Nostalgia is a funny thing, and sometimes it can come out of nowhere like a TIE fighter and hit you right in the gut, leaving you confused and in pain. An hour into playing Star Wars Outlaws, I didn’t expect to be emotionally devastated during a small quest to buy spare parts from a group of Jawas. But then I rode my speeder out into the sea of dunes and saw a black, monolithic transport ship in the low sun. And those little guys were running around fixing droids… and watching that made me instantly 12 years old again. Luke and I repeated that line while we watched Star Wars on VHS in the living room and ate the Monster Munchies my mom brought us. Ubisoft’s vast adventure is full of moments like this, and it saves lives time and time again.
Despite pre-release buzz that this isn’t a typical Ubisoft open-world game, Star Wars Outlaws certainly looks a lot like a typical Ubisoft open-world game. You play as Kay Vess. Kay Vess is a street thief who quietly makes a living out of vice until a lucrative heist goes awry and he ends up stealing a spaceship and crashing it onto the secluded moon Toshara. From here, she must survive by working for the galaxy’s many criminal organizations, playing against each other, and building a reputation as a skilled mercenary and thief. This is where things get familiar. You are immediately given main story quests, dozens of optional smaller tasks, and even the opportunity to take on side jobs for various smugglers and crooks. It usually involves traveling somewhere and fetching things or blowing things up. assassin’s creed. Something like Far Cry. Or Watch Dogs. It’s “Star Wars: Busy Work Strikes Back.”
Star Wars Outlaws skillfully incorporates Star Wars culture. Photo: Ubisoft
However, there are important differences. Here your beloved pet Knicks will help you. You can send Nyx out to distract guards, fetch useful objects, or crawl through tight spaces to unlock doors. It’s cute and helps add emotional depth and danger to Kay’s lonely life. But more importantly, the game deftly weaves Star Wars lore, with the buildings you’re invading beautifully recreating Imperial research stations, abandoned Republican starships, dastardly Hutt strongholds, and more. and is filled with intricate visual and narrative details all drawn from the original film. Trilogy. No matter where you go, there’s something for fans to enjoy, whether it’s a familiar droid, a treasure trove of history, or your favorite spaceship. The streets of Mos Eisley are even patrolled by Stormtroopers riding giant dews.
The planets you visit are not vast explorable areas. Most cities have large cities and several square miles of open landscape. But this is fine, as there is plenty to discover, from the Hutt’s treasure cache in the valley of Tatooine to a pirate camp in the swampy forests of Akiba. Sadly, this speeder bike is terrifying to control, like trying to cross an alien planet in a beat-up old Honda 125. Equally unwieldy are the spaceflight sections reminiscent of No Man’s Sky. The planet’s orbit is filled with derelict spaceships to plunder. The same goes for TIEs and pirate fighters. While you can rescue a ship in distress or run missions to pick up cargo, the flight sim never quite comes close to LucasArts’ classic space combat titles.
There’s so much to discover…Star Wars Outlaws. Photo: Ubisoft
Most of the land-based quests involve parkour (climbing yellow-painted pipes and cliff faces – although you can also turn off the paint) as you crawl through steel corridors and pass through walls of flashing buttons and beeping sounds. ) and stealth. Manipulate computer displays, sabotage alarm panels, and silently knock out enemies. It’s basic, and at times approaches Spider-Man’s Mary Jane missions more than the complexity of Dishonored’s systems, but it can also be frustratingly slow. However, as the game progresses, you’ll meet a number of experts who can unlock new skills, such as quieter movements and cool stealth toys like smoke grenades, making infiltration even more fun. There’s also a very configurable laser gun with different modes to unlock, and it’s possible to temporarily acquire other weapons, but Kay keeps using her Han Solo-esque pistol. I like the fact that. No match for a good blaster. I’m here for you, boy.
At its core, it’s a pulpy story that grows from the myth of street kids making good people into something a little more interesting. While recruiting raiders, including the laser-scarred battle droid ND-5, Kei develops friendships that enhance and contrast his heist plans. Clashes with rebel groups also call into question their ethics and methods of warfare. There are great moments where it’s clear that the designers were inspired not only by Star Wars itself, but also by directors George Lucas cherished, John Ford and Akira Kurosawa.
Some may be nostalgic for Jedi lore and EA’s Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor titles. Outlaws is definitely a game for solo players, not Skywalker fans. It’s just that there’s a really likeable new character at the helm. It accomplishes what most fans of the movie want, including an EG-6 power droid, an X-34 landspeeder, or… a very geeky delight when you spot a Chadora fan sitting at a cantina bar. will give you. I found myself wandering around for hours looking for this thing and was rarely disappointed.
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Keza MacDonald takes a weekly look back at the world of gaming
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If this were an Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry title, it would be one of those titles that would be just fine, though reasonably entertaining, at times a little annoying, and packed with overused open-world genre tropes. Probably. But time and time again, the Star Wars license grabs this game by its Corellian pants and pushes it into thrilling territory. For most of the 40 or so hours I played, my 12-year-old self came back, feeling a little bewildered and dizzy, but enjoying every blissful nostalgic moment.
Star Wars Outlaws releases on August 30th on PC, PS5 (version tested), and Xbox Series X/S
