Star Wars Outlaws Review
Explore the galaxy as a scoundrel in Star Wars Outlaws. Enjoy breathtaking landscapes, thrilling missions, and a lovable companion, Nix.
Star Wars Outlaws lets you experience thrill of being rogue in iconic Star Wars universe. Developed by Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment, this action-adventure game delivers authentic Star Wars experience with engaging gameplay. Whether you’re taking down crime syndicates sneaking through strongholds with your companion Nix or exploring beautiful worlds there’s always something exciting to do.
The game includes familiar Ubisoft features like The Division’s pulse mechanic, Assassin’s Creed-style eavesdropping and hacking from Watch Dogs, blending these elements into a fun experience. However, it does have some downsides such as repetitive quests and slow travel sections that can disrupt the flow.
Expansive and beautiful worlds created by Ubisoft are evident in Star Wars Outlaws where you can explore, discover and enjoy a wealth of detailed settings and impressive vistas without usual clutter of question marks.
Game excels in capturing the essence of Star Wars. From its aesthetics and style to its audio and overall ambiance, everything feels authentically Star Wars. Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Outlaws immerses you in the Star Wars universe with the beeps of droids, alien chatter in cantinas and detailed designs of buildings, ships, and apparel.
You’ll visit beautifully realized landscapes like the vast emptiness of Tatooine and the lush greenery of Akiva as well as immersive cities like the wintry Kijimi City, which has quickly become a personal favorite. Traveling between these planets is smooth and enjoyable thanks to Kay’s spaceship, The Trailblazer with transitions between space travel, landing, and exiting being exceptionally cool and quick.
However, traveling on-planet with your speeder becomes less exciting over time. Initially, it’s fun to navigate and get used to how it accelerates and handles but eventually, I found myself relying more on fast travel options or speeding straight between locations as novelty of the speeder wore off.
Why You Like Me: I’m a Scoundrel
Through the perspective of the protagonist Kay Vess and her animal companion Nix, the experience in this game comes to life as you explore various worlds and locations. Kay is a really endearing character, and what sets her apart is that she’s just a regular person exploring the galaxy without the use of lightsabers or a mysterious Force. Despite having obvious Han Solo influences, Kay is a strong, independent woman with distinct traits that distinguish her from Harrison Ford’s legendary figure. She is also a rogue and scoundrel.
One of the most striking aspects of Kay’s character is her relationship with Nix, her animal companion. Nix is much more than just a sidekick or travel buddy; there is a strong bond between them that is evident in everything they do together. One of the most charming examples of this bond is when they eat street food together in wholesome quicktime events.
These moments aren’t just cute—they highlight the deep connection between Kay and Nix. The food they share even gives Nix bonuses or new skills, which makes their relationship even more meaningful. This bond between them quickly drew me in, making their adventures and challenges feel more personal, especially during a memorable rescue mission that really struck a chord with me.
In the game, Nix plays a crucial role in complementing Kay’s scoundrel and thief-like actions. He’s not just there for companionship; Nix can help in combat by temporarily disabling enemies and is invaluable in stealth situations. He can retrieve items, power off devices, and distract guards, allowing Kay to move undetected. This teamwork between Kay and Nix enhances the gameplay, making the scoundrel role even more engaging.
The scoundrel roleplay is one of the game’s greatest strengths. Whether you’re sneaking around, picking locks, or hacking into bases to steal valuable items, the game offers a rich and immersive experience. You’ll find yourself planning missions, searching for parts and upgrades for your blaster, speeder, or ship, and completing a variety of quests to improve your standing with different crime syndicates. The depth of the game lies in these scoundrel activities.
There’s so much to do, from taking on contracts and gathering intel to exploring the world and eavesdropping on conversations. The mini-game of Sabacc, a card game within the game, adds another layer of fun, making you wish for a standalone version of it.
Overall, game offers a brilliant rogue’s life, filled with excitement, strategy and a deep connection between Kay and Nix that makes the adventure truly special.
Don’t Count on It
Star Wars Outlaws features some of the most intriguing landscapes in the game for its missions and tasks. Every place has been carefully planned to produce engaging, stand-alone experiences. For instance: you might find yourself sailing among the corroding wreckage of massive ships, giving your missions air of grandeur and historical significance.
Playing as Kay brings these settings to life even more as she employs a cunning and subtle strategy. Game urges you to utilize various paths that are open to you in practically every quest. Here, stealth is essential. You’ll need to covertly disable guards, set up distractions, silence alarms and damage equipment. In addition to being exciting, this meticulous technique highlights that Kay is a regular person—a thief and outlaw—who depends more on cunning and cunning than on force. It is very exciting to perfect these infiltrations as a weak character, and it gives the games a more realistic touch.
However, these missions also highlight some of the game’s more frustrating aspects. The checkpoint system can be quite unforgiving, causing you to lose significant progress if you make even a small mistake. Some of the side quests also suffer from repetitiveness, following a predictable pattern of: ‘go to the place, infiltrate the place, find the thing in the place, fight some enemies in the place, leave the place.’ While the variety in environments is a strength, the repeated use of similar infiltration tactics, like finding vents to bypass areas, scaling cliff edges and building ledges, and climbing ladders, can feel monotonous. And yes, there are a lot of ladders.
The traversal mechanics don’t do much to alleviate this monotony. While Kay’s grappling hook is a useful tool, it can only be used in a few specific spots, and the animations are sluggish, making the process feel slow. The climbing on walls and grates, which brings to mind games such as Uncharted, is really basic and unremarkable. Navigating these otherwise rich environments should be exciting, but it loses that element, making the game’s traversal components feel flat and uninteresting.
Star Wars Outlaws has some of the greatest stealth gameplay and environments, but its missions are also hampered by tedious side quests, annoying checkpoints, and drab navigation methods. Even with these problems, the game is still enjoyable, especially for players who want to take control of a rogue character in a well-developed setting.
Kay’s Abilities and Tools: The Highlights
In “Star Wars Outlaws,” utilizing Kay’s diverse skills and instruments is among the most thrilling gaming experiences. You’ll discover when you finish tasks that her abilities greatly enhance depth and fun of encounter.
Hacking and Cracking Codes
Kay can hack into security systems and computers by matching simple codes. This ability is pretty straightforward, but it’s her data spike tool that really stands out. Using this tool, you’ll have to match inputs rhythmically with a click sound and a light flash to unlock doors or access secure areas. This feature demands a bit of skill and makes hacking more engaging.
Learning from the Best
Kay doesn’t just level up or acquire new abilities randomly; she needs to find experts who can teach her. This makes her progress feel well-earned and adds to the sense that she’s living the life of a scoundrel, learning skills that are essential for her survival and success. It ties in beautifully with the world-building, making you feel like an active participant in this universe, rather than just someone passing through.
Adrenaline Ability
Another cool ability is Kay’s adrenaline boost. This allows her to tag enemies and take them out with precision, almost like a “dead-eye” mechanic. It’s incredibly satisfying, especially when you’re being chased by stormtroopers and need to make a quick getaway.
Blasters and Ammunition
Kay’s blaster is versatile and can be upgraded throughout the game. She starts with three types of ammunition: basic plasma shots, ion shots for disrupting shields, and a powerful charged shot. Upgrading the blaster allows you to customize it to your playstyle, whether you want faster recharges or more powerful blasts.
Hand-to-Hand Combat and Stealth Takedowns
Kay’s hands feel powerful in hand-to-hand fighting, and depending on the situation, she can execute some really amazing maneuvers. Stealth takedowns, however, might be improved. It can be annoying to feel like they’re moving slowly while you’re attempting to move fast and avoid being noticed.
Crime Syndicate and Reputation System
A major factor in the game is crime syndicate and reputation system. This is a meaningful mechanic that greatly influences how you play.
Interacting with Crime Syndicates
There are four crime syndicates in the game, each with its own power and influence. Kay’s reputation with these groups changes based on the missions she completes. As her reputation shifts, so does the way these factions interact with her. For example, if she’s in good standing, she might get preferential treatment, but if she falls out of favor, she could be attacked on sight.
Balancing Relationships
Keeping all of syndicates satisfied at once is practically impossible. This adds strategic element and makes you think twice before making decisions on dialogue or missions to accept. It feels crucial to make every decision you make because it might have instant and lasting effects.
Scoundrel Life: A Compelling Star Wars Experience
When all elements of “Star Wars Outlaws” come together, they create a truly immersive experience.
A Unique Star Wars Adventure
The game offers a unique take on the Star Wars universe, focusing on the life of a scoundrel rather than a Jedi. This fresh perspective makes for an engaging and enjoyable adventure, despite some flaws.
Accessibility and Player Experience
The game also offers a wide range of accessibility options, allowing players to tailor their experience to their needs. Whether it’s adjusting the difficulty or tweaking visual and audio settings, there’s plenty of room to make the game work for you.
Should You Play Star Wars Outlaws?
Play it if…
- You love open-world Star Wars games and want to explore new environments.
- You enjoy playing as a rogue character navigating the underworld of the Star Wars universe.
- You’re a fan of Ubisoft-style open-world games with plenty of side content to dive into.
Don’t play it if…
You’re looking for a Jedi-focused, lightsaber-wielding adventure. In that case, you might want to try the Star Wars Jedi series instead.
Star Wars Outlaws Pros and Cons
| 👍 Pros | 👎 Cons |
|---|---|
| 🌟 Stunning Star Wars look and design | ⏳ Frustrating checkpoints |
| 🎮 Playing as a scoundrel is fun | 🔄 Repetitive quests |
| 🕵️ Engaging underworld experience | 🧗 Boring climbing sections |
| 🐾 Nix is a helpful companion | 👎 |
| 👤 Relatable protagonist | 👎 |
Conclusion
Despite some flaws, “Star Wars Outlaws” is one of most enjoyable games of the year and a must-play for any Star Wars fan. It successfully captures essence of being scoundrel in a galaxy far, far away offering a compelling mix of story, gameplay and world-building.
