The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos Review — A Twisting Mystery

The Outer Worlds continues to impress with its DLC offerings. Peril on Gorgon, which was released back in December, cast you in the shoes of a gumshoe and played off of all the tropes of film noir. It was a charming, fun romp that did just enough to differentiate itself from the vanilla game.

Murder on Eridanos pulls a similar trick — it’s still a murder mystery — but it makes a compelling argument for returning to this corporation-dominated universe.

The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos Review — A Twisting Mystery

Murder on Eridanos naturally kicks off with the murder of an actor and Rizzo’s spokesperson, “Halcyon Helen.” You and your crew are invited to the planet Eridanos to stay at the swanky Grand Colonial Hotel and investigate this corporate sabotage.

One of the DLC’s recurring “jokes” is that you’re investigating the murder of one Ruth Bellamy, but literally everyone you meet refers to her as “Helen.” It’s a bit of commentary that really leans into the cynical megacorporation vibe that appears throughout The Outer Worlds: the idea that the only reason anyone cares about Bellamy is because of the value she brought to Rizzo’s as a spokesperson.

Of course, you run into an alarming number of people who seem like viable suspects along the way. Jilted lovers, jealous rivals, greedy executives; a fairly standard list of possible killers starts to fill out a line-up in your investigation.

The mystery in Murder on Eridanos is pretty good, and it manages to differentiate itself quite a bit from Peril on Gorgon. Whereas the first DLC plays into the tropes of detective noir, Eridanos plays out more like a police procedural. As you explore the planet, you interview suspects and use your various skills to persuade, intimidate, and fib to tease information out of them. You hack computers, sneak around celebrities, and steal corporate secrets.

Instead of moody monologues revealing aspects of the plot, Murder of Eridanos makes you feel like an investigator; there’s even a Pepe Silvia board that gets filled up as you uncover things, with photos of suspects on a corkboard linked by pieces of string.

It helps that the new planet you explore is a bit different than anything we’ve seen so far in The Outer Worlds. Eridanos itself is an uninhabitable gas giant, but Rizzo’s has built a small set of islands kept aloft by giant rocket engines. Floating through the planet’s atmosphere, these islands are connected by long suspension bridges.

On top of that, Rizzo’s maintains giant orchards full of funky-looking fruit, so you’re walking through an extremely colorful world that floats over a massive brown gas planet. It’s odd in all the best ways.

As the mystery’s details start to peel away, Murder on Eridanos loses a bit of steam and starts to fall into standard “shoot waves of enemies” bits. However, even when things become a little more by-the-book, The Outer Worlds is still a solid shooter with lots of different ways to play, and the moment where you get to actually name the murderer is a great bit of fun.

There are some new weapons and armor types to discover, including a few new science weapons with wacky abilities. One of those is the only real detriment I found with Murder on Eridanos: the Discrepancy Amplifier.

It’s essentially a scope that homes in on clues, but the world of Eridanos is thick with them. The “weapon” alerts you in a monotone voice when a clue is nearby before forcing you to look down the sights to find a shimmering blue cloud, approach it, and hit the “Examine” option. The process becomes incredibly tedious with all of the clues scattered about, and though some of the Discrepancy Amplifier’s analyses are funny, it mostly repeats the same line over and over and over.  

The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos DLC — The Bottom Line

Pros:

• A strong story full of interesting characters
• The setting is fascinating to explore
• Plays up the best aspects of The Outer Worlds

Cons

• The Discrepancy Amplifier could have been a little more compelling
• Nothing terribly new to add to The Outer Worlds

All told, The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos is probably my favorite series of quests across the entirety of The Outer Worlds. Its compelling story and interesting setting are supported by a memorable cast of characters, and outside of the vexing Discrepancy Amplifier, it puts Obsidian’s space-faring RPG in its best light. 

While it doesn’t reinvent the base game or add too many new systems or mechanics, Murder on Eridanos is a great reason to jump back into The Outer Worlds. 

[Note: Obsidian provided the copy of The Outer Worlds: Murder on Eridanos used for this review.]