Star Wars Outlaws: lively roguish adventure instead of Jedi drama

Star Wars show here, Star Wars movie there, and yet another new game a year after Jedi Survivor. This world that once used to amaze me endlessly is now really starting to tire me. Nevertheless, I was cautiously optimistic when a review code for Star Wars Outlaws landed in my inbox. Not least because the open-world adventure comes from Massive Entertainment, the studio behind The Divison. After around ten hours with the PC version, I can draw a very positive conclusion.

Han Solo, only less self-absorbed

I play as Kay Vess. After a failed break-in, she has one of the most influential villains in the galaxy breathing down her neck. The only logical solution? Put together a crew and plan the biggest score ever to solve all the problems with the money. Kay is obviously modelled on Han Solo – I can even put on his iconic black vest. She’s a go-getter, always has a witty remark at the ready and her heart is in the right place. In terms of time, the game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The biggest difference to Han Solo is that her companion Nix is a much smaller pet than Chewbacca – and a little less independent. Kay is also less experienced and less conceited than Han Solo.

One of her first negotiations for a mission goes like this:
Kay: «I want half the payment in advance.»
Client: «Payment will follow after the job.»
Kay: «OK, that works too.»
Wonderful, that tells me everything I need to know about her.

Star Wars Outlaws tells the story of a lovable scoundrel, keeping her head above water with all kinds of jobs. She’s played perfectly by Humberly González, motivated to keep herself and Nix chugging along. And if she gets to meet a few quirky characters in the process, all the better. Sound familiar? The game has a similar vibe to the series The Mandalorian. I expect some relaxed Wild West action, not a universe-spanning Jedi drama. Even the score is confusingly similar. So similar, in fact, that I wish Ubisoft had recruited Ludwig Göransson directly. But he’s clearly not into games (article in German).

Initial trials and tribulations

However, the start of the game is anything but exciting. I wander aimlessly through a drab settlement to scrape together 100 credits. At first, I wonder if I’ve accidentally skipped the intro or tutorial. But this beginning seems to be deliberately slow. The first hour is visually disappointing too. That changes when I get to explore the open world of Toshara with my speeder. The vast landscapes and the bustling town of Mirogana look great and are packed with little details.

Star Wars Outlaws manages not to clutter up the map with icons as is typical for Ubisoft. I usually let my eyes guide me to the next adventure. Sometimes, the landing approach of an Imperial transport catches my attention, other times an abandoned radio station has me make an unscheduled stopover.

The excursions reward me with credits, materials to improve my equipment or information on new loot. Star Wars Outlaws doesn’t provide experience points. It’s one of the few aspects in which Massive demonstrates courage. Instead, I unlock new skills from my growing crew by completing certain tasks for them or collecting resources. Otherwise, the game relies on tried-and-tested open-world fare.

Plenty of freedom, lots of sneaking, but sometimes too old-fashioned

As in all Ubisoft games, my quest log is full to bursting after just a few hours. I can follow the main story and recruit new members for my crew. This is the fastest way to discover new planets such as Kijimi, home to a snow-covered temple city, or the legendary Cantina on Tatooine.

I can decide whether I want to spend hours exploring the landscape with my speeder or hunt space pirates in my spaceship. Unlike in most open-world games, there’s no urgency – aside from the fact I’m on the hit list of an influential syndicate. It makes sense that a mercenary like Kay would be constantly distracted by some new task. Spontaneously following the next lucrative opportunity is in her nature.

The actual missions are surprisingly focused on sneaking. I’ve already seen this in the trailers, but I didn’t realise how essential it would be. Especially in the bigger main missions, I can’t get very far with my blaster. Often, enemies simply overrun me. After all, Kay isn’t a Jedi. She also doesn’t wear armour and takes quite a bit of damage. Other times, an alarm goes off and the mission starts all over again.

This rigid mission design is my biggest annoyance. Why can’t I just continue after the alarm has been triggered? Let the Imperial destroyer drones come, let them finish me off. Then start all over again. I’d also accept the consequence that being discovered has consequences and influences the story. Star Wars Outlaws is conservative here, allowing little flexibility. A blaster is my only weapon. Others, like a rocket launcher, I can pick up, but only use until ammunition runs out. Still, my blaster can be upgraded in various ways.

Where I feel free, however, is in how I approach missions. Kay can climb, crawl through ventilation shafts, swing across chasms and hack terminals. An essential part of this is Nix. The little alien can distract enemies for me, attack them, open doors for me and even blow up explosive objects. I can control him directly, allowing me to react spontaneously to situations. Together we’re an almost unbeatable team.

Now that I’ve come to terms with the big stealth focus in missions, I’m having more and more fun sneaking around and infiltrating bases unnoticed. If I do get caught, I have the option of chatting to opponents and distracting them for a short time to send Nix off or attack. It’s something I’ve never seen in a game before, and it works perfectly with a character inspired by Han Solo.

Actual mission locations are also great. At one point, I infiltrate an Imperial space base to free a new crew member. The mission takes me right across the gigantic facility. I feel like Luke and Han Solo when they go to free Princess Leia. The size of the facility and power of the empire are palpable. A different mission into a crashed spaceship is somewhat quieter, but more sinister. I climb through gigantic reactor halls to get an important upgrade module for my own spaceship. Of course, it ends with me walking into an ambush, triggering a chain reaction and having to escape through the exploding wreckage. The action-packed space excursions offer entertaining laser battles and a pleasant change of scenery to the ground missions.

I can overlook the fact that Star Wars Outlaws still relies on tall grass to hide in, and that enemies can be lured by whistling. As I can’t save freely, I sometimes get annoyed with the checkpoint system. It often has me repeating whole passages and collecting all the items I’ve found again. Enemy bases or outposts are even more annoying. They’re immediately repopulated as soon as I leave them. This quickly becomes a chore whenever I realise I haven’t found all the treasures yet and need to go back. I’d rather the game didn’t tell me how many crates can still be found in one place anyway. It makes exploration too compulsive.

I receive plenty of quests from the various factions. The more I work for a faction, the higher my reputation rises within it. In return, my reputation among the other parties can suffer – often because they sabotage each other. Without the necessary reputation, I can only safely pass through their respective dominions unnoticed. If I’m caught sneaking around or even stealing, they’ll throw me out and my reputation plummets.

I’m always at war with the Empire. And of course, I step on their toes too, which requires special care. If I make too much noise, they set all their machinery in motion to hunt me down. A similar wanted system is used as in GTA. The more Stormtroopers I shoot, the better and stronger troops they seem to send. So, I turn tail and hide somewhere until the Empire gives up the chase.

Technically still struggling

The performance of the game isn’t up to scratch yet. Even with my RTX 4090, the game regularly bobs around at 50 fps. There will definitely be a few more updates to come. Nvidia’s Frame Generation can now be used too – I haven’t noticed a leap in performance.

Visually, the game tries its best. It usually impresses with great lighting, high visibility and detailed locations. Then again, other places look pale and grainy. Especially in cutscenes, which aren’t pre-rendered, the quality fluctuates. Sometimes, Kay looks detailed and I can easily read her emotions. But then there are also scenes that look as if I’ve set the detail level too low.

The game also uses the 21:9 aspect ratio, meaning that anyone with a 16:9 screen or TV will see black bars familiar from many films. I can force full screen, but the picture just looks too zoomed in. I quickly got used to the bars. It feels like I’m watching a movie – which is probably the intention behind it.

Verdict: pure Star Wars – no drama, no Jedis

Outlaws is a great open-world adventure, even for Star Wars-weary people like me. Of course, there are Stormtroopers, space battles and cuddly little animals that serve as merchandise templates. But (so far) there are no Jedi, no one talks about the Force, and there’s no universe-threatening evil. Kay is the inexperienced counterpart to Han Solo, likeable, light-hearted and always ready with a witty remark. Instead of Darth Vader, she tangles with syndicates, rips off others at gambling and is always on the lookout for the next lucrative and definitely illegal job.

The world is gigantic and invites you to discover. Its focus on sneaking irritated me at first, but Kay’s pet Nix makes the whole thing surprisingly fast and flexible. The small number of checkpoints sometimes frustrates me, as do bases that are populated again as soon as I return. I’d also have liked a little more flexibility in the mission design. It’s game over if I trigger an alarm. This simply isn’t up to date.

Apart from that, Massive has delivered a (hehe) massive open world that largely manages without the infamous Ubisoft clichés. I can’t wait to see what else awaits me in the next few hours.

Star Wars Outlaws was provided by Ubisoft. I tested the PC version. The game will also be available for PS5 and Xbox Series S/X from 30 August.

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