I’ve been a Star Wars fan ever since I was a kid, introduced to the franchise via the original trilogy of films. While the quality of Star Wars media has fluctuated over the years, there have indeed been a few decent Star Wars video games to grace our consoles. But for every Knights of the Old Republic, there’s also a Masters of Teräs Käsi. Look up that latter option, we dare you.
So where does Star Wars Outlaws fall into the mix? In many ways, this latest Star Wars outing brings a sense of lighthearted fun along with a gorgeous, dense open world to explore and play in.
I certainly have gripes with the game, mainly stemming from its jarring stealth system. But while it’s ultimately a serviceable experience, I also wish it wasn’t pieced together with aspects and mechanics from other existing third-person and open-world adventures.
The Ultimate Score
Taking place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, players fill the boots of Kay Vess, an up-and-coming scoundrel, who is unwittingly caught up in a war between rival crime bosses. The game begins with an admittedly awesome heist gone wrong, as Kay narrowly escapes and has to recuperate with a new gang of thieves and smugglers, to set the wrongs right and finally close in on that first big score.
Accompanied by Nix, her loveable sidekick, we get around 20 hours of cinematically engaging main missions, each with a sense of flair and fun. It’s essentially a swashbuckling Uncharted-style narrative in terms of its pacing and witty humour, but I also think none of it feels particularly original.
It’s far from terrible, but I also feel like you could have put any other smuggler like Han Solo in Kay’s place, and we wouldn’t be asking too many questions. However, we would then lose Nix, and I’m not sure I could handle that.
The writing is generally decent and the voice acting consistently engaging, with most main missions progressing the story at a breakneck pace, which I didn’t mind at all. Visually, character models are also super sharp and detailed, but I wish the lip-syncing in certain cutscenes and conversations was a little more precise.
There’s also plenty of side content to uncover as you explore Star Wars Outlaws’ open worlds set across four main planets, but we’ll touch on that a little later.
As far as the main villain goes, I also wish we got a little more. The game immediately boots into a cutscene in which our main villain Sliro, converses with the heads of the other four syndicates, essentially asserting his dominance by having them eliminated, Godfather-style.
It’s a great cutscene, but Sliro unfortunately fades into the background for most of the narrative after that point. His presence is felt as a massive bounty is placed on your head, but I wish there was a more personal quarrel up front.
Overall, the story is safe yet serviceable, and thanks to its great pacing, never really overstays its welcome as far as the main narrative is concerned. It’s still a letter to the franchise, and thanks to some recognisable characters and locations, it’s still a worthwhile adventure.
Shoot From the Hip
In terms of gameplay, there’s a fair bit you’ll be doing as you fight and explore. In terms of outright combat, things feel relatively familiar, as Kay is equipped with a main blaster pistol that can be upgraded throughout the story. This is not your traditional Jedi tale; gone are the force powers and lightsabers.
Kay must rely on her weapons and gear, each with their own unique purpose. Cover-based gunplay is punchy and responsive, and the sound effects largely help the experience feel both engaging and faithful.
While the blaster is with you at all times, Kay can also pick up secondary weapons like blaster rifles from fallen Stormtroopers, but it’s honestly annoying how you have to drop them when you have no use for them anymore. Even then, Kay drops them when scaling the environment and using other items, making it annoying to have to pick up time and again.
Kay has access to a special Adrenaline Rush move that acts like Red Dead Redemption’s Dead Eye ability, in which multiple enemies can be marked and killed immediately, one after another. While it’s a cool move, I also don’t like that it’s your only option for fending off enemies while on the Speeder Bike.
Nix is also a handy and upgradeable companion in both stealth and combat. Nix can attack certain enemies, making them susceptible to a devastating follow-up attack from Kay, and can even sabotage certain things like alarms and even set off certain traps in the environment.
By holding the left bumper button on Xbox, or L1 on PlayStation, you can command Nix on the fly, telling him where to go and what to do with the tap of a button. He can even distract enemies and cameras, allowing you to slip by undetected.
As far as stealth goes, things could be a little better. Once again, you’ve played it all before, but I simply don’t like how particular stealth sections are mandatory. While certain missions allow you to sneak around until caught, with the option to resort to combat, some missions and areas simply require you to remain undetected the entire time.
Once you’re caught, there is no option to resort to offensive measures and Kay is instead thrown out of the area to try again.
Thankfully, there are multiple ways to enter areas, should the need arise, and this makes the world feel not only dense but that much more engaging as you’re always prompted to explore every nook and cranny. Traversal in these areas is also incredibly versatile, as Kay can scale walls and ledges to access vantage points and can even use a grappling hook to cross gaps and access lower areas.
You’ll also be able to whip around larger open areas on a Speeder Bike, which can also be upgraded, although it gets a little choppy when riding over rugged areas and drops. You’ll also be able to use your stolen ship, the Trailblazer to hop between four planets, and space combat isn’t too bad at all.
Environments in space are super detailed and diverse, and the controls are simple enough in terms of both traversal and combat. While hopping in and out of planets is done via a dedicated cutscene, it’s also done without any cuts and it’s super impressive.
Chop and Change
Along the way, Kay will need to deal with four different syndicates, being the Pykes, Crimson Dawn, Hutt Cartel and the Ashiga Clan. You’ll do various missions for each of them, increasing or decreasing your reputation with each, which has various effects on gameplay and exploration. For example, favouring one syndicate might allow you to explore certain areas in peace and even gain access to exclusive areas and cosmetic rewards.
Syndicates with poor reputations and relationships simply make things harder for you. You’re not able to explore certain areas without attracting some sort of heat, and this even plays into main missions, which require you to go to certain places regardless. Your reputation with that syndicate will then change how that mission is dealt with, which is a nice touch.
Kay can even double-cross certain syndicates mid-mission, automatically increasing or decreasing your reputation with a rival gang by making a particular choice. The fun part isn’t trying to please all four syndicates, but choosing when and where to create and strengthen alliances depending on where you want to go and what you want to do.
While it’s an essential part of the gameplay, it doesn’t detract from the story or offer up multiple endings, so you can play it however you want in terms of favouring a particular syndicate.
While most of the side content feels dedicated to this syndicate system, there are also other things to do. You can track down collectibles and resources to upgrade your gear and vehicles, compete in Speeder Bike races, hack terminals with your Data Slice via a basic yet repetitive minigame, and even come across random events where a stranger will ask for help. These missions don’t stack up to the more boisterous main missions, but they once again help the world feel dense and lived in, which greatly helps with immersion.
Look the Part
Visually, Star Wars Outlaws is stunning. Its jam-packed cities and environments are filled with detail and charisma. There’s people walking around doing their own thing, and having their own conversations. In more baron areas, you can see the breeze affecting trees and plants in the distance as you take in the views. Everything is crisp and detailed, even if I wish the lip-syncing was more accurate.
The game is presented in a 21:9 widescreen ratio for a more cinematic look which I loved, but this can be turned off via the game’s settings.
In terms of performance, things also fare pretty well. I reviewed this on the Xbox Series X and rarely had any significant frame rate drops across any situation. Texture pop-ins were slightly more noticeable in certain areas, but nothing ever detracted from the overall experience.
There’s a dedicated Quality Mode that prioritises a 4K resolution at 30 FPS and a Performance Mode that kicks things up to 60 FPS while downgrading resolution.
The alternate 40 FPS Quality Mode offers the best blend between the two and is the mode I recommend, in addition to turning off or down the motion blur, which feels quite high here by default.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had fun with Star Wars Outlaws. While I wish its flaws weren’t as pronounced and it showed a little more originality, it’s still a safe and serviceable adventure set in the Star Wars universe. Combat is punchy and functional, while the gorgeous visuals and solid performance make for a consistently enjoyable experience.
I wish the stealth mechanics weren’t forced on you, and is something I feel I really couldn’t get over throughout my time with it. There’s also not much you haven’t seen before in terms of its mechanics and broader gameplay systems. But at the same time, Star Wars Outlaws is worth checking out for hardcore and casual fans alike.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Highlights: Gorgeous visuals and performance; Sfae yet functional gameplay; Engaging and fun narrative
Lowlights: Forced stealth sections run pacing and dynamic nature of the open world
Developer: Massive Entertainment, Massive Entertainment AB
Publisher: Ubisoft, Lucasfilm Games LLC
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC
Available: Now
Review conducted on Xbox Series X with a pre-release code provided by the publisher.
