Coming out at the same time as Black Myth: Wukong, Star Wars Outlaws is trying to lay claim to the game of the summer, but is it suffering from Ubisoft-itis?
Story and Gameplay
Ubisoft has tried its best to make you feel like Han Solo without actually making you play as him. You play as the titular outlaw Kay Vess, traversing the galaxy and making friends and enemies with the various factions in the game.
All Kay wants to do is escape her homeworld to start a new life in the Core Worlds, and in her desperation, she accepts a job to break into the vault of Sliro, the leader of the Zerek Besh syndicate. Thinking she was stealing money to leave Canto Bight, she instead finds out that she’s helping the Rebel Alliance, and thus, Kay ensues quite the galaxy-hopping adventure as she takes Sliro’s stolen ship, the Trailblazer, and builds a crew to help the Rebels.
The story, overall, is serviceable on a level with the Solo film, and the different factions that you can work with offer different benefits, and there are pluses and minuses to them all. I sided with the Hutts just so I can marvel at Jabba’s likeness on a PS5.
Now we get to the crux of the game: How does it feel to be a Han Solo-esque character in this world? Well, the short answer is pretty badass. Kay and her little sidekick, Nix, do get up to some wicked adventures throughout the open world, and for the most part, Kay handles herself well in combat and is very good at traversing the different worlds and small hubs within each world quite well.
The standard blaster you get has unlimited ammo but does overheat when used too much, and it can be upgraded pretty well. The issues come when you pick up any secondary weapon in the world, whether it’s from fallen enemies or left lying around. Anytime you perform any action other than standard walking, you drop the weapon. This just seemed baffling as some of the blasters you pick up surely can’t be much bigger than the standard one, and it makes zero sense for it to be dropped.
A divisive element that I actually enjoyed was your little axolotl companion, Nix, who has the ability to really change up how you approach certain missions. Nix can be sent to distract enemies, allowing you to either slip by unnoticed or help you take down enemies through stealth. Nix can also fetch mission-specific pickups from the environment or enemies as long as you hit the right button in time. This can make certain stealth encounters easier, but I felt Nix added an extra layer to missions.
On the topic of stealth missions, they can be some of the most infuriating parts of the game, and that is purely down to the parameters that the developers have put in place. Most missions can be tackled stealthily or loudly, which is up to you, but there are some stealth-focused missions. You know it’s a stealth mission when you get a little on-screen message saying your blaster has been disabled. This would make sense if you did not have a stealth takedown option on it. Granted, this has a cooldown, but still having this option would have made certain missions a hell of a lot easier.
Also, enemies during stealth missions are either trained Marines who spot you from a mile away or are so thick you could be next to them and they mysteriously still can’t see you. The stealth-only missions were the worst part of this rootin’- tootin’ outlaw game.
The other major gripe I have, and it seems part and parcel with modern games, are the glitches. The glitches in Star Wars Outlaws are quite frequent and infuriating. Like, I got stuck in the world multiple times or just glitched through certain objects, or once when I got shot, I flew several metres back. There were also instances of texture pop-in during some cutscenes, and worst of all, there were issues with saving. It only happened once to me when, for some reason, the game didn’t save properly, and I lost, like, 30 minutes of gameplay, but the infamous patch issue where Ubisoft told people to start again is unacceptable.
Graphics
Sort of following on from the last section on glitches, the texture pop-in that plagues this game happens more often than I’d like, especially given how beautiful other Star Wars games look, like the Jedi series.
Overall, though, each world does look pretty decent, with the differing lighting of each part of the worlds being quite pretty, and the level of detail in each world is really good, with some exceptions.
When talking to significant characters in non-cutscene moments of dialogue, there is an obvious drop-off in detail in the immediate vicinity, which can detract from your chat. In terms of the characters, for the most part, they do look pretty good, but on occasion, they do give off Mass Effect: Andromeda vibes.
In summation, though, the graphics are like much of this game, showing a glimpse of something special, but there are just certain things that hold Star Wars Outlaws back from being as beautiful as the aforementioned Jedi series.
Conclusion
If you read a lot of reviews and watch content online, you will think Star Wars Outlaws is another Ubisoft failure, but in my personal opinion, it is the most 7/10 game ever.
It will not pull up any trees, nor will it have any nominations at the Game Awards, but it is actually a lot of fun, and the world that Ubisoft has created is superb and is the best Han Solo-type game that there is on the market at the moment.
There are too many little things that I would say bring this game down to being nowhere near the level of EA’s Jedi series. However, if you want to stay away from a game focused on Force powers and lightsabers and want to feel like a badass in the Star Wars universe with a less serious tone, then this is the game for you.
I would say to pick this one up in an upcoming sale, whether on your relevant storefront or just wait for Black Friday, which is when I think this game will see some serious discounts. At around £30-£35, this game is a definite must-buy for any Star Wars fan.
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platforms: PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC
Release Date: 27th August 2024
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Star Wars Outlaws was provided by the publisher.
