Say what you will about Ubisoft’s corporate practices and the controversies surrounding their recent games, but what they’ve shown of Star Wars Outlaws has nailed that authentic Star Wars tone and atmosphere to a tee. I’ve found myself particularly hard to please in this regard, mostly due to Disney’s treatment of the legendary franchise. But to my surprise, Star Wars Outlaws shares a lot of the authenticity found in the original trilogy. Star Wars Outlaws features five large locations to explore, and of course, the iconic desert Tatooine is one of them. Since Outlaws is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, we’ll be getting a first-hand experience of the criminal underpinnings surrounding the Hutts.
Being able to fully explore Jabba’s Palace and take on jobs for the big Hutt himself seems almost too good to be true for a Star Wars fan. The infamous Hutt Cartel is one of many syndicates you can partner with in Outlaws. You’ll be chatting up familiar characters like Jabba’s right-hand critter Salacious Crumb as well as Bib Fortuna, and it’s even confirmed that Han Solo’s carbonite body will make an appearance. While Boba Fett hasn’t been confirmed, I’d bet some big galactic credits he at least gets a cameo, though I’d be especially keen to interact or join up with him on a bounty.
Players rightfully got upset when Ubisoft announced the “Jabba’s Gambit” mission as an absurd $109.99 Gold Edition exclusive. The developer has since assured us that the Hutt Cartel syndicate as a whole is not affected by the exclusive mission, so we can still expect a whole lot of Jabba the Hutt content regardless of the edition. Since we’re on the topic of Tatooine, Star Wars Outlaws even allows you to trade with Jawas. Just like in Episode IV, you’ll find Jawas standing in front of massive Sandcrawler transports selling malfunctioning Gonk Droids and various other heaps of scrap. One of the preview quests showcases a quest retrieving a Sarlacc tooth to trade for a useful ship turret, perfect for dogfights around an orbit. How much more ‘Star Wars’ can you get? These kinds of flavorful quests are littered throughout the game. While some quests may be hit or miss, like how empty the dead Sarlacc is in this case, there’s no denying how unmistakably ‘Star Wars’ the scenarios, characters, and environs are. I’m looking forward to seeing what other situations Kay Vess and her rodent-like companion Nix find themselves in, even if they don’t reach the heights of The Witcher 3 or GTA‘s quests.
Of course, there’s more than just familiar scenarios and locations to experience in Star Wars Outlaws. The game manages to exude rich worldbuilding and environmental storytelling for brand-new locales such as the savannah-like moon of Toshara. Toshara is your quintessential open environment, but it’s also brimming with rich Star Wars worldbuilding. The vast savannah plains are dotted with objectives and stuff to explore and can be traversed on your speeder bike. The cities within Toshara couldn’t be more vividly contrasted with the surrounding plains. Mirogana is a valley city tucked against, and under, a giant arched butte-like mountain. The savannah atmosphere quickly disappears as Kay and Nix pass the Stormtrooper-lined security checkpoint using a fake ID to get into the downtown area. Wafts of smoke and beams of neon lights pervade the densely populated cityscape almost dissipating the outdoorsy charm completely. But they didn’t just copy/paste cantinas across locations.
The inner-city dons decor specifically suited to Toshara’s savannah-like surface, with canyon walls delicately carved to serve as the walls and pillars and native indigenous plants lined against the shelving. Besides the rich environmental details differentiating each area, NPCs chatter about local disputes and goings-on, usually related to the Pyke syndicate running things in that particular sector of Mirogana. Slapping a bow onto the rich atmosphere is the authentically scored soundtrack, which sounds like a subdued and ambient take on John Williams’ classic work. When music isn’t playing, your earbuds still get a treat in the form of authentic Star Wars sound effects. Seriously, pay attention to how strong the sound design is in Outlaws. From the chirping of native insects to the whirring of your speeder bike engine, these are quintessential Star Wars sound effects. It’s hard to not feel satisfied when you’re chilling in Tatooine playing Sabacc to some classic Williams-esque music and the cries of a Gonk Droid buzzing about behind you.
The way Star Wars Outlaws organically dishes out minigames to the player is surprisingly antithetical to Ubisoft’s usual checklist mentality. You walk into characters playing card games and betting on holographic races. There’s no pop-up checklist or quest to play the minigames (that we’ve seen); you just interact with them when you feel like it. Other subtle activities not spelled out to the player include leaning on railings to enjoy the view of a landscape, petting Banthas, and listening in on the many conversations (and fights) between random NPCs populating the game. At the end of the day though, we’re still playing an open-world game, so a majority of activities are initiated by marking it on the menu and following the waypoint to the location. I never expected this to be a Rockstar GTA-like experience. Sure, you can bring your wanted level to six and have a horde of Imperial Stormtroopers coming after you, but this is more of a feature inside a game than a game-changer GTA experience. If you’ve ever wanted to live in a corner of the Star Wars galaxy like I have, exploration has many delights within Star Wars Outlaws, even if it is structured like a typical Ubisoft game.
Stealth is another thing I’m excited to try out in Star Wars Outlaws. Previews have cited Outlaws‘ stealth as laborious and slow, but I think I’d get a kick out of it based on my preferences. Maybe it’s because I just really love Splinter Cell: Choas Theory, or because I’m looking for something slightly different from your usual lightsaber duels, but having to remain unseen and careful about your movement is rather enticing. Using environmental objects like exploding barrels and such just adds to the environmental awareness required, which is a plus if you love taking a closer look at all the Star Wars doodads decorating the environs.
As such, Outlaws features maze-like levels with more nooks and crannies than other Star Wars games, allowing you to see more of the galaxy’s seedy underbelly not shown in other games. Some of your gadgets include a ranged hacking device, grappling hook, and data spike lockpicking. I’m impressed by how these stealth gadgets function and control in-game, especially the lockpicking, which as we all know has a reputation for being bad in video games. Of course, you can always solve things with your blasters if you hate slinking around unseen in the shadows. Outlaws makes a blaster build very doable with a wealth of upgrades and temporary heavy weapons that Nix grabs off of enemies for you to use. Even though I’m most excited by the stealth gameplay, Outlaws still allows a variety of styles to get through its situations.
And regarding stealth, Massive Entertainment, who worked on Tom Clancy’s The Division, was itself made up of former Splinter Cell staff. And then you have the upcoming Splinter Cell remake, being made in the same Snowdrop engine as Star Wars Outlaws. Outlaws doesn’t just have some stealth elements in it, it’s got that classic Ubisoft stealth spanning across decades.
Outlaws would probably not satisfy every Star Wars fan. But it does so much right where it really matters. That authentic Star Wars atmosphere and worldbuilding are all here, as well as a plethora of open-world activities that players can engage themselves in for months at a time. Whether you’re interested in the stealth or want to play like a GTA gang member, Star Wars Outlaws is sure to provide some satisfaction based on what we’ve seen of the previews.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
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