials, you use them to craft tools and stations for your van. In some cases, that could also mean processing hubs to get more materials for crafting additional things the game tells you that you need. If there’s a resource you need that isn’t where you are, you need to go back and get it.
However, even though there are points of interest and spots to explore, it all feels a bit empty. We can’t really interact with the world, beyond a few specific points or designated kind of collectibles. While there are different kinds of weather and we have our dog, it ends up feeling a bit lifeless. Yes, we can see some wildlife. Sure, these are outdoor spaces that would be more uninhabited. But I guess I expected more.
Even some actions feel a little pointless. There is a hunger and health system. However, keeping the van in good shape, via refueling or proper tire maintenance, feels more important. Because if you don’t get bananas, jam, or roadberries for yourself and your health drops, it just means your day ends. Which meant unless I had a quest tied to food, I avoided that to add more space and reduce weight for other needed items.
There are other elements that felt fiddly as I played too. For example, your pet acts as additional storage space so we can carry more before heading back to the van. While we can automatically empty out our own items, we need to go one-by-one when clearing out things the dog carried back. We can’t interact with the map, by which I mean I can’t put down an icon to remind me of a place to revisit or remember. Actually decorating on the roof of the van is limiting, as you really need to be aware of the hitboxes and placement. Also, I’m not sure if this is just a Switch 2 issue with Outbound, but ladders either aren’t executed properly or are broken. When going up, it’s fine if you just need to reach the top. But if you need to get off in the middle of a climb, it’s difficult to get at the exact point. Not to mention it seemed like my avatar would never actually onto the ladder for the climb down and would just drop instead.
Perhaps the issue is that Outbound is meant to be played with others if you want to make the most of the game? For full disclosure, I didn’t get to do that at all ahead of writing this, which is why I chose not to write a review. It’s possible things feel less bland and basic if you have other people around. But even with knowing what the loop is like alone, I can’t see this being entertaining with friends. Maybe it would be helpful when finding the hidden gnomes? Perhaps it would make the backtracking less tedious when you need to return to certain areas for materials only available there, since you wouldn’t be alone or need to make as many trips?
Outbound isn’t a bad exploration and crafting game, but it feels lifeless and boring. While the four small environments we can visit look nice and we have a pet dog/living backpack by our side, the areas feel lifeless. There are quite a few crafting options, and creating the tools or environmental repairs necessary to keep traveling does provide a sense of purpose. It just never hooked me in the way similar games did.
Outbound is available on the Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.
