Star Wars Outlaws Review Scores – Plagued by Bugs

As a long-time enthusiast of both the Star Wars universe and open-world games, I must admit that my initial excitement for Star Wars Outlaws was short-lived. Having spent countless hours immersed in the stealthy adventures of Arkham, the systemic freedom of Dishonored, and the high-speed thrills of Assassin’s Creed, I found myself utterly disappointed with this latest addition to the Star Wars franchise.


The game Star Wars Outlaws faced numerous challenges. To start, it’s a Star Wars title without the iconic lightsaber for players. Additionally, it shares some similarities with Jedi: Survivor, but not enough to satisfy fans of that game. However, the real question is: is Star Wars Outlaws worth playing? We examine review scores to find out.

Star Wars Outlaws Review Scores: 76 on Metacritic

Currently, Star Wars Outlaws holds a Metascore in the mid-seventies on Metacritic. Despite early reports suggesting the PS5 version had game-stopping bugs, scores from various platforms are quite close. Interestingly, there’s a significant gap between what critics and regular players (or everyday gamers) seem to think about the game. The user ratings suggest that many found the game less enjoyable than the critics did.

The feedback below ranges widely, encompassing a variety of opinions. Some reviews praise the game highly due to its enjoyable aspects, while others offer balanced perspectives highlighting both strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, there are harsh criticisms that primarily focus on the game’s shortcomings without giving much recognition to its strong points.

No matter which review you examine, a consistent issue arises: bugs and performance problems. Across various platforms, it seems that Star Wars Outlaws has a significant challenge with bugs and glitches, negatively impacting both players and critics alike.

It’s hoped that Ubisoft Massive is currently focusing on resolving all these problems, given that aside from the bugs, technical glitches, and performance hiccups, there are significant matters at hand that must be tackled, whether immediately or eventually, if they plan to develop a sequel for Kay Vess’ journey.

Let’s start with the game’s review scores from critics.

Star Wars Outlaws gets mixed reviews from critics

The solitary top-tier rating (5 out of 5 stars) for Star Wars Outlaws was bestowed by NME, accompanied by a glowing review that stated:

“The game ‘Outlaws’ has a classic Star Wars feel, yet it isn’t confined within the Skywalker saga. The universe appears expansive, filled with intriguing locations to discover, skills to master, and shady activities to engage in. Developers have carefully selected compelling elements from iconic games like Uncharted, Tomb Raider, and The Witcher to craft a distinctive and harmonious Star Wars game.”

Gamers Heroes also gave the game a high rating of 95% out of 100%, with a review that reads:

“Massive Entertainment built stunning galaxies with breathtaking environments, provided an action-packed combat experience reminiscent of scoundrels, and wove a story that rivals today’s blockbuster movies. Essentially, Star Wars Outlaws is the Star Wars game that this generation will remember.”

It’s evident that most favorable reviews were written by critics who highly valued Ubisoft Massive’s successful portrayal of Star Wars’ core values. They commended the game for its consistency with the original content and the authentic ‘canon-like’ feel, despite it being the developers’ first attempt at this franchise.

These reviews frequently mention the delightful blend of the game’s mechanics, appreciating the engaging mix of stealth and light shooting elements it provided. They often praise the game for its well-balanced action and the open-world setting, which they find impressively detailed and immersive.

Nevertheless, many critics don’t share this evaluation. Some remain lenient, acknowledging more issues yet awarding the game a respectable rating in their reviews.

One of these is IGN, who assigned the game a rating of 7 out of 10. Their summary was brief but clear.

“Star Wars Outlaws offers an enjoyable space-themed heist journey filled with intriguing exploration. However, its stealth mechanics are basic, the fighting can get monotonous, and there were quite a few glitches when it was initially released.”

In simpler terms, GameRant provided a detailed analysis stating that despite its shortcomings, Star Wars Outlaws is a game you should consider playing. They rated the game a commendable 3.5 out of 5 stars. Their final verdict was positive, suggesting that it’s worth giving this game a try.

“In some way, the game, Star Wars Outlaws, maintains its appeal despite its flaws. It provides a relatively quick journey, and fortunately, it concludes before the issues become too intense. This game is quite ambitious, suggesting that Massive Entertainment either took on too much or perhaps opted for a more conservative approach. The outcome is a game that sits just above average, with potential for improvement in a future sequel, addressing many of Outlaws’ weaknesses.”

Eurogamer didn’t express much enthusiasm for the game, awarding it just two stars out of five. Their review conveyed a sense of disappointment.

“The success of the heist movie lies not only in its thrilling action but also in the intricate and compelling characters, their traits such as complexity, obsession, or greed. On the other hand, Star Wars Outlaws seems to fall short, much like Kay when discovered by a more experienced crime boss. This lack of depth is evident in comparison to games like Arkham, Dishonored, or Assassin’s Creed, which offer branching stealth options, systemic choices, and fast-paced, immensely satisfying gameplay.”

Eurogamer joins others in expressing dissatisfaction over the game’s shallow gameplay depth, while Hardcore Gamer believes that the themes of Star Wars Outlaws got lost within a genre that didn’t quite match its style. In their 2.5 out of 5 review, Hardcore Gamer remarks:

“The idea of a Star Wars game focusing entirely on the world of outlaws in its seedier parts of the universe is a great one, but it deserved a different kind of game than Star Wars Outlaws, instead of being suited for something more like Shadows of Doubt, Disco Elysium or even L.A. Noire. Even a straight, linear action game would be better. Instead, we get a boring, open-world monstrosity with uninspired gameplay, way too many useless features and a constant deluge of uninteresting side content. Kay and company deserve way better and so do the players. Save your credits and wait for something like a solo Kessel Sabacc game instead.”

Fan reception of Star Wars Outlaws is overwhelmingly negative

If this game were on Steam, it would likely receive a lot of negative reviews, and these poor ratings could persist unless the game goes on sale. Instead of relying on Steam reviews, we can look at the Metacritic user reviews as an alternative.

From the user reviews of Star Wars Outlaws, you can gather a strong sense of it. A significant number of these reviews originate from the PlayStation 5 community. Many of them encountered the save-deleting problem that caused trouble for the early adopters, specifically those who had pre-ordered the game.

Beyond the technical issues, numerous gamers have expressed concerns about the game’s basic shortcomings. A player put it this way:

“The scenery is stunning, yet the gameplay leaves much to be desired. Starting with a mandatory linear, stealth-focused mission in an open-world game feels restrictive. The combat is weak, and the stealth system is hardly convincing – it’s almost comical. Frankly, I’ve encountered smarter AI in a typewriter. As for the bugs, they can be overlooked as they will likely be fixed in future updates.”

Critics also point out some issues with the main character, Kay Vess, a common theme in less favorable reviews of the game. Some argue that, given the IP is Star Wars, the developers could have created a more intriguing, original character. Instead, we ended up with a human female character.

It’s not entirely fair that certain individuals have drawn comparisons between the game and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, with some users seemingly yearning for more of Jedi Survivor and focusing on aspects that Outlaws doesn’t offer. While their feelings are understandable, their opinions might need a bit of refinement to account for the unique qualities of Outlaws.

As a fervent admirer of the game, I can’t help but voice my disappointment over Kay, a character who felt underwhelming and insufficiently developed. Her abilities in the game were notably scarce, especially when it comes to traversal and combat – skills one would anticipate from a nimble rogue scoundrel. My fellow enthusiasts and I had high expectations, but unfortunately, they weren’t met by this characterization. One fan went as far as to raise doubts about Massive’s choice to make stealth a fundamental aspect of the game.

Although many users did give positive ratings to the game upon release, nearly all reviews pointed out that the game was plagued with bugs and frequent crashes. This was especially problematic given the $70 price tag. Many dedicated fans felt that leaving negative feedback could influence Ubisoft’s approach to pricing for future games.

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2024-09-01 01:39