Torrents of enemies flood the screen, and captains unleash vicious, unrelenting attacks.

Even at Level 30 with epic gear, though, Tier 5 was challenging, to say the least. Enemies get harder, and the loot gets better. World Tiers are a dynamic difficulty system in Outriders where levels scale up or down based on player performance. Here, though, my team began on World Tier 5 (there are 15 in all, according to Square). I didn't get to experience much of Outriders' World Tier system in my first hands-on demo back in late February, where my playthrough was locked to World Tier 1. We were given Level 30 characters, an epic gear loadout, and access to the entire skill tree for our chosen class. Square-Enix dropped my fireteam of three outriders about 15 hours into the game, and we were able to explore the semi-open world for about two and a half hours. And the new Technomancer class adds a new way for players to strategize in combat. Its robust crafting system, which we hadn't seen until now, is smart, accessible, and deep. Though neither its world nor its characters grabbed me as much as they first did, the gameplay remains tight, and the core mechanics, specifically synergizing abilities with teammates in co op multiplayer, makes for intense, often rewarding encounters.

Outriders multiplayer