Facebook
Reddit
Email
The latest Star Wars game, Outlaws, is a solid addition to its universe and sets the standard for modern open-world games.
Star Wars Outlaws is the latest title set in the greater Star Wars universe. The new open-world game was developed by Massive Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games and published by Ubisoft. The game has been mired in a bit of controversy since its reveal because of its pricing model and gameplay examples that look fairly average. However, after playing the game for nearly 20 hours, I am happy to report that it is a stellar (pun absolutely intended) video game.
Star Wars Outlaws Gameplay – Familiar but Still Unique
Anyone who has ever played an open-world Ubisoft game knows how they play. The player is dropped into the open world with more and more activities becoming available as they progress through the story. That familiar cadence is still present in Star Wars Outlaws, but this isn’t a bad thing. In fact, the familiarity with that system is all that stopped me from becoming overwhelmed in the huge world of Outlaws. There are main quest, side quest, hidden intel to discover, treasures to uncover, and so much more. Most importantly, the game does let you pet Nix at anytime.
The game is full of various gameplay elements that all flow seamlessly together. You will sometimes lead Kay on a stealth mission through an Imperial Station, and then immediately have to blast her way out when she is discovered. Space Combat is prevalent throughout the game and while its no flight simulator, it does feel good and enjoyable to blast TIE Fighters out of the sky from inside the Trailblazer. Kay will have to listen in on conversations, bribe contacts, and sweet-talk various people of power to gain intel on how to finish out her contracts and get out ahead. And these are all just scratching the surface. The gameplay is deep and the more you invest in it the more you will get out of it.
Star Wars Outlaws Graphics – Stylized but Realistic
I played Star Wars Outlaws on my PC, and I have to say it was beautiful. Each environment is crafted in a way that looks real, while still keeping that Star Wars Universe style. The cities feel full of life and lovely in a gritty sort of way. The environments of the planets all feel unique and realistic enough to not seem out of place. From the windy plains of Toshara to the snowy peaks of Kijimi, the worlds feel alive in their own ways. While there are ways they hide the loading walls, the seamless transition to space exploration is amazing to behold.
Graphics are one of those things where people’s preferences and mileage may vary. What one person likes and what I like are going to be two different things. The power of the system being played on is going to play a huge part in how things are going to look for each individual. All that being said, the graphics and art in this game are truly out of this world and its hard not to feel like your really there.
Star Wars Outlaws Sound Design
This will be the shortest section of my review, but not because it’s bad. On the contrary, Star Wars Outlaws has some of the best sound design in a video game I’ve played. The voice acting, the background noise, and the music immerse the player into the world perfectly. I had to tweak certain aspects of my graphics and gameplay settings to make everything feel right in those aspects of the game. I didn’t once touch the sound or even turn anything down or up.
A Classic Heist Story Filled with Rich Characters
Outlaws immediately sets the stage and shows you who most of the major characters are in the first minutes of the game. Sliro is established very strongly as a villain no one should cross. Kay and Nix, the dynamic duo of our story, are shown to be competent but down on their luck. Kay dreams of escaping her home of Canto Bight, and that dream directly leads to the events of the game. Sliro and Kay get thrown directly into conflict right at the start. That conflict leads to Kay meeting the other major players in the story, ND-5 and Jaylan Vrax. At this point, the world truly opens up and the narrative evolves into a classic Heist story.
The story in Star Wars Outlaws is full of twists and turns. Kay will make friends and enemies. Those enemies become friends later on while the friends she made previously will betray her. Each character, even the minor ones, feels fleshed out and real. They seem to have wants and desires separate from just the gameplay aspect of them being there. Every character adds to the story, and some show back up in unexpected ways. The story of Outlaws is one worth experiencing completely.
Is Star Wars Outlaws Fun?
I went into Star Wars Outlaws expecting an adequate, but fairly straightforward experience. I came out of it completely blown away. Star Wars Outlaws makes you want to keep playing more and more. The stealth aspects of the game are some of the best stealth mechanics I’ve seen in a game in a while. The story and characters pull you into the game and make you want to keep investing more and more into it. You will constantly be chasing something new and it is easy to almost get overwhelmed by all the choices available to you. Star Wars Outlaws should be played through once at the minimum if you are a fan of the Universe. I plan on playing the game even more now that I’ve reviewed it. It is one of the more fun experiences I’ve had with a game in a long time.
Critiques of Note
Despite my absolute love of Outlaws, some things negatively affected my playthrough and I wanted to mention them here. A lot of these things are correctable completely or at the very least made bearable by changing some settings. See the list of my critiques and any applicable fixes below:
- There is a street food minigame that is quirky in the beginning but overstays its welcome and becomes tedious after a while. This is my only gripe with a minigame in the entire game.
- The game starts with auto-sprint turned on. Turn this off in settings. You will miss so much just sprinting through the streets.
- The default camera angle of the speeder is awful and it doesn’t stay put if you adjust it. Turn off Mouse Steering in settings to make your experience better.
- Sometimes voice lines don’t sync properly with the gameplay. This may just be an issue with the review version and be fixed once the game is fully released though as there were a lot of graphical quirks in the review copy.
Star War Outlaws, despite all of its negative press, is shaping up to be a stellar experience. I initially only played this game to write this review, but now I can’t wait to play it more without worrying about how it measures up to its competition. While I don’t believe Star Wars Outlaws is going to be getting Game of the Year, it is a stand-out title that is sure to get a lot of praise. On the standard ten-point rating scale, I give Star Wars Outlaws an 8 out of 10. I recommend everyone give this one a shot at some point. You won’t be disappointed. Star Wars Outlaws is a solid addition to the Star Wars universe.
Looking for more?
Thank you for reading our review of Star Wars Outlaws – A Solid Addition to the Star Wars Universe. We also provide the latest news and create guides for Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield, ARK Survival Ascended, and more. Also, watch Deltia play games on Twitch or visit his YouTube channel!
