Never Tell Me the Odds | Star Wars Outlaws Review
You son of a gun...I’m in.
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Code provided by publisher- Reviewed on PlayStation 5
Forget the civility of the Jedi and regal of the Rebellion. Star Wars Outlaws is here gun at the ready, starting bar fights and blasting anyone who gets in its way. An open world Star Wars game packed full of laser flairing gunfights and oozing charm, so full of it, in fact, they were hoping you don’t see the missed potential at its core. I found Outlaws had a lot going for it when it clicked for me. The galaxy far far away vibes are immaculate, the gunplay, while shallow is fun enough and its story is deeply rooted in a love of the franchise. When all the components mesh, there is a truly excellent scoundrel game here. Sadly, Star Wars Outlaws is often mired by its own systems limitations to allow real open world fun or satisfying stealth fun. Outlaws protagonist never quite steps out of the shadow of what makes everyone’s favorite scoundrel so great. While I enjoyed my time with Outlaws a good amount, the mileage you may get out of it will heavily depend on WHY you pick the game up, because much like Han Solo, there is a heart of gold in there, it’s just hidden under all that scruffy nerf herder.
Outlaws’ story is maybe one of the most unique approaches to the Star Wars universe we’ve seen in a while. Our protagonist Kay Vess is a down on her luck thief who gets tangled up in an intergalactic crime syndicate war, when she gets death marked after stealing a ship from Sliro, the head of the biggest of the syndicates. After escaping from Canto Bight, Kay crashes her freshly lifted ship into an inhabited moon called Toshara. You spend most of the opening hours of the game just getting to know her, Nix and a small group of side characters, most of the gameplay mechanics and fixing up your ship to get out into the open again. Kay and her feathery-lizard sidekick Nix are both really likeable characters, Kay is an awkward cross of Han Solo and a sassy tom-boy from a CW show, suave and confident but a little socially inept at times. These genesis moments helped her grow on me as a Star Wars character and though this is a typically long Ubisoft opening, once I had my hyperdrive ready, the galaxy started to really feel truly open for me.
Kay finds real freedom in space, able to hop back and forth from planet to planet, where she is able to meet new mentors, take on syndicate jobs and upgrade her equipment. These systems are where Outlaws shines the most for me. No Star Wars property has really shown the impact of a galaxy spanning gang war better than Outlaws does. EVERYTHING ties back to the 4 syndicates, The Hutt Cartel, the elusive and suave Crimson Dawn, the ever-obnoxious Pykes, and the newly introduced hive minded Ashiga Clan. Which means balancing your relationships with each of them is fundamentally important. For instance, vendors will have different prices based on your rep with their respective syndicate, sometimes locking off certain items or missions if you are in truly bad standing. I loved navigating this delicate system of balancing syndicates, expect the Pykes. Nobody likes the Pykes. Your choices matter if you want to keep the right gangs happy, and every side quest is an opportunity to mess that relationship up. It’s easy to get caught up in the contracts and exploration, but the actual story only progresses with your crew coming together.
Ubisoft is well known for maps bloated with icons screaming at you DO THIS sometimes almost making the map feel useless. You usually would reveal these maps sections by climbing some kind of vantage point to get a lay of the land. Outlaws features no such mini-map or towers to climb, its Ui is minimal, and while the map is basic, the sheer number of things to do in this game is staggering. Dynamic events happen in the open world, breathing life into the planets you’re exploring. Exploration is also a massively appealing activity, with the promise of loot taking you to all kinds of interesting environments. There are speeder races, special caches and so much more to discover it’s easy to get lost in the sauce out there. I love that Massive decided to leave behind the glut of those maps for a more organic explorer approach, which make taking the time to just wander feel like a worthwhile endeavor. Amongst the various activities and missions are a good group of mini games, from Star Wars universe arcade cabinets (Which have some of the best music in the game) to Kessel Sabacc, a spin on the original Star Wars card game. For some reason, eating with Nix at street vendors is a quicktime event, which is weird but ultimately fine because look how cute Nix is chowing down! I guess the main issue here isn’t that the worlds aren’t full of stuff to do, but instead that they are full of stuff I just frankly don’t care to do. The rewards range from useless to redundant and aside from being a task to check off a list, I just didn’t find them engaging enough to bother with. Its admirable that Ubisoft and Massive tried to break away from so many of the tentpole Ubisoftisms but the stealth gameplay of Outlaws feels boxed in. Thats because Ubisoft forgot the first rule of good stealth; the Jazz.
Before we can really talk about Star Wars Outlaws gameplay, first we need to talk about jazz. Stealth gameplay is like a box of instruments that you play in an improvised show, sneaking around on the high-hat, then oooo the piano starts in and your sabotaging alarms. Now the sax is in and you’re smooth sliding around corners subtly making your way through a restricted area. Even when you get spotted, that’s just the drums picking up with the trumpets for a big swell, but you can get back to that smooth sailing light fingers gameplay by outsmarting the enemies. A great example of this is Metal Gear Solid V. You can free-form jazz all over that game, no handlebars holding you to a path. Star Wars Outlaws is like big band jazz on the other hand. Sheet music that needs to be played in just the right way to really work. It still has that jazzy feel, but you can’t really improve because there just isn’t room for a sick sax solo in this rigid structure. A lot of that comes down to Kay’s incredibly simplistic stealth that simultaneously feels like a low-key Watch Dogs sequel and an attempt to replicate combat encounters of Uncharted. Nix is basically a much cuter hacking device from Watch_Dogs, he can blow up canisters, sabotage alarms, steal items and even create distractions for Kay to quietly take down foes. But the real reason stealth doesn’t do it for me is that its rules are inconsistent throughout the game. Sometimes you get spotted, the enemy pulls an alarm, and you are able to adapt, run , hide and return to stealth. Other times, instant fail stealth rears its ugly head, forcing you to replay the same area over and over and over again. Its a shame because none of the stealth mechanics here are bad, they just lack variety and adaptability. There is much here that implies a great concept but fails to deliver. Like sure you can stealth take down baddies, if loudly punching dudes in the face counts as stealth, but then you have no way to hide the evidence. When a horde of overly curious Stormtroopers started getting nosey, there are few if any places to actually hide. No haybales or closets or even the ability to drop down a ledge. Which is probably why I spent most of the game playing this game more like Uncharted, sneaking as best I can but going loud for epic laser shootouts as soon as I got seen. I found this to be way more enjoyable overall. Outlaws is at its best when you are just barely surviving by out gunning and outwitting enemies. Unlocking mentors and new abilities only strengthens this approach, allowing you access to much better gunplay and more powerful moves. All this to say, I didn’t hate the stealth in the game, it can feel very Star Wars accurate but on the occasions the game FORCES me to do stealth, I found myself feeling frustrated and wondering why they would choose this.
Kay can also take to the stars in the Trailblazer, making a slick transition from ground to space. Out here, Kay can find different cargo missions, infiltrate Imperial outposts, and engage in dog fights. Flying the trailblazer is...fine, like driving a space pickup truck, it’s a little bulky and again the actual dog fights are a little too basic to stay interesting across the game. All the same, I loved soaring through the open stars looking for hidden loot and battling pirates and imperial Tie-fighters. I just wish these areas were a little larger. I got the feeling the game wanted to make The Trailblazer into a character in and of itself. After all, characters keep telling me how unique and special it is even though it doesn’t really scream those things in terms of design. Traveling through the void of space was an amusing time in short bursts but not something I sough to spend a lot of my time doing.
One thing the team at Massive absolutely killed it on is the visuals. Outlaws is a gorgeous visual splendor, full of richly detailed environments, vibrant and believable worlds that feel alive and moving, and some wonderfully accurate Star Wars characters. Jabba the Hutt is looking slimier than ever, Lando shows up rocking his gorgeous mustache and even Solo gets a shoutout in the form of Hans former fling gone full on crime boss, Quira. The Star Wars vibes are immaculate, a fantastic blend of modern-day Star Wars designs and old school Ralph McQuarrie concept art. I found myself in awe of many of the enchanting landscapes. Which is where my weakness was exposed, photo mode. I took a full books worth of photos during my playthrough. I couldn’t help it! Look at this lighting! Look at this water! You’re going to sit there and tell me this doesn’t look like something straight out of a concept art piece? Stop lying, this game is beautiful! Unfortunately, Outlaws pristine aesthetics may be one of the reasons I had 12 game crashes throughout my playthrough. Though, I will stand by the cinematic mode for this game, I think it adds a lot of flavors to the gameplay and presentation, if at the cost of some visibility.
The star of this game is its characters and story. Seeing the impact of the iron fist of the empire and the oppressive foot of the syndicates is maybe the first time we’ve been shown just how bad things were. Lots of characters tell us how widespread and diabolical these groups are in the movies but I actually saw the impact on regular people. No mystical laser sword wielding wizard here to save them, just a kindly scoundrel who may or may not screw them over. There are some really powerful side quests, especially on some of the mentor’s side. Also, I would kill for Nix. Nobody better lay a hand on him. Likewise, I found myself quickly growing attached to my crew, ND-5, a recommission Commando Droid, is another stand out. I didn’t expect the story to matter to the larger narrative of Star Wars but boy was I wrong. This is a Star Wars story worth experiencing.
Star Wars Outlaws is a solid game, despite my complaints I really did enjoy my time with it. Compelling characters that just needed a little more love, a fantastic story, and okay gameplay. Ultimately what makes me and I feel others, sour on this game is the potential for what it could have been. There is a lot of promise in the premise and Outlaws lack of truly unique identity makes it hard to find that promise. As a long time fan of this universe set so long ago in a galaxy so far far away, I’m glad this game is here, I imagine we will look more fondly on this title after some time has passed. I hope to see more of this style of game from the Star Wars universe, I give Star Wars Outlaws a 7/10. Now I’m off to ask the Jedi about the tragedy of 1313, though I fear its not a story I’ll get from the CEO of the Jedi. For Hardwired, I’m Andrew Hamilton.
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