Simply put, The Outer World draws a lot of inspiration from the TV show firefly, which can be felt with its rickety ship, with sassy AI in tow, as well as its familiar crew.
Additionally, the developer, Obsidian Entertainment, drew on its former game Fallout New Vegas - with VATS thankfully missing and a time dilation mechanic in its place. This results in snappier combat that rewards superior aim and, in my opinion, better overall gunplay.
Also there’s a bonus mission that’s a play on Zap Brannigan from Futurama.
If any of those references resonate it’s worth a try!