It took me around 10 hours of play before I remembered the third-person view in The Outer Worlds 2—don't be like me. If you played the first game, you likely got used to not having a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective available, but with the sequel, Obsidian has finally added the long-requested feature.
Even though it doesn't always feel the best during combat and the animations aren't super smooth, it fulfils that all-important RPG staple of letting you admire how cool your character looks as you run around the world. Here's how to enter a third-person view in The Outer Worlds 2 for yourself.
How to activate third-person view in The Outer Worlds 2
To activate the third-person view in The Outer Worlds 2, simply press U on the keyboard or hold the left menu button on controller. This will immediately zoom you to an over-the-shoulder view, and if you press it again, you'll zoom out even further, before returning to first-person view with an additional press. The camera isn't locked behind you, either, so you can circle around with the mouse to gaze lovingly at your character.
If you want a third-person view as your default, you can activate it in the 'Gameplay' section of the 'Settings' menu. Look for 'Perspective', then just toggle to third-person near or third-person far. It also lets you swap which shoulder the camera is centered over, though you can do this on controller by holding up on the d-pad.
There's an additional third-person view called 'idle camera' which you can activate in the menu, too—this just slowly circles around you, and will stop as soon as you press anything. I've never seen an idle camera you can activate yourself before, but I guess it's for if you want something nicer than a pause screen on your monitor when you go off to make a drink or have to do something else for a bit.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
