Star Wars: Outlaws Review – A NEW HOPE FOR THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE?

Star Wars: Outlaws puts you in the boots of Kay Vess, who is on the run from Sliro, the leader of the Zerek Besh syndicate, after a heist gone wrong sees her flying off in one of his prized ships… Though with the amount of dust and cobwebs on that thing, one might have thought he didn’t care at all… Kay, a smuggler… Yes, she can do the Han Solo stance, then finds herself crash landed on a foreign planet and begins trying to find her way toward the core systems.

This narrative here is interesting. It focuses on Kay’s rise as a smuggler, whilst also trying to outrun the death mark that Sliro has placed on her. Though it seems that the story may not have been the main focus of the development team, it still does more than enough to intrigue you as you journey from planet to planet.

The Laws of the Galaxy

The story seems to be more of a conduit for the game’s main feature, the syndicate reputation system. Maintaining relationships with the various factions that you meet along the way is key to gaining access to restricted areas, including exclusive Sabacc tables (more on that later) as well as gaining valuable resources to upgrade Kay’s ship and equipment. There are all sorts of jobs to take on for different syndicates to increase your reputation. It isn’t that straightforward however, because working for one to increase your reputation often comes at the expense of another faction. So, you’ll have to decide who to align with and who to double cross. And there aren’t any “good guys” or “bad guys” here, so there is no real right or wrong way to go.

Interestingly, the empire takes a bit of a backseat in this story. The Storm Troopers play the role of the authority figures, which means you do indeed have a wanted level. Disrupt the peace enough and they will be hunting for you, even to the point of sending out death troopers to, well to ensure death…

“Never Tell Me The Odds”

The crux of making any good Star Wars game is in the combat and traversal. These key features need to be on point for a rewarding experience. Thankfully, Star Wars: Outlaws does fantastically in this department. The cover based shooting is exciting and pulling off headshots feels satisfying. The combat, interestingly enough, is more akin to the Uncharted series with Kay ducking into cover and giving the good old fashioned 3-punch knockout. It is pretty simple and feels great with the dual sense controller!

However, stealth is also a factor. This is where things can get a little bit more… interesting… The stealth mechanics are serviceable, but they are what you would expect from a typical Ubisoft game. Namely, enemies aren’t exactly well aware of their surroundings. Unless you walk across their path, it is unlikely that they will spot you.

Also, Ubisoft, can we please stop with the tall grass shenanigans… Not only does it feel really out of place in a Star Wars   game, but if you’re not going to even make the grass tall enough to actually hide Kay Vess, which is the entire point, then it just exaggerates the fact that it is a basic copy paste stealth mechanic rather than a feature that would make sense in this universe… Which is emphasised even more when you are so deeply immersed in the jungle that you struggle to see yourself, but are somehow still noticed by enemies…

As mentioned previously, you can indeed sit down and play a round of a Sabacc or two. Most planets have a high rollers table that have some requirements to join, but once you’re in, you have a way to a quick few credits… or you may walk away empty handed. So choose wisely!

I also have to make mention of the bugs in this game. They may not get in the way often, most of them just being the occasional texture glitch or issue off in the background, however, occasionally, you can get completely stuck, leading to either fast travelling to a previous location to get out, or having to restart a whole mission. This can be a little annoying when it happens, but thankfully it has been quite rare in my playthrough.

Blasting Your Way Through the Galaxy

Star Wars: Outlaws also doesn’t shy away from shootouts up above the atmosphere. Though you will be spending most of your time on a planet surface, there are still plenty of space pirates, goons and tie fighters to blast to even further outer space. Space combat feels great and the ship controls are simple. The main purpose of the space traversal is to get you from planet to planet, so don’t be surprised if you don’t find yourself in the cockpit that often.

Planetary Brilliance

Star Wars: Outlaws shines in its environments. I cannot fully express the excitement I felt the first time that I landed on Tatooine and fully started exploring the planet. Not only does it follow closely to what we have seen in the films, but the devs have also put a lot of work in to expand it to make it feel like a lively planet worth traversing. The same can be said for the many other planets that you will find yourself in. I mean, I even enjoyed walking around Canto Bight and Kajimi, despite them originating from the disastrous sequel trilogy. Each area is filled to the brim with unique locations to explore, people to meet and random events to take part in. Open world games need this to keep exploration from becoming a bland repetitive cycle, so it’s good to see that this was well thought out.

The Visual Design We’ve Come to Expect…

Admittedly, Star Wars: Outlaws is not the best looking game out there. The environment visuals look great, making exploring aesthetically pleasing, however, the character models look a little dated. This can make some of the dialogue look a bit awkward as characters faces occasionally flop out of sync to what is being said. Now this isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it can definitely break the immersion at times!

Decision

Star Wars: Outlaws is a great open world experience. Exploring the various planets is a sight to behold, and taking down syndicate goons and storm troopers is a lot of fun. Going into hyperdrive looks slick and really helps you feel the open ended nature of the game world. Whilst there are a few drawbacks in some of the character designs and stealth mechanics, these are pretty easy to overlook due to Outlaw’s overall brilliance. Star Wars: Outlaws is definitely worth picking up if you want an open world action set piece based in the Star Wars universe.

By Samuel Incze – Reviewed on PlayStation 5

Great

Star Wars Outlaws is a captivating new adventure that injects a fresh perspective into the beloved franchise. Though some design choices may raise eyebrows and the occasional glitch may interrupt the flow, it remains a worthwhile experience for fans craving a unique and exciting journey through the iconic universe.

This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Ubisoft. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.