Earlier this week, I purchased myself a lightsaber. It wasn’t something special- I picked up one of many cheaper ones I might discover, nevertheless it turned out to be an honest buy nonetheless. Its audio system produced surprisingly high-quality sound results, it let me swap the color of its blade, I might sheath and unsheathe it utilizing its movement sensors- , the common stuff that you just anticipate from nearly all of related lightsaber replicas nowadays. However why precisely am I bringing all of that up right here? As a result of, frustratingly sufficient, the time I spent goofing round with that lightsaber (I’m 29, earlier than you ask) was in all probability a extra pleasing Star Wars expertise for me than the time I’ve spent with Star Wars Outlaws.
That’s to not say Ubisoft and Large Leisure’s space-faring action-adventure title isn’t a enjoyable time (often, on the very least). It nails the Star Wars aesthetic, it boasts stable open world design, and enjoying the position of a traditional Han Solo-esque Star Wars scoundrel typically does really feel precisely as exhilarating because it ought to. The issue, nonetheless, is that Outlaws’ greatest strengths are buried beneath a pile of great points. From technical tough edges and inconsistent writing to some aged design decisions and extra, this can be a sport that stumbles typically, and in ways in which aren’t all the time simple to forgive, particularly whenever you take a look at the sum whole of its flaws. A nasty sport? Actually not- however a tough one nonetheless, and perhaps not essentially the Star Wars sport you’re searching for.
“A nasty sport? Actually not- however a tough one nonetheless, and perhaps not essentially the Star Wars sport you’re searching for.”
In Star Wars Outlaws, you play as Kay Vess, a Canto Bight native who desires of escaping the bustling planet and making it massive within the galaxy’s felony underworld, and with nobody apart from her lovely buddy Nix to handle, there’s not a lot that’s stopping her- apart from the truth that within the underworld, she’s not even large enough to be small fry. Set between the occasions of Episodes 5 and 6, nonetheless, Outlaws’ galaxy is in turmoil, which implies these trying to circumvent the regulation and possessing the ability to take action all the time have loads of work to seek out. The job Kay lands, nonetheless, lands her in scorching water with one of many richest and strongest syndicates within the galaxy, following which Kay’s purpose now’s to maintain making a reputation for herself within the underworld whereas staying protected from the various enemies she has made, and continues to make.
From the day it was revealed, Star Wars Outlaws has been billed by its builders as the last word Star Wars scoundrel fantasy, and that specifically is one thing that the sport captures rather well. From the Hutts and the Pykes to the Crimson Daybreak and the newly launched Ashiga Clan, Star Wars Outlaws sees Kay coping with a variety of totally different felony factions, who, as you would possibly anticipate, are sometimes working in opposition to one another themselves. Watching Kay navigate the underworld and getting to truly be accountable for her makes an attempt to efficiently spin her proverbial plates is well one of many highlights of the sport. The writing right here could be fairly tough every so often, which is especially true in lots of the much less essential quests (often the non-compulsory ones), however by and huge, there’s enjoyment available within the story that Outlaws tells.
It helps that the gameplay displays the sport’s scoundrel fantasy ambitions rather well (if solely in flashes). There’s typically a really improvisational vibe to the issues that you just do within the actually sticky conditions, whether or not it’s firefights we’re talking of, or hand-to-hand duels, and even one thing like speeder chases. Kay may be very a lot the type of protagonist who thrives beneath strain, utilizing her fast pondering and diverse skillset as an outlaw to nice impact, particularly when plans go wrong- which occurs pretty typically. Simply as Respawn Leisure’s Star Wars Jedi video games have accomplished a superb job of placing gamers within the footwear of a Drive-wielding Jedi warrior, so, too, does Outlaws achieve efficiently letting you play the position of a quick-thinking, smooth-talking, if pretty unexperienced, space-faring felony.
“There’s typically a really improvisational vibe to the issues that you just do within the actually sticky conditions, whether or not it’s firefights we’re talking of, or hand-to-hand duels, and even one thing like speeder chases.”
On a extra zoomed out degree, the Fame system shines as nicely. As Kay offers with the totally different syndicates of the galaxy’s Outer Rim, she makes loads of tough choices, which in flip affect the place she stands with these factions. That has each gameplay and narrative penalties, with the top end result being a system that contributes considerably to bringing the sport’s scoundrel fantasy to life. Credit score the place credit score is due- Star Wars Outlaws’ Fame system is a superb marriage of narrative and sport design.
And but, regardless of the truth that Outlaws does efficiently nail the, nicely, outlaw vibe that it’s attempting to go for, as a gameplay expertise, it’s so typically a irritating one. One of many greatest causes for that’s that the moment-to-moment sport really feel simply isn’t nice. Motion feels clunky, parkour and traversal really feel stiff and gradual, and animations are sometimes glitched. Simply the straightforward act of shifting round when Kay is on foot feels surprisingly clunky, which is a matter that’s additional compounded by the sport’s lack of technical polish (extra on that in a bit). When even the only of actions so typically simply don’t really feel proper whenever you’ve obtained your arms on the controller, it’s onerous to be having enjoyable with the sport.
Sure, particular elements of the gameplay additionally really feel a bit underbaked. Take, for example, the aforementioned traversal mechanics, which take the type of Uncharted-style climbing, however someway find yourself feeling much more restrictive, to the purpose of just about feeling like little greater than sequence of QTEs. Then there are the sport’s stealth sections, which mix all of the AAA stealth tropes we’re aware of with annoyingly inconsistent enemy AI. The development mechanics, fortunately, do really feel extra fleshed out and rewarding. As an action-adventure title, Star Wars Outlaws takes a reasonably lean and centered strategy on this space, however from Kay’s tools to her blaster, from her speeder to her ship, the Trailblazer, there are sufficient significant upgrades for gamers to chase.
“Motion feels clunky, parkour and traversal really feel stiff and gradual, and animations are sometimes glitched. Simply the straightforward act of shifting round when Kay is on foot feels surprisingly clunky, which is a matter that’s additional compounded by the sport’s lack of technical polish.”
Frankly, although, if these had been the largest gameplay points Star Wars Outlaws had, it could nonetheless be a greater sport than it’s now, as a result of certainly one of its greatest failings comes within the type of some shockingly dated design choices. Nothing exemplifies that higher than the quantity of insta-fail sections within the sport. Star Wars Outlaws isn’t a very good stealth sport, as I’ve talked about, so to pressure gamers to interact with these mechanics in sections that punish you with instantaneous failure should you don’t looks like a very poor decision- the sort that you just don’t anticipate to see a serious AAA developer making in at this time’s day and age (particularly not certainly one of Large Leisure’s caliber).
These pointless gameplay restrictions really feel much more irritating when juxtaposed in opposition to the extent of freedom the sport encourages elsewhere. On a micro degree, for example, you do typically get multiple means of coping with conditions, from utilizing Nix’s assist to distract or incapacitate foes to using the totally different modules of your blaster, to combining taking pictures and fisticuffs in equal measure. On a extra zoomed out degree, in the meantime, the open world’s design impresses in additional methods than one, chief amongst them being how unformulaic it feels, particularly for a Ubisoft sport.
Reasonably than taking a modular, cut-and-paste strategy, Star Wars Outlaws’ open world as an alternative feels much more natural than you’d anticipate, with the sport have loads of methods up its sleeves to help you be led from distraction to distraction as you discover its interstellar map. The extra pure circulation of exploration, moderately than merely following markers or happening lists of quests, does elevate the open world aspect of the expertise, if nothing else. There’s additionally a wholesome number of aspect actions on provide, together with loads of house flight and fight gameplay, which can be fairly enjoyable. Motion in house, in truth, feels as tight and responsive as Kay’s on-foot motion feels clunky (which, by the way, simply makes the latter’s points appear to face out that rather more).
“Reasonably than taking a modular, cut-and-paste strategy, Star Wars Outlaws’ open world as an alternative feels much more natural than you’d anticipate, with the sport have loads of methods up its sleeves to help you be led from distraction to distraction as you discover its interstellar map.”
And sure, it’s not simply the gameplay aspect of Star Wars Outlaws that’s greater than just a little tough across the edges- which, sadly, is an issue that fashionable AAA releases are not any strangers to. Lip syncing points, audio bugs, shoddy hit detection, muddy draw distances, animation glitches, noticeable body fee drops- I’ve skilled all of those technical points and extra in my time with Star Wars Outlaws. Fortunately, nothing that I’ve encountered has been game-breaking, however the issues that I’ve had have been greater than annoying sufficient to face out, particularly when put collectively.
Star Wars Outlaws does have its strengths – its surprisingly natural open world and the way it encourages exploration, its enjoyable, swashbuckling story, how successfully it captures the scoundrel fantasy – however in the end, the sport feels just a bit bit too tough. From its technical points to its inconsistent writing, from a few of its dated design choices to the clunky sport really feel that pervades all the expertise, this simply seems like a sport that wanted one other yr within the oven. I’m going to be enjoying a lot extra of Outlaws within the days and weeks forward, being the hopeless Star Wars sicko that I’m, however within the state that the sport exists in proper now, I’m undecided I’m going to have extra enjoyable with it than I’ll with that toy lightsaber that I purchased.
This sport was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.
