Massive Leisure and Ubisoft’s a lot touted open world Star Wars recreation is lastly upon us, and it in all probability hasn’t landed precisely the best way many would have hoped it could. Definitely, there’s quite a bit to love about Star Wars Outlaws and the scoundrel fantasy that it concocts, however at practically each flip, the space-faring journey is weighed down and held again by important points. Right here, that’s precisely what we’re going to debate, as we go over among the issues that we appreciated most about Star Wars Outlaws– and a few that we weren’t so loopy about.
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FEELING LIKE A SCOUNDREL
Star Wars Outlaws’ greatest promoting level was all the time speculated to be its promise of letting you reside out your best Star Wars scoundrel fantasies, and fortunately, this, on the very least, is an space the place the sport is a powerful success. Attending to really feel like a slick, smooth-talking, double-crossing interstellar prison within the Star Wars universe feels precisely nearly as good because it ought to. The sport accomplishes that in a variety of alternative ways, from giving gamers the instruments to improvise on-the-fly when issues begin turning bitter, Han Solo-style, to navigating the galaxy’s prison underworld as you attempt to hold the various totally different factions happy- or not less than not completely furious on the very thought of your existence. That, by the way, brings us to our subsequent level…
THE REPUTATION SYSTEM
The Popularity system is the guts and soul of Star Wars Outlaws, being tied to just about each single main system or mechanic within the recreation. There’s an argument to be made that maybe it isn’t fairly as fleshed out because it may have been, however there can’t be any denying that it does a wonderful job of serving to deliver the sport’s scoundrel fantasy to life. Too usually we’ve seen the outlaw character trope in Star Wars deftly working with and in opposition to totally different prison factions to additional their very own objectives, and the Popularity system right here positively succeeds in emulating that. On prime of that, the alternatives that you just make usually require real thought, and the gameplay penalties truly do usually really feel legitimately impactful.
THE STAR WARS AESTHETIC
This one ought to be a simple win for any Star Wars recreation. The beloved sci-fi IP has been a popular culture behemoth for so long as it has existed, and has developed a really specific visible and aesthetic id over time- the sort that, should you do prefer it, you in all probability can’t get sufficient of. We actually rely ourselves in that group, so we had been more than pleased with how effectively Star Wars Outlaws captures that aesthetic. From the slick and claustrophobic interiors of Imperial bases and house stations to the immediately recognizable sound results of speeders and blasters, from how densely packed and brimming with unimaginable particulars just about each single cantina you go to is to the attractive vistas that you just see all through the galaxy, Large Leisure clearly understood the project when it comes to capturing that traditional Star Wars feel and appear.
THE OPEN WORLD DESIGN
You’d be forgiven for having not less than some skepticism over Star Wars Outlaws’ open world design. Although Large Leisure itself has crafted loads of wonderful open world maps in its time, Ubisoft as a writer has turn into related to among the most fatigue-inducing open world tropes round. Fortunately, Star Wars Outlaws looks like a really un-Ubisoft recreation in that regard. Removed from feeling too formulaic or rigidly structured, the map right here is surprisingly natural, with an precise sense of discovery defining the expertise. Being naturally distracted by issues that pique your curiosity slightly following markers and checklists positively makes for rather more compelling open world gameplay.
KAY AND NIX
Star Wars Outlaws’ writing has its points (extra on that in a bit), which implies there are many characters in its solid that don’t get the time within the solar that they want, however fortunately, the main pair of Kay and Nix is nice proper off the bat. Kay is not any Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, in that she lacks expertise and ceaselessly makes naive errors, however her means to adapt and improvise flip her right into a succesful main lady nonetheless. That, mixed along with her endearing perspective and, after all, her unbreakable bond with the lovely Nix make her and her little companion extremely straightforward to get invested in.
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INCONSISTENT WRITING
Let’s kick this part off with Star Wars Outlaws’ writing deficiencies, since we’ve already touched on them. To be honest, it’s not just like the writing within the recreation is horrible throughout the board. As talked about, Kay is a good protagonist, as her bond with Nix is one other shiny spot, however usually, the sport is let down by nonsensical contrivances, leaps in logic, inconsistencies, characters being needlessly silly, and what have you ever. That is additionally a recreation that clearly didn’t get the “present, don’t inform” memo, due to which a few of its greatest narrative developments within the latter phases find yourself falling nearly utterly flat.
INSTA-FAIL STEALTH SECTIONS
I don’t know how we’re speaking about insta-fail sections in a significant new AAA launch in 2024. Even a decade in the past, this might have been referred to as extremely dated design, and Star Wars Outlaws not solely adopts it, however then additionally proceeds to double down on it. There’s a irritating quantity of compelled stealth sections within the recreation, that are made worse by the truth that, because of tough AI points, technical glitches, and half-baked stealth mechanics, the stealth gameplay on this recreation simply isn’t superb. We’re big followers of the stealth style right here, however there are few issues worse than a recreation that hardheadedly emphasis stealth gameplay though it merely isn’t geared up to take action.
STIFF MOVEMENT
That is the one drawback you normally don’t look forward to finding in video games by Large and Ubisoft, which nearly all the time really feel wonderful to play when it comes to their moment-to-moment gameplay and recreation really feel. Weirdly sufficient, the identical positively can’t be mentioned about Star Wars Outlaws. The overall motion within the recreation feels simply extremely clunky, and although lots of that’s clearly all the way down to the sport’s many technical points (which we’ll get to shortly), even absent these, the sport simply feels clunky and cumbersome to manage on a really basic stage.
BLAND CLIMBING MECHANICS
The record of AAA tropes that Star Wars Outlaws employs is a protracted one, with Uncharted-model climbing mechanics being excessive on that record. Sadly, the climbing doesn’t really feel practically as {smooth} and enjoyable because it does in Uncharted video games, with Kay’s actions feeling extremely janky and stiff. As you’re clambering over partitions and ledges, you possibly can nearly bodily really feel the seams between one animation and the following. There’s additionally the truth that climbing sections nearly all the time find yourself being extremely simple and linear, to the purpose the place they find yourself feeling like essentially the most low-stakes strings of QTEs conceivable.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Sadly, technical points at launch are by no means unusual in Ubisoft video games, and even in AAA games- hell, final 12 months’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor had related points, too. Outlaws, nonetheless, feels notably tough across the edges. In our time with the sport, we’ve been hit with efficiency drops, muddy draw distances, lip syncing points, texture pop in, animation glitches, and all kinds of bugs. Given the truth that the sport went gold nearly two entire months earlier than launch, we’re stunned to see it coming on this sizzling.
