Your PC Might Find This Trip a Little Unreliable
After a six-year wait, The Outer Worlds 2 is finally here, and it’s a gorgeous, sprawling adventure built on the powerful Unreal Engine 5. But with great beauty comes great performance demands. The technical wizards at Digital Foundry have released their in-depth analysis of the PC version, and their findings are essential reading for anyone planning to jump in. The verdict? It’s a visually impressive sequel, but the PC port has some significant quirks and is particularly punishing on all but the most modern hardware.
The good news is that with a bit of tweaking, you can get a fantastic experience. But running this game on ‘max’ settings is, in their words, a “gigantic waste” of your GPU’s power.
The Technical Breakdown: A Tale of Two CPUs
Digital Foundry’s review highlights a few key takeaways. First, the good: the game features a lengthy shader pre-compilation step when you first boot it up. This is a great sign, as it drastically reduces the random stuttering that plagues many modern PC releases. However, the praise largely ends there.
The biggest issue is the game’s immense CPU load. The analysis shows that even a capable, but aging, processor like the Ryzen 5 3600 struggles to maintain a steady frame rate, often dipping into the low 40s even on medium settings. In the semi-open world areas that make up the bulk of the game, older CPUs become a major bottleneck, meaning that even if you have a top-of-the-line graphics card, your processor will hold you back. The initial linear section of the game is also described as “deceptive,” offering a smooth experience that doesn’t reflect the much heavier load in the main game.
Furthermore, the game still suffers from some stuttering caused by asynchronous shader compilation when entering new areas and repeatable frame time spikes when crossing invisible ‘world partition’ boundaries. While not constant, these hitches can break immersion in an otherwise polished experience.
The Silver Lining: Optimized Settings are a Game-Changer
Here’s the most important part of the review: you can achieve a massive performance uplift with very little visual compromise. The Digital Foundry team discovered that running the game at its maximum settings offers almost no perceptible visual benefit over a custom-tuned ‘optimized’ profile, yet it cuts your frame rate nearly in half. By turning down a few key settings that have a high performance cost but low visual impact, you can claw back that performance and get a much smoother, more responsive experience.
While we won’t detail every single setting here, the principle is clear: don’t just crank everything to ‘Ultra.’ Take the time to adjust your settings, or follow a guide like Digital Foundry’s, to find the sweet spot between visual quality and fluid gameplay. It’s the single most important thing you can do to improve your time in the game.
How Does PC Stack Up Against Consoles?
Interestingly, Digital Foundry’s analysis of the console versions revealed that the Xbox Series X offers the most stable and impressive experience, even outperforming the PS5 Pro in some areas. The PC version has the potential to look and run better than any console, but it requires powerful hardware and careful tuning to get there. Out of the box, the console experience appears to be more consistent, making the PC port a title for enthusiasts who don’t mind getting under the hood to tinker with settings.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Is The Outer Worlds 2 well-optimized on PC?
It’s mixed. It has a good shader pre-compilation system but is extremely demanding on CPUs and has some stutter issues. It requires user tuning to run well. - What kind of PC do I need to run it smoothly?
A modern, powerful CPU is highly recommended. Older but still popular processors like the Ryzen 5 3600 will struggle to achieve a consistent 60 FPS, even on lower settings. A strong GPU is also needed, but the CPU is the main bottleneck. - How can I improve my frame rate?
Avoid using the ‘Ultra’ or max settings. Following an optimized settings guide can nearly double your performance with minimal loss in visual quality. - Does the game stutter?
It has a pre-compilation step that helps a lot, but some stuttering can still occur when loading into new areas or crossing certain map boundaries due to how the game loads assets. - Is the PC version the best way to play?
It can be, but only with the right hardware and after optimizing the settings. Digital Foundry’s analysis found the Xbox Series X version to be the most polished and consistent experience out of the box.
Conclusion
The Outer Worlds 2 on PC is a stunning game that pushes modern hardware to its limits. It’s a classic case of an Unreal Engine 5 title that is incredibly scalable but also incredibly demanding. The port isn’t perfect, and owners of older CPUs may be in for a frustrating time. However, armed with the knowledge from experts like Digital Foundry, you can bypass the performance traps and tune the game to run beautifully. It just requires a bit more effort than simply hitting ‘Ultra’ and hoping for the best. For PC enthusiasts, the challenge of taming this beautiful beast will be part of the fun.