Star Wars Outlaws Preview: Do I Like This Game Because It's Star Wars Or Because It's Good? (2024)

There's a beauty to Star Wars Outlaws in that it feels more like Star Wars than most games that have been released over the past few console generations. But while achieving that is an accomplishment for a game without lightsabers at the forefront, perhaps there's too much love for Star Wars in Outlaws, as that love comes at the cost of engaging gameplay.

I had the chance to play nearly four hours of the game earlier this month, spanning two core missions. The first was a continuation of the same mission people have seen demonstrated on the planet Toshara and the second took Kay Vess (and will take players) back to the planet of Kijimi, a frigid location from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

The Love For Star Wars Is Clear In Outlaws

After having some time with the game and seeing what else the studio has in store for players, there's no doubt in my mind that Massive Entertainment poured a lot of love for Star Wars into this game, attempting to differentiate it from the many titles that came before, but there's a sense that, if the core Star Wars elements were removed, the base game would leave players wanting - perhaps too much.

That adoration for Star Wars can be clearly seen on the front-end - with the correct font from the movies and several visual cues, not to mention the obvious sound design - which the devs spent a great deal of effort hiding in plain sight, making the world feel naturally part of Star Wars without being loud about it. But underneath the hood, there's so much more.

Related:

Creative Director Julian Gerighty told me that they created a lens within the Snowdrop engine that allows them to replicate the "animorphic lenses from the 1970s with barrel distortion on the side, slight chromatic aberration, slight film grain, vignetting," and a host of other tricks, giving off that natural feel. And so, by default, Outlaws will be presented in ultrawide screen with black bars on the top and bottom to create that connection to the original trilogy. (The black bars can be removed, though Gerighty certainly wouldn't want you to do that.)

Now that's just one example of the numerous ways in which Star Wars Outlaws more than earns its place as a Star Wars game. There's much, much more, but there's also a lot to share about the core gameplay

Star Wars Outlaws' Gameplay Is Familiar, Rigid...And Still Fun

I'll say that, while I heard from another journalist who tried Outlaws at Summer Game Fest that the game plays better the second time around - a luxury I didn't have in one preview session - once you've become accustomed to all the mechanics, there's a degree of rigidity I couldn't contend with.

You always need to be facing a certain way to interact with a character, stealth is far less intuitive than expected from the publisher that made iconic stealth series like Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed, and I feel like I'm playing Still Wakes The Deep every time I move through a duct system, which is more often than I thought. You also can't keep any weapon that you pick up; you can use a blaster rifle to get through a tough area, but Kay Vess will drop it... always. All of that might sound nitpicky, but they exemplify a bigger concern around the gameplay.

Of course, it's not all bad - and the stuff that is bad isn't egregious. One thing that irked me about the two Jedi games from Respawn Entertainment is that virtually every location had blocked areas. You couldn't access them because you either hadn't progressed far enough in the story or you didn't have the right power to reach the distant area, the latter of which often tied into the former, but regardless, you could see where you would go in just a few more hours of game time. Once or twice it was fine, but the problem is that that element became ubiquitous throughout the entire game.

Thankfully, it's something Star Wars Outlaws avoids outright. You are completely free to explore the open world in its entirety, using a speeder bike to traverse the worlds that you use your ship to reach. And it should all be available near the start of the game; you don't have to go to Planet A before going to Planet B and C. Maybe you want to go to Planet C, then A, then Z, or whatever else. It's up to you, and it's a wonderful feeling of freedom that Star Wars games often lack. Whether that open world is indeed as populated as the demo remains to be seen, but if it is, it'll be a step in a new direction for the franchise.

You Can Actually Fly In Space In This Star Wars Game

On top of that, getting from one planet to the next satisfies an age-old wish many Star Wars fans have had: flying in space. Sometimes you may want to spend more time in space than you do on the ground. I had maybe 30 minutes left of my gameplay session after I blasted my way through the second mission, and since I couldn't visit another planet, I ended up going into space and exploring the icy zone off Kijimi.

I flew into a handful of inoperable starships while I was up there, and looted them - then I fought others as they came to collect my prize. It turned into a hectic space battle that, though rudimentary (there's no transferring power or adjusting shields like in Star Wars Squadrons), was exciting and fulfilling. Space is no longer a concept in Star Wars games; it's not a limited playground that players merely travel through. Instead, it's a living, engaging part of the Outlaws ecosystem.

When you arrive at a planet, you don't suddenly find yourself at the spaceport after a recycled cutscene; you need to fly through space and choose to land on the planet. Also, when you leave the planet and want to travel somewhere new, you don't just select a location from a map; you actually have to engage the hyperdrive yourself - in the cool manner of flicking the thumbsticks forward.

Is Star Wars Outlaws For You?

A Star Wars game cannot have a high barrier to entry. This is a world-famous franchise that spans multiple generations; everyone should be able to play it without compromising their fundamental play style. Thankfully, this is something Outlaws does exceptionally well, based on the demo I played through.

You can either choose to play stealth or run-and-gun, though the latter may not always be the wisest choice. If you're not careful about it, you may find yourself overwhelmed and fleeing certain situations. Keep in mind that Kay Vess is an amateur smuggler. She's skilled, sure, but she's no Han Solo yet. Her aim - therefore, your aim - may sway instead of aiming directly at the enemy, which may force you to compensate.

As an Assassin's Creed player, I found myself leaning more towards stealth, using Nix to draw people to me to knock out and using the environment in key areas to incapacitate all enemies before advancing to the objective - but there was one moment in the open world where I encountered an Imperial watchtower. I just had to see what would happen if I took out a guard and used his sniper rifle to eliminate the stormtroopers in the nearby field. I was initially successful, but I didn't manage to take out one of the troopers before he called in backup.

Due to limited time, I didn't get a chance to push the "wanted" mechanic far enough to spawn additional Imperials, but I was told that if you go far enough on land, you will eventually trigger Dark Troopers who will hunt you down. And if you do the same in space, you will trigger a Star Destroyer.

It will be difficult to survive either circumstance, as many Rebels can attest to in the world of Star Wars, but unlike Grand Theft Auto, you can't simply change the color of your speeder bike and get away; rather, you need to find and infiltrate an Imperial facility, hack into a terminal, and erase your wanted status. It's a seemingly tedious task that actually plays off as exciting and challenging. Ubisoft, whether intentionally or not, seem to have learned from the age-old mistake of "pushing a button to complete a task" instead of giving players agency.

Another example of Ubisoft (or Massive Entertainment) moving on from the tired "push a button" mechanic is the skill system. I'm very excited to see how this plays out in the full game, because it's one of the most detailed, story-driven versions I've seen in a mass-marketed game such as this. You don't merely unlock skill points to get better at stealth gameplay, for example. Rather, you perform an action a number of times, reach a point where you have to meet a character, and then complete that mission in order to unlock the ability you want.

Is Star Wars Outlaws Worth It?

My problem with Star Wars Outlaws is that while there are innovative gameplay elements like the skill system, there's an equal number of headscratchers, like the puzzle system. Everything in the game is a puzzle, to some extent. If you want to enter an area controlled by Crimson Dawn, but you're not on good footing with them, you'll need to sneak inside. (Now, if you are on good footing with them, you can just walk on in; it's better if you have an even greater relationship with each organization.)

The puzzles can be brain-teasers on occasion, and especially fun - like with the hacking system, having to match audio cues - but overall, there's a degree of ease at play. Can't walk into a bar? There must be a vent close by for you to use. Can't reach a lever? See if Nix can do it for you. Can't easily cross a gap? There must be a grapple point above you colored in yellow. The point is, just like with Tomb Raider and recent Assassin's Creed games, there's always a simple solution to a puzzle.

Perhaps it should be that way, though. Whereas it should feel more difficult in those aforementioned games, the straightforwardness of Star Wars Outlaws is welcome at times, as it keeps players focused on being immersed in the Star Wars galaxy. The last thing you want is to run around, wasting time looking for a way into a building instead of completing the mission.

At the end of the day, Star Wars Outlaws is very much a Star Wars game I'm excited to play. I want to see how it all unfolds, and I want to see what else this part of the franchise has in store. But I can't help but wonder: Am I only excited because it's Star Wars, or is this actually a decent game? I'm honestly not sure.

5 Images

5 Images

Star Wars Outlaws

Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world action-adventure game where players hop into the scoundrel boots of Kay Vess, a woman who travels the galaxy Looking for a better life. Together with her furry partner Nix and new allies she meets along the way, Kay will navigate the various landscapes, towns, and planets across the galaxy while outsmarting both Crime Syndicates and the Empire.

OpenCritic Reviews

Franchise

Star Wars

Platform(s)

PC , PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S

Released

August 30, 2024

Developer(s)

Massive Entertainment

Publisher(s)

Ubisoft , Lucasfilm Games

Engine

Snowdrop