The award for E3 2021's snarkiest trailer goes to Obsidian Entertainment for its reveal of the sequel's previously rumored reveal made light of the fact that the developers were not quite ready to show off what they've got in store. The narrator sarcastically described what was going on in the trailer, noting how this reveal was coming much too early, and that the final game was likely to have nothing to do with the reveal.
The amount of self-awareness made The Outer Worlds 2 reveal one of the more memorable trailers from E3 thus far. The first game is known for its tongue-in-cheek portrayal of capitalism, and Obsidian was sure to keep The Outer Worlds' audience in mind when making fun of the various marketing tropes congealed together into this trailer. The reveal trailer was more than up front about its intentions, indulging in its own parody, but a more subtle detail is the pièce de résistance: the trailer itself giving the audience the finger.
As the camera moves backwards over an alien landscape, the narrator remarks on the inclusion of lens flares before moving on to a discussion of the revealed hero - or at least their silhouette, owing to the fact that the character design hasn't been finalized. As the hero stands, looking over the edge of a cliff, a prominent rock formation in the top left corner of the screen looks suspiciously like a hand with its middle finger up.
The Outer Worlds 2's Trailer's Tone Is A Good Sign
The Outer Worlds received generally positive reviews upon its release, and its follow-up expansions were similarly applauded, but the game tended to feel a bit shallow in of gameplay. Weapon and enemy variety was a particular area of disappointment for some players, but it's clear that a lot of work went into creating the game's world and dialog. Taking place in the Halcyon star system, The Outer Worlds involves many mega corporations, which enlist colonists as indentured employees, contributing to the grim, surrealist comedy that underlines a lot of the game's storytelling.
For those that enjoyed The Outer Worlds' ittedly short experience, this trailer for the sequel confirms that Obsidian will not be making any major departures in tone. Many expected exceptional things out of the developer that once produced Fallout New Vegas, but creating an entirely new universe is no small task, and then putting a complex RPG on top of it is another thing entirely. There's a lot of potential for The Outer Worlds 2 to sur its predecessor, and the bird-flipping trailer shows that development might be on the right track.
