Star Wars Outlaws is the first stepping stone into the fantastic world in which true fans want to reside. Since it is the first true open-world video game of the series, there are a lot of expectations for Outlaws. Without hesitation I have to admit, I am overwhelmed with joy from my experience so far. Unlike most of the other Ubisoft open-world games, Outlaws breaks the traditional design and puts most of its focus on exploration and immersion. I realized that as I jumped on my speeder while chased out of a thug’s base and ripping through the grasslands, I could almost feel the wind in my face.
From what I can tell, Star Wars Outlaws takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As a low-level, wise-cracking Han Solo-type criminal, Kay Vess steps in as the main protagonist along with an adorable half-puppy, half-pangolin-type companion named Nix. She lives in the casino world of Canto Bight with dreams of hitting a big score and living life on her terms. You join a crew to pull off one huge score, a typical starter trope for most games, with plans to retire safely on all the credits she can get her hands on. Things go sideways, like they normally do, and not only is she left broke, but she also makes an enemy out of a made-man in the criminal underworld.
So what can a girl do? Start from square one and pull off an even bigger heist. Kay has to build up her underworld credentials by taking on jobs, finding a crew that can help pull off the heist successfully, and improving her skills and gear for a better shot. It’s a fun premise that works well with the open-world structure, ensuring everything you do in the game is building toward a big payoff at the end.
This setup is the perfect segue into an open-world Star Wars game, giving Kay free rein on a handful of planets as she tracks down a cornucopia of slimeballs and criminals. There’s nothing quite like being on a new planet and heading into the local cantina to ask around for information. All of the details feel perfectly like, well, Star Wars. Like you’re in one of the shows, just hoping for a chance to bump shoulders with someone you know.
Outlaws’ exploration so often leads to wonder and joy. This is a game that wants you to constantly feel immersed and soak up every second in the Star Wars universe. How much you enjoy your time with Outlaws will depend on how much you want to live this fantasy.
The underworld of Star Wars has always had some of the universe’s most interesting stories and characters, and here’s a chance to experience it all firsthand. That involves some plodding missions and conventional gameplay, which can be a tough sell if you’re burned out on open-world games already. But when you’re on edge infiltrating Jabba’s palace or enjoying the sights and sounds of the bustling Canto Bight, it’s easy to forget all of that for a few blissful moments.
Unlike other AAA sci-fi games that offer giant — but mostly void — planets to explore, Outlaws is more practical in scale. There are a handful of worlds, and while each has some open expanses to drive through, most of your time is spent in cities, settlements, bases, and other detailed and busy spaces. This makes Outlaws more vast in scope, for me at least. You don’t need to spend hours upon hours scouring through nothingness to feel like you’ve seen what the game has to offer.
Now when it comes to the play of the game, Outlaws consistently feels thrilling, with controls that feel tight and satisfying. In many ways, Outlaws feels like a space-faring, open-world Uncharted. Outside of all that exploration, you’ll be doing a lot of sneaking, shooting, and platforming. The gunplay and jumping around generally feel good, and those tense shootouts can be fantastic moments that feel like a classic Star Wars adventure.
You have general guidance for main quests, but Kay will often have to explore wide areas to find an objective or person, and exploration, in general, can lead to a domino effect of uncovering new things to do. Maybe you lean against the cantina wall and listen in on a conversation, or pick up a datapad while scouring an abandoned outpost. There are so many ways to uncover new quests and details in Outlaws, all of which engross you in the game’s world even further.
As Kay explores the four different worlds she can meet “Experts,” all of which have their own dedicated quests. Completing one of these quests will unlock their slot on the ability menu, with each Expert having six skills to unlock. But the fun twist is that these skills are all unlocked through gameplay and meeting specific requirements. For example, to unlock a new ability for Nix, I had to “find six ways to please Nix,” and use him to pickpocket three times. The ability system is smartly designed to help you experiment with different gameplay styles, and it’s a brilliant way of tying Kay’s character development to gameplay mechanics, giving the player more options as she becomes a better scoundrel.
Star Wars Outlaws for me was a fresh start in a new direction of this amazing world. I got to live out some ideas I always wanted and I am enthralled to see what else can be done in this new game style. Who knows maybe one day someone can be able to walk the path of a Sith, fingers crossed. Until that day comes, I truly look forward to new adventures for Kay and Nix, and I can not wait to see what they can get up to in the future.
This review was written based on a PC review code for Star Wars Outlaws provided by Ubisoft.
