Review - Star Wars Outlaws

Set out on an adventure in the Star Wars underworld

Star Wars Outlaws

• Ubisoft, Massive Entertainment

• Julian Gerighty, Mathias Karlson, and Lionel Le Dain

• August 30, 2024

• PC, PS5, Xbox Series Consoles

• Played on Xbox Series X

I am a casual Star Wars fan. While I like the franchise, I’m not one of the diehards for the most part. That being said, my history with Star Wars video games is mixed. Outside of the N64 era, I don’t have a history with the franchise’s entries in the gaming space. The closer we got to the release, the more excited I was for Star Wars Outlaws. The review scores did surprise me, but they were still positive, and I have a history of not always agreeing with critics. So, how did I feel about it? Well, I found myself playing what became both one of my favorite games of the year and one of the more frustrating games I’ve played.

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Plot & Characters

Star Wars Outlaws takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. You play as Kay Vess, a rogue and thief similar to Han Solo, but much more naive and new to the underground world in the galaxy. When a mission goes haywire, she and her pet Nix must find a way to assemble an elite team to execute a major heist. Along the way, you’ll talk to members and groups of the underworld and either get on their good side or have them hate you.

You’ll meet multiple characters, each with their allegiances and personalities. The Syndicates have their motivations and react to your dealings with others. You’ll have to closely monitor your relationships with the groups to ensure they don’t hate you, but you might have to betray even the ones you tend to side with to get necessary tasks done. These characters help make this world feel alive. I could feel the tension dealing with the groups and wanted to ensure I made the right decisions. The side characters are well-written, and I really liked a lot of them, but I did feel we could’ve had more time with them.

Kay Vess, the protagonist, I not only liked a lot, but she’s definitely in the running for my favorite character of the year. Kay has that charm like Han Solo, but she’s new enough to this world that she feels relatable when it comes to her reactions. There’s a backstory with her that does feel a bit predictable, but it didn’t get in the way. She’s accompanied by the cute and, quite frankly, loveable Nix, an alien-like creature that helps Kay. Nix doesn’t get in the way and is used well during the plot and gameplay. You’ll find yourself looking for ways to make him happy, and there’s a moment in Tatooine that made me invest in the little guy. You’re also joined by ND-5, a droid there to ensure you'll get the job done. There’s also Ank, one of the recruits you need (and I loved as a character), Geedek, bounty hunter Vail, Jaylen (who offers the heist job), and many more you’ll meet along the way. You may or may not see some familiar franchise characters make appearances, but not in a way that gets in the way of the story.

I love that the game doesn’t tie itself too much to the Star Wars movies. As someone who wants to see more stories not just based around the Jedi in the franchise, I dug how it mostly strayed from linking up to the films. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t connections or awesome easter eggs. There’s a moment in this game that is probably my favorite moment in the year so far, partly due to its connection to the movies. You will feel the world and characters come to life as you set out on your adventure. I can't entirely agree with those who have called the plot generic because I enjoyed the ride the entire time.

Gameplay & Fun Factor

The one thing that took me by complete surprise is that this game is more Metal Gear Solid than the third-person action adventure I thought I would get, and I don’t mean that in the high quality that Metal Gear Solid has. I’m unsure if I didn’t understand the marketing right, but the game is more stealth-based than action-based. I was caught off guard by this, and I believe this is one of the things that threw things off for critics. It wouldn’t be a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that I’m not super great at stealth in video games, and the design for the mechanic in the game is mixed. I was frustrated with the areas that made it mandatory that you couldn’t trigger an alarm. What annoyed me the most was that you could get pretty far and then end up getting caught, and you could end up having to start over back to the start of the mission. It doesn’t help that the stealth is pretty basic and doesn’t add anything new compared to past titles.

After that, many minor flaws slowly add up, giving me some frustrating gameplay sessions. The game is extremely buggy sometimes, though it never was game-breaking and mostly just got some chuckles. I didn’t feel the game did a good job telling you where to go, especially in the stealth portions. This particular issue was the number one thing that annoyed me the most about the game. If you want to upgrade your abilities and give Nix more skills, you have to seek them out, and if you're not up to doing a bunch of side missions, you can miss some pretty cool stuff. Lastly, the gunplay was mediocre, in my opinion. It's not bad by any means; it's just generic, and you’ll mostly be stuck with a blaster that tries to add upgrades. However, it never felt like a tool I enjoyed using and evolving. I loved a particular boss battle in terms of the surprise moment, but the mediocre gunplay made it frustrating. But the game can be so stealth-focused that you excuse it.

The most fun part of the game is the underworld dealings and the exploration aspects. As I said earlier, you’ll have to deal with multiple groups - the Pykes, the Ashiga Clan, Crimson Dawn, and the Hutt Cartel. I got a good reputation with the Pykes, started badly with Crimson Dawn but did enough to win their favor later, and got an excellent relationship with the Ashiga Clan. The Hutt Cartel hated my guts, and I didn’t care because Jabba can bite me. You’ll be faced with decisions on who to help and even have chances to betray them and change the deal to another group. It helped the underworld they put me in feel natural, and you can’t trust anybody.

Space exploration and battles are pretty fun, as well. I wasn’t a fan of Starfield’s spaceship fights, but it handles and plays well here. The game makes you feel like you are piloting a badass ship, rather than the simulation feel I got with Starfield. The speeder bike helps traverse the planet you’re on and handles well for the most part. It does have some quirks, and you need to be careful of your surroundings, but I had no issues using it. When you’re dealing with the underworld, getting in gun fights, assembling your team, and landing on a new planet, that’s when I felt like I was on an epic space adventure.

As for the whole Ubisoft formula, it is here, but they made it more accessible and easier to ignore if you want to. I don’t play a lot of Ubisoft games, and I’m starting to get tired of giant open world, so that was a worry of mine. While you need to do a lot of exploring and side missions to expand your abilities and skills, you can also stick to the main campaign, and it’ll play like a stealth-based Uncharted story. When you land on a planet, they’re not so big that it becomes overwhelming, and you’ll want to spend more time in the cities where the underworld is anyway. The game does a great job giving you the option; you can make this a 100+ hour venture or a 20+ hour story.

Graphics, Presentation, and Soundtrack

I want to give the developers major props for what they accomplished here. The world feels alive, from the planet's terrain to the cities to the density in said cities. It’s all done with a beautiful art style that fits the Star Wars look and showcases Ubisoft’s Snowdrop engine. It’s the small details that you’ll stop and stare at. It’s a beautiful game, but it’s not like that just to look pretty; every detail adds to the world. The different biodomes on the planets make each one feel different. It helps that every world you visit is new (other than Tatooine). It’s not only the graphics and art style but also the user interface. The style and text are straight from Star Wars while still having a new identity.

Then there’s the soundtrack. The score and music sound like Star Wars, but it’s not just reusing the old assets. The style is the same, but it’s got its feel and fits the world of thieves and thugs you’re dealing with. It’s one of the best video game soundtracks of the year and was one of the many ingredients that helped the world feel real. Each situation, planet, and part of the story used the right sound design and music to capture your adventure. If you played it for me without telling me where it’s from, I would tell you it’s from a new Star Wars movie. That’s pretty high praise for the composers.

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Grade - B

Recommended!

Star Wars Outlaws is best explained as a game that is nearly a masterpiece when it comes to putting you in a new aspect of the Star Wars world that feels like a more relatable and grittier part of the franchise that should be explored. However, the stealth-based missions, the addition of flaws that sometimes make it frustrating, and the disappointing gunplay prevent it from reaching the heights it could have. I had a lot of fun with Kay and Nix navigating the underworld and going on an exciting space adventure. Despite its flaws, this is a low-end A-tier game for me and a personal favorite for the year, but objectively, this is a B-tier solid game I could recommend to many players, but I will warn you that it’s got its issues. For the huge Star Wars fan, I would highly recommend trying it, as it respects the franchise well while showing you a new side. I hope to see more of Kay Vess, Nix, and the crew of the Trailblazer. This was a fun journey in a galaxy far, far away!

Pros

+ Solid protagonist in Kay Vess

+ Side characters are memorable and well done

+ Beautiful art style and presentation

+ You can skip the open-world stuff just enough and focus on the main story

+ Well done on balance and strategy regarding the underworld groups

+ Incredible soundtrack and score

+ Space battles are fun and well-designed

+ The world feels alive

+ Nix, Nix, and more Nix

Cons

- Warning: this is a primarily stealth-based game, which I didn’t expect

- Abilities and new skills are locked behind side missions

- Gunplay is disappointing and can be boring

- A lot of minor flaws that add up, such as bugs and confusion at times on where to go