Ubisoft has revealed its upcoming Star Wars game called Outlaws. There’s an official trailer and gameplay footage that we’ll discuss in this article.
What is Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws is Ubisoft’s first Star Wars video game ever. Their promotional materials claim that this is the “first truly open world Star Wars game ever”.
How much this statement is true, depends on the point of view. Jedi Survivor had a kind of open-world experience and nothing beats the openness and freedom Star Wars Galaxies had to offer.
You will control a female scoundrel character called Kay Vess. The events of the game take place between Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI Return of the Jedi.
“Experience the first-ever open world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, an emerging scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted.”
Game Setting and Timeline
Star Wars Outlaws takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. After the destruction of the first Death Star the Empire has hunted relentlessly anyone who could pose a threat to the Empire, rebel or not.
The Galactic Civil War is at its peak, with the Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire constantly trying to find a way to lead to their opponent’s definitive defeat. While the galaxy suffers the effects of constant conflict, the crime syndicates benefit from the chaos.
Bounty Hunters, Mercenaries, and Smugglers work for the highest bidder. Empire, Rebel Alliance, the Hutt Cartel, the Pyke Syndicate, or anyone who offers enough credits.
The gameplay footage and official trailer show the Pyke Syndicate and Hutt Cartel but there are many other organizations that could still appear. It would be amazing to see Crimson Dawn offer Kay Vess a job that she couldn’t reject.
Characters
Kay Vess is the protagonist of Star Wars Outlaws. She is a cunning smuggler who’s apparently very good at completing the job while also getting in trouble.
Vess is accompanied by a small creature called Nix that looks like a mix of a Loth-cat and an Axolotl. This furry friend may not be a ferocious beast but it can do things that make the mission a little easier. Its function is probably very similar to BD-1 on Jedi Survivor and Jedi Fallen Order.
The second companion is a reprogrammed BX Commando Droid called ND-5. We haven’t seen ND-5 in action yet but its undeniably cool factor has been already met with some thirst tweets. Commando Droids are suited for combat so I’m sure that we’re going to see him do more than help pilot the ship.
Combat
Just a few minutes into the gameplay footage, we can already see that the Blaster Pistol settings can be changed. Stun mode for a non-lethal shot, Blaster Module for standard fire, and Focused Module that apparently is useful when dealing with shields.
One thing that I really liked is how the game tells you how many enemies there are and their position without making it too intrusive. At the top of the screen, red diamonds will show when enemies are attacking you. It will always consider your position so even when taking cover it’s going to be easy to track them.
Game Mechanics
Something that really caught my attention is the fact that when the Imperial Officer ordered her troops to go after Kay, a big wanted sign showed up on the screen.
I wonder if this is some sort of “reverse bounty system” that will let the player know when an enemy is actively hunting down Kay Vess.
This is pure speculation but it would be very cool to have a system like that. If that’s not the case then maybe enemies will become more alert and aggressive to any suspicious activity when the “Wanted” sign appears.
It’s clear that decisions matter in this game, which is very refreshing to see. After Kay refuses to bribe the Imperial Officer, chaos unleashes on the planet and she’s forced to run away. Being affected by the choices made is one of the best things a game can do to keep me invested in the story and all possible outcomes.
Hopefully, the decisions we’ll have to do are meaningful enough and not just something that changes a few dialogues.
What has me very intrigued is the open world/galaxy. Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think we’ve had the chance to fly a ship from the planet’s surface straight into space without having some sort of loading screen.
On top of that, there is also space combat! If it can be done throughout the whole galaxy it is going to be amazing!
Planets and Locations
Exploration is vital to any good Star Wars game, there are so many planets that have become iconic. From all the trilogies, series, and even some fan-favorite games. This is one of my favorite things of any Star Wars game so the idea of having a decent amount of planets to visit really excites me.
No planets have been officially confirmed yet, but there are many locations that look very similar to some already-known places. Canto Bight, Kijimi, Takodana, and Tatooine could be some of the locations on Star Wars Outlaws but until learning more about we can only speculate.
What has been revealed so far looks promising and I really want to be excited about it but first I need to have more information before trusting Ubisoft with my money.
There’s still plenty of time and other Star Wars media to watch, read and play before Star Wars Outlaws launches so at least we’ll be busy until the next update of this game.
UPDATE: The game is now available for pre-order and you can choose which edition of Star Wars Outlaws to buy!
UPDATE 2: During the Ubisoft Forward summer event in June 2024 we got new gameplay footage and learned more details about the game’s story structure, combat and exploration opportunitues, space missions and gameplay, HUD and UI and a few extra little details. Check our breakdown:
