As a seasoned space adventurer with a heart full of nostalgia for the Star Wars universe, I found myself both enchanted and perplexed by Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – Apex Legends. The game’s rich world-building, coupled with the thrill of stealing intel from Imperial bases, had me hooked. However, it seems that the developers have a peculiar sense of time management, offering a cornucopia of activities but simultaneously implying that one has none to spare.
In a peculiar turn of events on Akiva, Kay and Nix find themselves enjoying a peculiar fruit. Upon slicing it open, the chef reveals swarms of insects that had been growing within. This sight would send shivers down my spine, but for Kay and Nix, it’s a delightful treat. Contrastingly, on Toshara, they were seen devouring roasted street corn with relish. Despite the contrasting tastes, both scenes exude warmth, making me cherish the unique perspective Star Wars Outlaws provides – a peek into the everyday life of Star Wars inhabitants beyond the realms of galactic wars and wizard training. However, these glimpses are scarce, as the game often falls short in delivering fulfilling narrative resolutions and rewarding gameplay decisions.
In Outlaws, you assume the role of Kay Vess, a rising mercenary who unintentionally becomes an outlaw after a mission goes awry, causing a substantial bounty – known as a death mark – to be placed on her head. To evade this bounty, Kay is forced to gather a team to infiltrate the virtually impregnable vault of her would-be assassin, as he can’t pay off the bounty hunters chasing her if he doesn’t have the money. Her journey to assemble an ideal team leads her through various locations across the galaxy’s Outer Rim, with the charming amphibian-like creature Nix, a recurring Star Wars character, by her side. Throughout her escapades, Kay frequently interacts or clashes with four criminal syndicates – the Pyke Syndicate, Crimson Dawn, the Hutt Cartel, and the Ashiga Clan – as well as the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, who are pursuing the former following the events of The Empire Strikes Back, with the latter hunting them down.
Despite Kay being another human protagonist amidst a multitude of Star Wars stories featuring humans, she fails to captivate. The narrative in Outlaws often portrays Kay as directionless and uncertain about her future, with no discernible plans for the fortune she’ll gain once her crew completes their heist on the man who wishes her dead. This lack of ambition is frequently emphasized by the other characters, serving as a recurring reminder to the player that they are controlling a character without clear aspirations or goals. This character trait makes Kay difficult to connect with and challenging to write for, as evidenced by the absence of any coherent narrative arc in her story.
As a die-hard Star Wars fan, I usually find myself engrossed in the games, even with protagonists like Cal Kestis or Iden Versio who may not have the most captivating character arcs. However, what keeps me hooked is the intriguing supporting characters that often accompany these leads, such as Merrin and Del Meeko from Fallen Order and Battlefront 2 respectively. Unfortunately, Outlaws seems to lack this element, as the cast around Kay isn’t particularly engaging.
The best part about Outlaws’ story (and the game in general) is the sound design. Everyone who had a part in the creation of the musical score or the design of the sound effects used for the blasters, speeders, ships, or environmental murmurs deserves all the accolades. Outlaws sounds quintessentially Star Wars, beating out the gold standard of Respawn’s Jedi games. The orchestral surge as Kay takes off into space and activates her ship’s hyperdrive for the first time is sublime, and I was positively buzzing with adrenaline as the distinct hum of Kay’s blaster cooling and Nix’s excited squeals broke through the triumphant horns that signaled I had held my own against a truly staggering number of Imperial soldiers. Perfectly jumping off a ramp in a speeder to circumnavigate an Imperial roadblock rewarded me with an intense burst of speed that I swear I could feel in my bones as I heard Kay’s speeder initially shudder from the impact before she pressed the throttle and the engine’s normally comforting hum briefly escalated into a dangerous whir. For as many issues that I have with this game, there are twice as many moments where the music and sound effects briefly transported me into the world of Star Wars, and I haven’t been that immersed in the franchise in decades. The music and sound design is superb.
That said, Outlaws positions itself as a lot of things and doesn’t follow through on most of them. The story implies this will be a heist–grab the crew, make a plan, do the job–but there’s very little of that. The gameplay points to Outlaws being a stealth game, as Kay has no Force powers or fancy body armor and relies on Nix to distract guards or security cameras, but she is so skilled with a blaster that unless you put the game on harder difficulties, she can quite handily mow through legions of Storm Troopers or criminal armies and forgo stealth entirely. The inclusion of a ship seems to indicate that space battles will be a pillar of the experience, but the ship handles poorly and space battles are an unexciting slog–barring a couple of mandatory moments, the game allows you to avoid space altogether, and that’s for the better. And a relationship tracker that provides updates on Kay’s fluctuating status with the four criminal syndicates indicates that who you have alliances with and animosity against impacts how Kay is perceived. But barring one unrewarding moment right at the end of the story, it doesn’t. It affects which areas of the different hubs you can interact with and which outfits you unlock, but neither fundamentally affects the experience of playing the game. It’s underwhelming how little Kay has a hand in influencing the four-way crime war at the center of the game’s story, and it’s irritating to watch your attempts at making big choices repeatedly deflate into unfulfilling narrative consequences.
In simpler terms, throughout the game, Kay consistently supported Crimson Dawn, regardless of moral considerations, which made her relationship with them strong while straining her connections with the Pykes and Hutts. The Ashiga remained neutral despite minimal interaction with them. As I reached Kijimi, a place where Crimson Dawn and Ashiga Clan clashed, the Crimson Dawn leaders seemed unaware of me. To try to influence the story, I made a significant choice near the end of that phase. Before the conclusion, the bombmaker Kay was trying to recruit promised to join Kay’s team if Kay sided with the Ashiga. Other characters also warned about the dire consequences for the Ashiga if Kay didn’t support them. However, against all advice, I chose Crimson Dawn. This decision led to a prominent character’s death, which left me eagerly anticipating repercussions. But none came; the bombmaker still joined my team, and Kay reacted with a brief emotional outburst before moving on from the subject. Ultimately, my unwavering loyalty to Crimson Dawn had no bearing on the story after that point.
In summary, additional tasks assigned to build rapport with the syndicates in the game serve primarily to give you extra activities, rather than significantly influencing the overall gameplay or storyline. If you’re drawn to games for more content, you might appreciate aspects of Outlaws like the relationship tracker. However, I found the impact on the game’s narrative and gameplay to be disappointingly minimal. Outlaws is visually stunning with immersive Star Wars elements, particularly in showcasing the smaller cultural nuances across various factions. Unfortunately, the gameplay and storytelling fail to distinguish the four criminal enterprises that dominate Kay’s journey effectively. The soldiers of these factions fight similarly, their bases offer similar goods from vendors, and the bosses initially react indifferently to Kay, with most eventually showing a casual acceptance. Consequently, your gaming experience remains largely consistent regardless of who you align or betray, rendering those choices feel insignificant and narratively unsatisfying.
In a fight, Kay proves to be quite the agile marksman, with her quick-changing blaster allowing for a variety of shots (stun blasts, standard fire, electric rounds, and powerful bursts). Nix, her companion, can retrieve weapons from fallen enemies during battle, granting Kay access to heavier rifles, snipers, and even grenade launchers. If Kay manages to perform an impressive sequence of actions such as stealth takedowns or accurate kills, she can accumulate enough adrenaline to execute a special move, during which time seems to slow down momentarily, allowing her to mark multiple targets for swift elimination.
In a straightforward manner, Kay exhibits comparable agility to leading characters in action-adventure games such as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. However, unlike these characters, Kay excels at managing threats while maintaining a stationary position behind cover. On easier difficulty levels, combat situations are not particularly challenging. Instead, they offer an enjoyable yet unremarkable experience due to the enemy AI’s limited intelligence. Often, I could simply hide behind cover and let enemies charge towards me, making them easy targets. The firefights may require quicker reactions than stealth encounters (which we’ll discuss later), but their AI lacks sophistication. In essence, Outlaws’ combat mechanics are not revolutionary but certainly not poor either, offering a simple yet enjoyable fighting experience.
In the core mechanics of Outlaws, it’s all about sneaking past or ambushing enemies. Frequently, Kay needs to infiltrate buildings, locate individuals or items, or evade enemy outposts undetected. The gameplay is smooth and offers several strategies for achieving these objectives. For instance, Kay can command Nix to divert guards or cameras, employ stealth takedowns or the stun mode on her blaster to incapacitate foes silently. There’s also cover provided by grass for hiding and a whistle to lure unsuspecting guards, similar to Assassin’s Creed, as well as air vents to navigate through.
The system operates as expected, but there isn’t much thrill in it due to the unchallenging enemy AI. They exhibit simple behavior, such as returning to their normal routines soon after detecting disturbances or getting tricked by the same deceit repeatedly. Many enemies are stationary facing a computer, providing an easy opportunity for sneak attacks, or follow predictable patrol paths. The experience seems less like solving intricate puzzles and more like being handed straightforward answers. For instance, is that a camera? Send Nix to distract. Are those guards patrolling near bushes? Hide and lure them out one at a time to eliminate them. Unable to reach the guard on a distant platform? Wait for the stun gun to recharge and then neutralize him from afar. The sequence of actions varies from mission to mission, but the solutions to each step in the stealth encounters seldom change, resulting in an unfulfilling experience as there’s little room for critical thinking or strategic planning to overcome them.
In the game Outlaws, there are only a couple of instances where the usual gameplay is disrupted in the final stages, causing players to rethink their strategies. Initially, Kay has to complete a mission without Nix’s assistance, which restricts the option for long-range distractions. Although this was enjoyable, it didn’t last long as Outlaws quickly returned to its regular gameplay. The other adjustment is more significant. Towards the end of the storyline, Kay frequently faces situations where being discovered results in an immediate failure, meaning players can’t just shoot everyone if they don’t manage to stay hidden (unless they are incredibly fast on the trigger). Furthermore, tougher enemies start appearing, and they can’t be stunned or silently taken down without a specific upgrade. If alerted to Kay’s presence, their large health bars make them difficult to defeat, allowing them to overpower Kay before she can stop anyone from sounding the alarm.
Incorporating frequent battles with tough enemies in Outlaws provides a glimpse of what the game could potentially offer, as Kay isn’t able to swiftly defeat everyone in a room and often finds herself in challenging situations. Although these enemies may lack intelligence and the path remains linear, there’s an undercurrent of tension during these confrontations that’s absent earlier in the game due to limited options for progression. Sometimes, the solution appears obvious, but it’s one you don’t possess. The game seems to hint at specific strategies like “discreetly eliminate this enemy and temporarily incapacitate the other,” but when both are heavily armored and immune to these tactics, you must think creatively to bypass them. I found the stealth challenges in the last 10 hours of Outlaws engaging because of this unpredictability. However, my interest dwindled once I opted for the upgrade that enabled Kay to covertly neutralize high-endurance targets. After that, the stealth encounters became much easier. In retrospect, I wish I hadn’t made that choice.
In contrast to traditional methods, Kay doesn’t acquire new abilities by earning points; instead, she listens to whispers about Experts scattered across different planets. By following these leads, she locates these experts and befriends them. In return for completing challenges set by these friends, such as defeating enemies in specific ways or finding specific items, Kay unlocks additional abilities and upgrades, expanding her range of options. Demonstrating adaptability when taking down threats after diverting them allows Kay to acquire the Merchant’s ability to persuade enemies who spot her, causing them to hesitate before attacking or sounding the alarm. Successfully completing a challenge for the Mechanic grants Kay access to smoke bombs, enabling her to break the line of sight.
These optional challenges enrich Outlaws’ gameplay with small, secondary objectives. While engaged in combat or sneaking through restricted zones, they serve as background goals that players can attempt to achieve. Unlike essential abilities required to progress the story, these additional skills are not necessary for completing the game, but successfully finishing them offers engaging skill tests. Additionally, accomplishing these challenges often reveals stunning landscapes and hidden treasures that contain crucial items an Expert might hint at acquiring. Although these tasks do not offer narrative rewards, they enhance the gaming experience by prompting players to experiment with different strategies during the 30-hour gameplay.
By straying from the main path in this game, you get to discover more of Outlaws’ diverse array of worlds, except Kijimi which is essentially a single hub. Each planet is made up of multiple hub spaces linked by an open world. You have the freedom to roam these areas at your convenience, but the storyline primarily grants this freedom on Toshara, the second planet where Kay’s journey commences. As you move beyond Toshara, the narrative builds momentum, implying that Kay is running out of time to clear her name. Although this is just a game construct and there’s no actual time limit, I found myself focusing less on side content and exploration as the storyline intensified. However, rest assured, all side quests and open-world elements remain accessible even after the credits roll, so if you feel pressured like me to rush through them because of the escalating narrative tension, they’ll still be there once Kay’s adventure concludes.
Even though it seems contradictory, as Kay navigates through the hubs, she encounters various individuals who request her aid, messages from allies about potential jobs arrive, whispers of hidden treasures or secret gambling dens filled with high-stakes gamblers can be overheard, and progress in the syndicate relationships tracker is largely dependent on completing side missions for others. However, the game’s primary narrative strongly suggests that Kay doesn’t have the luxury of time to engage with these people. It gives the impression that there’s plenty to do, but you shouldn’t have the leisure to do it all.
It’s unfortunate, as some of the additional missions provide more engaging gameplay than the main storyline. Unlike Kay’s storyline missions that follow a linear path, many side quests offer more freedom and flexibility. For instance, infiltrating Imperial bases to gather intelligence often provides various entry points and multiple routes, allowing the stealth mechanics to truly shine in puzzles that require thought. The normally monotonous rhythm-based lockpicking minigame became tense due to the added pressure when I chose to do it while Nix was distracting a camera, with the sound of approaching Stormtroopers growing louder as I struggled to complete the task. Instead of finding a way to reach the power generator first and disabling the security systems like cameras, I found myself worried about my progress and questioning why I had chosen this approach. The excitement of managing multiple threats under time pressure? That seemed to be missing from the main storyline.
In these expansive environments, Kay primarily navigates using two primary modes of travel: a speeder and her vessel, the Trailblazer. I find myself strongly drawn towards the speedy option. At first, the speeder seemed clumsy and tough to handle, but as it gets upgraded with various components, it becomes more agile and maneuverable, allowing Kay to zip through Outlaws’ open-worlds at exhilaratingly high speeds. Its purpose is to shorten travel time and add excitement, and in both aspects, it performs admirably.
I find the Trailblazer spaceship chillier. Despite its impressive design, which I adore and has become one of my favorite Star Wars ships, it struggles during space travel even after upgrades. Space battles can be either challenging against faster starfighters or monotonous against slower cargo ships. The space environments in Outlaws aren’t visually stunning like those in Star Wars, with Akiva’s vibrant jungles and Kijimi’s persistent snowfall setting a high bar. Unfortunately, the space environments in Outlaws lack the charm to make you want to explore them. Although they have unique layouts, they don’t offer much visual variety.
It’s good to note that, as I mentioned earlier, you can largely bypass space exploration in this game. Except for a handful of essential space battles and missions within the main plot, you’ll spend minimal time traversing the cosmos. The Trailblazer ship is swift enough to outrun potential adversaries, making it easy to approach planets for landing. Once you depart from a planet, activating hyperdrive lets you bypass everything en route to your next destination. However, considering how underdeveloped the space aspect of the game is, placing a space battle as the second-last event in the story and the primary final fight seems ill-advised. This decision diminishes the impact of Outlaws’ climactic moments, introducing less engaging gameplay that detracts from the overall narrative experience.
I adore numerous small instances in the game Outlaws. Yet, the ordinary space battles and unfulfilling syndicate connection tracker seem to lack significance within the gameplay. Similarly, Kay appears as a protagonist without a substantial storyline to back her up. The game shines when it comes to gunfights or stealth, both enhanced by an outstanding soundtrack and exceptional audio design. Unfortunately, Outlaws tends to overdo its flaws and underdeliver on its strengths.
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2024-08-28 00:40