Star Wars Outlaws Review: A Fun Game, But is it worth $70?

As a long-time Star Wars enthusiast and a dedicated gamer, I have to say that Star Wars Outlaws has both captivated and frustrated me in equal measure. The game’s stunning landscapes, dynamic weather systems, and bustling cities are nothing short of breathtaking – they transported me straight into the heart of the Star Wars universe, much like stepping onto a movie set.

Despite being produced by a different team, Star Wars Outlaws faces significant expectations due to its association with the Star Wars franchise. Given the high standards of Star Wars fans when it comes to their video games, and the recent release of Jedi: Survivor, it’s inevitable that Outlaws will be judged in comparison. In this review, we delve into whether Outlaws is an enjoyable Star Wars game and if the $70 price tag set by Ubisoft is justified.

Star Wars Outlaws Review: What is Star Wars Outlaws?

Star Wars Outlaws is a thrilling third-person action-adventure video game created by Massive Entertainment in partnership with Lucasfilm Games and Ubisoft studios, and it’s published by Ubisoft. This is the initial collaboration between Massive, Ubisoft, and Star Wars Intellectual Property (IP). The game’s events unfold between the films ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi’.

The game will be officially launched on August 30, 2024. However, those who pre-ordered it can gain early access starting from August 27, 2024. You can purchase and play it on your PC via the Ubisoft Store, or on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X if you prefer console gaming.

From my perspective as a gamer, I embark on an exhilarating journey in this action-adventure game, where I assume the role of Kay Vess, a cunning scoundrel navigating the Outer Rim’s criminal underworld. Accompanied by my loyal pet merqaal Nix and a motley crew, I hop from planet to planet, executing tasks for syndicates to boost my reputation and wealth.

In this game, several distinct virtual realms stand in for various planets that players are free to travel and discover. Each of these worlds offers unique environments, societies, and population densities, ensuring a richly varied adventure for the explorers. Additionally, players can pilot their own spaceship – similar to the Millenium Falcon – to orbit these planets, occasionally engaging in exciting space battles.

In games of this type, you’ll often find that open worlds are teeming with Non-Player Characters (NPCs) who offer additional missions to engage players. Additionally, there are vendors where you can purchase weapon and vehicle enhancements, spaceship upgrades, outfits, resources, and supplies. Criminal organizations operate on these planets, and the Empire’s influence is noticeable in many regions as well.

In my gaming journey, I often find myself immersed in worlds brimming with side activities that are as engaging as the main quests themselves. From trying my luck at virtual animal racing and high-stakes card games, to spending coins on arcade machines, these diversions can either fill my pockets or drain them completely of credits. It’s a thrilling risk, part of the adventure!

The game incorporates both cover-based shooting and stealth tactics in its gameplay and mission structure. Typically, the character Kay Vess must move covertly and avoid detection while engaging in dubious activities. However, when situations become critical, she can fall back on her trusty blaster pistol for defense.

Star Wars Outlaws Gameplay

In this review, we’ve tested Star Wars Outlaws on both PC and PS5 platforms, spending most of our time on the PS5. While some players have reported bugs on the PS5 and performance problems on the PC, in our testing, we only encountered graphical issues. Keep in mind that your experience may differ in terms of stability when purchasing the game.

Let’s get this out of the way: Star Wars Outlaws is a fun game. However, it has a lot of flaws. Taken as a whole, Star Wars Outlaws packs an experience that could go on for dozens of hours. There are a lot of cool places to explore, a lot of side quests to partake in, and a boatload of unlockables to chase. There are even more to come, as typical for Ubisoft, the game has a Season Pass on the way.

On the other hand, Star Wars Outlaws seems to be overextended, leading to a lack of depth in many of its experiences. This is particularly noticeable when considering the game’s fundamental gameplay loop. The combat and stealth elements within Star Wars Outlaws come across as shallow and outdated.

The gunplay in the game is seamless and reactive. It’s enjoyable to aim and fire at enemies using Kay’s blaster pistol. Additionally, it’s gratifying to build up Kay Vess’ Adrenaline meter, which enables her to use High Noon moves to triumph in gunfights. However, this can become monotonous quickly. The gameplay becomes repetitive – duck for cover behind objects, launch grenades at groups of adversaries, and then engage in a shootout to emerge victorious.

In this game, an intriguing decision has been made: when opponents drop weapons such as sniper rifles or blaster rifles, players can grab them, but they can’t keep them for personal use. Instead, Kay will automatically discard these weapons either when she switches to another activity (for example, hopping onto her speeder bike) or once the weapon has been depleted of ammo.

Regarding the stealth aspect, it seems less engaging. While the layout of each mission offers multiple paths for players to choose, the primary actions in the game revolve around sneaking, performing stealth takedowns, and having Nix access areas she normally wouldn’t, to solve puzzles or unlock gates. A lockpicking rhythm minigame is included, which is distinctive and enjoyable, but the hacking minigame feels generic and lackluster due to its uninspired design.

It appears as though the developers needed to make compromises to achieve a balanced gaming experience. They aimed to avoid favoring combat or stealth too much, so players wouldn’t face difficulties advancing in either aspect. Regrettably, this decision resulted in a relatively shallow gameplay experience, despite the array of abilities and tools provided throughout the game.

It’s truly unfortunate that the game boasts an excellent advancement system, but it doesn’t seem to be attracting enough players. The player advancement comes in two aspects. On one hand, players can upgrade their weapon by gathering materials to unlock additional features for their blaster. On the other hand, they can buy clothing from vendors, which not only adds style but also provides them with bonuses and passive advantages.

In the game, players have an opportunity to encounter unique Non-Player Characters (NPCs) who act as mentors for them. Upon finishing a mission related to that NPC, players receive specific task lists to accomplish. Successful completion of these tasks grants Kay Vess access to new skill sets. This method provides an engaging way for progression and fits well with the narrative. Given that Kay Vess is a novice rogue initially, it’s logical that she requires mentors to master new abilities.

However, although Kay gains various skills and talents during the game, they don’t significantly alter its outcome. Instead, these skills mainly simplify combat and stealth, making them less challenging. Some abilities allow Kay to access additional areas, like special doors or unique chests, but such instances are rare.

What truly sets Star Wars Outlaws apart is its immersive portrayal of the destinations that Kay Vess encounters. These locales seamlessly fit within the Star Wars universe, with no incongruities in sight. The characters’ species and the architecture of their settlements are accurately represented, while the worlds themselves offer a delightful sense of discovery. My favorite moments in the game were undeniably the journeys across the map, moving from one side quest to another.

They should be commended for avoiding the critique that “Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora” received for being like “Far Cry with a Star Wars setting.” This doesn’t feel the same way in their latest game. It’s interesting to note that eliminating the need to climb tall towers to access parts of the map significantly affects the overall tone and tempo of the game, and it’s definitely a positive change that the map isn’t overloaded with countless icons.

Indeed, thanks to Kay’s speeder bike, navigating through the realms she inhabits proves thrilling and enjoyable. I seldom relied on instant travel options since, despite distances between locations being considerable, moving across the map becomes effortless.

One of the standout features of Star Wars Outlaws is the vibrancy and significance of its faction system. Your interactions within the game are heavily influenced by Kay’s relationships with the five factions present in the game. Merchants often align with these factions, and your rapport with them can impact not just the prices you pay, but also the items they are willing to offer for sale. In some cases, certain equipment becomes unavailable for purchase until you have established a strong enough relationship with a faction.

Missions can be influenced by your alliance with various factions. If you maintain a positive rapport with them, they may allow you leeway to proceed without hindrance during these tasks. However, if you’re on their bad terms, you might need to tread cautiously or engage in confrontations.

The arrangement of factions within the game influenced my decision-making process when selecting subsequent quests. By having knowledge of the game’s locales, I often prioritized completing quests that would improve my standing with a faction, allowing for smoother integration in their region and reducing the need for stealth.

As a gamer, I find that my alliances with the syndicates significantly influence certain plot points and even lock specific quests due to my relationships. This feature adds an incredible layer of replayability since I often ponder how the quest outcomes might have differed if I had opted for another faction instead.

As a gamer, I’ve found myself enjoying Star Wars Outlaws in brief, intermittent sessions. It’s got a great deal of fun packed into it, but the repetition sets in quickly, making marathon gaming less appealing. Instead, I prefer to revisit this game from time to time rather than playing it extensively all at once.

Star Wars Outlaws Story

Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t spend all my free time on Star Wars Outlaws in one go. While the narrative flow is engaging, it’s fairly innocuous overall. It’s just another case of “One heist solves everything” for our morally ambiguous outlaw hero. You’ll find yourself in a series of missions that take unexpected turns, with plenty of backstabs, nail-biting escape scenes, and the formation of a crew to help you pull off the job. Then, you’ll face a powerful adversary as the underdog, ultimately emerging victorious.

In other words, it’s perfectly okay if you don’t play the game non-stop, as you can always jump back in without feeling confused about what’s going on or missing out on crucial events, even if a significant amount of time has passed since your last session.

One aspect I found particularly noteworthy about the story was the consistent portrayal of Kay’s and Nix’s personalities throughout the game. While some might argue that this indicates a lack of character growth for Kay, given the predictable nature of this game, extensive character development may not be necessary. The bond between Kay and Nix, their shared escapades, and their relationship highlights are certainly among the game’s strongest points. Additionally, there are notable moments in Kay’s relationships with other characters within the game as well.

Is it still worth completing the game given its predictable plotline? Although the journey may be somewhat foreseeable, this doesn’t mean the conclusion is disappointing. In fact, the predictability adds to the emotional impact of the ending. If the developers had pulled a surprise at the end, Star Wars Outlaws might have fallen flat. However, with an ending that meets our expectations, the game successfully delivers its resolution effectively.

Just don’t feel pressured, and take your time getting there.

Star Wars Outlaws Graphics

In an unusual way, Star Wars Outlaws’ graphics stand out. What’s striking about it is not just its beauty but also how enjoyable the game’s exploration is due to the visually appealing landscapes, environments, and sceneries that leave a lasting impression. The game features a realistic dynamic weather and day-night cycle, giving the entire planet a sense of liveliness. The cities are bustling and feel vibrant and alive as well.

1. The overall design of the artwork aligns well with the story’s background, and it’s consistent with what one might anticipate based on Lucasfilm Games being part of this production. The characters from various species in this game appear as you’d expect them to, which is in line with expectations.

But there are a lot of graphical bugs and glitches, particularly with lighting in our experience.

The game’s synchronization of lips and facial movements appears to be lacking. Despite the well-designed character models, their faces seem devoid of life and emotion. Moreover, the alignment of lips during dialogue isn’t always accurate, leaving one to ponder about the reason behind this discrepancy.

The overall design of this game boasts impressive artwork, superb character models, and stunningly arranged landscapes. However, these visually appealing scenes can be disrupted by bothersome graphic glitches and awkward lip-syncing and facial expressions that detract from immersion.

Star Wars Outlaws came close, yet some elements may disrupt your immersion experience to varying degrees, making it potentially problematic for certain players.

Star Wars Outlaws Music and Sound Design

Star Wars Outlaws’ soundtrack seamlessly complements each gaming moment and feels like it could have been created by none other than John Williams, a renowned composer from the Star Wars universe.

It’s truly astonishing how such games can incorporate a variety of gameplay elements while also providing fitting music for each situation.

During cutscenes, the emotional impact is heightened through the use of music – tense situations become even more nerve-wracking, while moments of deception carry an extra punch due to the melody tugging at your heart.

In the midst of tense periods, there’s soothing and tranquil music playing which helps foster a serene atmosphere as you navigate through dangerous spells.

In essence, the music and sound design in Star Wars Outlaws is exceptionally well-executed by Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft. It’s as if they perfectly understood Star Wars’ unique audio identity – from the distinctive sound of blasters to the characteristic speech patterns of Stormtroopers. Intriguingly, if you were to swap any piece of music from this game with one in another Star Wars media, it would seamlessly fit in, as if it belonged there all along.

The voice acting is also a homerun, with all voice actors delivering great performances minute by minute. It’s a bit tarnished by the odd lip sync and unnatural facial expressions, but if you look away or close your eyes, you’ll definitely feel the passion they’ve given into in their performances.

VERDICT: Is Star Wars Outlaws a good game? Is it worth your time and money?

Although I’ve enjoyed playing Star Wars Outlaws immensely, I couldn’t help but notice its imperfections. These issues weren’t major concerns for me personally, but they’re substantial enough that some gamers might consider them as deal-breakers. Moreover, there are numerous reports of bugs (which fortunately we didn’t encounter), making it more challenging to wholeheartedly recommend the game to everyone.

Frankly speaking, I wouldn’t advise spending the full amount on this game at present. The gaming industry is moving towards a different pricing strategy, and while Ubisoft isn’t solely responsible, they should still be mindful of their customers’ wallets. For sixty dollars, one would anticipate a game with more lifelike facial expressions and fewer technical glitches. One would also hope for intricate systems and mechanics that seamlessly integrate, but unfortunately, this is not always the case.

Rather than it, you’ll find an engaging action-adventure title packed with content, though its depth may leave something to be desired. Regrettably, despite my appreciation for Star Wars Outlaws, I believe the asking price of $70 might be a bit steep.

Score: 7/10

2024-09-01 00:39