Star Wars Outlaws is many things: a compelling story in a seedy criminal setting, a satisfying stealth-‘em-up, and host to one of the cutest companions in all of gaming. Beyond all of that, Outlaws is a pleasing exercise in restraint and a clear focus.
Mention its publisher Ubisoft to anyone familiar with modern gaming, and a very specific type of game comes to mind. Open-world, sprawling locations, and a litany of checklists to complete. From Far Cry to Assassin’s Creed, and also the Watch Dogs series, Ubisoft’s biggest franchises all follow a rigid formula.
To an extent, this also rings true of Star Wars Outlaws, but in a much more contained manner. Yes, it has expansive environments to ride your speeder through, and plenty of side activities to take on. In comparison to other big-budget open-world games, however, it feels significantly tighter, which is one of its greatest strengths.
It’s ironic, considering Star Wars is one of the biggest intellectual properties in existence, with countless planets to explore and stories to tell. Developer Massive Entertainment could’ve plucked the low-hanging fruit and told yet another story of Luke Skywalker’s heroic exploits, or made an interactive theme park ride starring the who’s who of Star Wars, with Starfield-like promises of visiting anywhere in the galaxy.
Instead, they went smaller, introducing us to the plucky scoundrel Kay Vess and her adorable merqaal partner in crime, Nix. These newcomers are wonderful additions to a franchise in desperate need of new blood.
Playing to open-world strengths
A strength Star Wars Outlaws plays to is its dismissal of arbitrary gameplay mechanics, which I noted in my hands-on preview. Too many open-world games needlessly pad out play time with bloated questlines and gating progress behind RPG-coded equipment.
Taking a leaf out of Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s playbook, Outlaws just gets down to brass tacks. Most missions involve pursuing a criminal syndicate’s lead, stealthily infiltrating a hostile location, and retrieving either an item or person of interest.
It’s all the stuff that happens in between that really sings. Stealth and subterfuge are your main tools, and a willingness to use everything at your disposal. Although there’s an element of linearity, no single location railroads you into one true path to success. Kay can clamber through vents, hide in tall grass, and rappel upwards to get the drop on foes.
In these scenarios, Nix is more than a cute little critter. It’s easy to send him to distract enemies or retrieve distant objects to use in combat. His sensitive hearing also provides a sonar-like view of your surroundings, which helps identify patrol patterns so you can act accordingly.
When the blasters start firing – an inevitability in some instances – Kay isn’t the most precise shot in the galaxy. Again, reflecting her character as a self-made scrapper, her rough-and-tumble movements are effective but don’t always hit the mark.
Rather than being a frustration, this actually adds more weight to each action you take and is something you need to factor in when lining up foes. Upgrades sharpen Kay’s skills as you progress, without removing what makes her unique to control in the first place.
Outlaws doesn’t heavily telegraph anything to you, either. Sneaking through bases or investigating leads requires a bit of trial and error, giving you a strong sense of satisfaction when you eventually find a way forward. Even when I got lost on several occasions, I didn’t mind because it encouraged me to further explore the world, which Outlaws frequently rewards.
A tight operation
Even Star Wars Outlaws’ visual presentation affirms the game’s tight focus. Taking filmic inspiration in more ways than one, the default 21:9 aspect ratio makes it feel like you’re playing a movie. Camera shots linger closely over Kay’s shoulder, framing the action intimately and keeping you close to Outlaws‘ kaleidoscopic cast of shady characters.
After a botched heist on Canto Bight leads to a huge bounty on Kay’s head, you’re tasked with assembling a team of criminal misfits to eventually earn her freedom back. What little freedom Kay has in the first place, that is.
A street rat of sorts, Kay has never lived a comfortable or privileged life. Unlike the countless Star Wars protagonists before her – predominantly of the Jedi persuasion – he’s not a one-woman army. This helps ground the story and imbue a sense of personal stakes rarely seen in the franchise before. Kay’s only trusted friend is Nix, a fluffy axolotl-like creature abounding with charm and levity.
Some cameos do feature throughout Star Wars Outlaws, yet they never jar or detract from the setting. Each location you visit feels densely populated and lived in, like you’ve just walked onto the set of a Star Wars film. It’s easy to spend time aimlessly wandering around, eavesdropping on conversations, and understanding the major players of the criminal underworld.
Outlaws doesn’t just look like Star Wars; it also feels like Star Wars. Its film-like visual composition pairs perfectly with a soundtrack evocative of John Williams’ famous work on the series.
Orchestral swells punctuate dramatic story beats and action alike, treating you to the full sights and sounds of the beloved sci-fi universe. Cantinas greet you with a cross-cultural fusion of music, while arcade machines smack you in the face with synth-heavy beats. Outlaws’ music feels both familiar and otherworldly, cleverly subverting many of Star Wars’ famous conventions.
Not once does it ever feel like a tawdry ‘greatest hits’ compilation, thankfully. While Star Wars Outlaws routinely pays homage to its roots – whether through visuals, sounds, or characters – it’s always additive, not exploitative.
It’s all in the details
What keeps me thinking about Star Wars Outlaws when I’m not playing is its small, carefully crafted details. Every location feels tangibly different to explore; Kijimi’s winding tundra corridors nicely contrast the winding riverways of Akiva’s jungle setting.
The mini-games are a fun distraction too, like picking locks to a rhythm, and the computer hacking is like Wordle but with glyphs instead of words. Kessel Sabacc, the gambling parlour card game often referenced in Star Wars media, is fully playable, replete with various strategies and cheats to master. While totally peripheral to the plot, it serves as a fun distraction that further fleshes out the world.
I loved the little slice-of-life moments that endeared Kay and Nix as lovable characters. Each planet has a unique food vendor that, upon visiting, starts an interactive cutscene between the pair sharing a meal, usually ending with a chuckle-worthy conclusion. As pedestrian as it may sound, these quieter moments acted as a small way to learn more about Kay and Nix outside of the conniving criminal underworld setting.
Space combat also plays a part as you travel between worlds in the stolen Trailblazer ship, but it doesn’t match the rest of Outlaws’ sheen. Perhaps by design, the Trailblazer feels sluggish to pilot, and shooting down TIE fighters – while fun in short bursts – lacks the rest of the game’s mechanical depth.
A lot of the time, Star Wars Outlaws is gorgeous. It’s filled with eye-popping otherworldly vistas and meticulously crafted underworld streets that beg to be drank in deeply. Occasionally, this beauty is slightly marred by some graphical blemishes. Sometimes textures look a little rough, and character models don’t look as sharp as the scene surrounding them.
I noticed some of these rough edges when playing on Xbox Series X, mainly in performance mode. Otherwise, it was smooth sailing.
Even though Kay and Nix’s adventure may not be smooth sailing by nature, their adventure is a largely satisfying one. Star Wars Outlaws knows when to go loud and when to play it quiet. In a franchise that favours the grandiose, it’s an absolute treat to enjoy a deeply personal story capably supported by a refreshingly restrained approach to the open-world genre.
Star Wars Outlaws is available for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on 30 August 2024.
The post Star Wars Outlaws review: a galactic open-world game done right appeared first on GadgetGuy.
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