A rollercoaster of emotions
There have been so many games in the Star Wars universe. Everything from strategy games to racing games to heck, even fighting games. One thing that I have always wanted though was a single player game that basically let me live in the universe, divorced from the main characters, and just kind of doing my own thing within the world of possibly my favorite backdrop. Star Wars Outlaws definitely wants to be that, and when it succeeds, it feels amazing. While I loved moments in this adventure, it had as many head-scratching moments of disappointment making this experience feel extremely uneven from start to finish.
Outlaws takes place in between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, which means it had the opportunity to cash-in on nostalgia. Instead, it focuses on newcomer Kay Vass and her little companion Nix. Kay is a nimble thief with a knack for picking locks and of course getting into plenty of messes. The game kicks off with Kay on a job to open a vault that quickly goes sideways. She is forced to escape in a hurry, and a stolen ship, then she crash lands on the planet of Toshara where her adventure begins.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99
This is where the game begins to open up and the real mission begins. One of my biggest gripes about Outlaws is how it starts. Not only is it slow and plodding, but the early stealth missions are also plagued with instafail garbage that gives the opening segments of the game a generally bad impression. I thought I was going to hate the game within the first 3-4 hours. Once the real mission kicks in and Kay is able to start the actual narrative though, the game really shines. Just living in this world is fun, it really gives off vibes of existing in a familiar universe at a familiar time, something Star Wars fans have clamored for.
Once things open up the game really gives the player freedom to do as they please. Kay gets her ship up and running and is tasked with tracking down a gallery of rogues as she plans a major heist. This opens space travel where Kay can choose when and where to go. The game doesn’t focus on a linear path and players are able to pick and choose how they want to tackle it. Each planet is like a mini open world area full of side quests and jobs to perform. Some of these are truly interesting and could have been main quests on their own. Then we get to the faction system, which adds a whole new layer to the game.
There are a handful of factions, each with their own jobs and characters to interact with. Kay can pick and choose who to help and who to betray. This also opens up new missions and even being able to freely walk in certain areas without suspicion. I loved making these choices, but like any game like this, people have found ways to exploit it and get all the factions on their side. Still, it is a great concept and makes the world feel alive. It felt like my choices mattered at times, even when they didn’t necessarily make a major difference.
This is mostly due to how great the characters are. There are multiple people I ran into in the game that will stick with me. The performances are really well done, and they feel like they have their own interests at heart. The worlds also help, just wandering around Tatooine was great and interacting with people along the way. Kay gets around via her speeder bike, which makes traversal easier. There is also fast travel, which I appreciate. They don’t litter the map with garbage, but instead opt to show things as they are discovered, which makes exploring the world extremely satisfying.
Now let’s break down the systems and mechanics in the game. Outlaws is a mix of stealth, platforming, and action. The opening sequences in the game are mostly stealth, which give off a really negative vibe. The stealth in this game is not ideal. Enemy AI can be sporadic at best, and moronic at worst. Nix can distract enemies and a lot of the time even if he is distracting one Stormtrooper, the one right next to him completely ignores it. The animations are also very delayed. Things such as stealth takedowns feel clunky and take forever to execute. This led to me being spotted multiple times.
Nix is the big “gimmick” mechanic here. He can do a variety of actions and works relatively well. Holding down the button lets you see what he can do, while objects in the environment will showcase a trigger that you can simply tap to execute. He can steal, collect items, open vents, distract guards, and more. Without Nix this game would be even more miserable in the stealth parts.
Of course, any game like this has upgrades. In Outlaws I love that doing certain things for specific people unlocks new abilities. For example, performing a set number of takedowns might unlock a new ability, almost like collecting crafting materials. You can even pin these to your quest log to see the progress. Kay also collects various items including her gun, grappling hook, and speeder bike that can be upgraded by collecting crafting parts or completing jobs for specific people. These are meaningful upgrades as well. Very few things I could obtain, or upgrade felt arbitrary. In fact, the fast talk ability should be the first thing players get, it really helps make the stealth more tolerable.
Combat is fickle at best. The shooting feels fine but could be a lot better. Kay only gets one primary weapon, but she can pick up enemy weapons. Sadly, they have limited ammo, and she drops them anytime she climbs or performs another action. The gun itself has a variety of modes including a stun that can be used for various enemies and puzzles. I wish it was a little more explained though. They are just symbols, so I was mostly guessing, and during combat that is not fun. Nix can also attack enemies, which keeps them from shooting you. It is best to master this as Kay takes a lot of damage and does not regenerate health, at least not at first. So, you have to use healing items to restore health.
The visuals in Outlaws feel like the rest of the game, inconsistent. Sometimes they are absolutely jaw dropping. The vistas look amazing, and the detail is incredible. Other times it looks really washed out and the resolution is so low it looks fuzzy and blurry. There are three performance modes with a quality 30fps mode, a 40fps middle ground, and the performance 60 fps. None of them are perfect. I opted mostly for the 60fps mode as 40 didn’t really add that much in the way of detail and the 30fps mode just felt too slow for me. The sound is great as the voice actors are outstanding and the music is more original and doesn’t rely on the standard tunes we have heard a thousand times before.
Star Wars Outlaws is a rollercoaster of a game that I loved and hated in different ways. I could be having the time of my life one minute, and the next be frustrated and want to turn it off. It feels like a game that with some tweaks, could be a classic. I think after a while it will iron out and be remembered as a truly fun and great game. As of now it has a lot of issues out of the box, and its inconsistency makes it harder to recommend outside the most hardcore of Star Wars fans.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
