Massive Leisure and Ubisoft’s a lot touted open world Star Wars recreation is lastly upon us, and it most likely hasn’t landed precisely the best way many would have hoped it will. Definitely, there’s so much to love about Star Wars Outlaws and the scoundrel fantasy that it concocts, however at almost each flip, the space-faring journey is weighed down and held again by important points. Right here, that’s precisely what we’re going to debate, as we go over a few of the issues that we preferred most about Star Wars Outlaws– and a few that we weren’t so loopy about.
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FEELING LIKE A SCOUNDREL
Star Wars Outlaws’ largest promoting level was at all times presupposed to be its promise of letting you reside out your biggest Star Wars scoundrel fantasies, and fortunately, this, on the very least, is an space the place the sport is a convincing success. Attending to really feel like a slick, smooth-talking, double-crossing interstellar felony within the Star Wars universe feels precisely nearly as good because it ought to. The sport accomplishes that in quite a few alternative ways, from giving gamers the instruments to improvise on-the-fly when issues begin turning bitter, Han Solo-style, to navigating the galaxy’s felony underworld as you attempt to maintain the various completely different factions happy- or a minimum of not completely furious on the very thought of your existence. That, by the way, brings us to our subsequent level…
THE REPUTATION SYSTEM
The Popularity system is the guts and soul of Star Wars Outlaws, being tied to just about each single main system or mechanic within the recreation. There’s an argument to be made that maybe it isn’t fairly as fleshed out because it may have been, however there can’t be any denying that it does a superb job of serving to deliver the sport’s scoundrel fantasy to life. Too typically we’ve seen the outlaw character trope in Star Wars deftly working with and towards completely different felony factions to additional their very own objectives, and the Popularity system right here undoubtedly succeeds in emulating that. On prime of that, the alternatives that you just make typically require real thought, and the gameplay penalties really do typically really feel legitimately impactful.
THE STAR WARS AESTHETIC
This one needs to be a straightforward win for any Star Wars recreation. The beloved sci-fi IP has been a popular culture behemoth for so long as it has existed, and has developed a really explicit visible and aesthetic id over time- the sort that, in the event you do prefer it, you most likely can’t get sufficient of. We definitely depend ourselves in that group, so we had been very happy with how effectively Star Wars Outlaws captures that aesthetic. From the slick and claustrophobic interiors of Imperial bases and area stations to the immediately recognizable sound results of speeders and blasters, from how densely packed and brimming with unimaginable particulars just about each single cantina you go to is to the attractive vistas that you just see all through the galaxy, Large Leisure clearly understood the project when it comes to capturing that basic Star Wars feel and appear.
THE OPEN WORLD DESIGN
You’d be forgiven for having a minimum of some skepticism over Star Wars Outlaws’ open world design. Although Large Leisure itself has crafted loads of glorious open world maps in its time, Ubisoft as a writer has change into related to a few of the most fatigue-inducing open world tropes round. Fortunately, Star Wars Outlaws appears like a really un-Ubisoft recreation in that regard. Removed from feeling too formulaic or rigidly structured, the map right here is surprisingly natural, with an precise sense of discovery defining the expertise. Being naturally distracted by issues that pique your curiosity quite following markers and checklists undoubtedly makes for way more compelling open world gameplay.
KAY AND NIX
Star Wars Outlaws’ writing has its points (extra on that in a bit), which implies there are many characters in its solid that don’t get the time within the solar that they want, however fortunately, the main pair of Kay and Nix is nice proper off the bat. Kay isn’t any Han Solo or Lando Calrissian, in that she lacks expertise and ceaselessly makes naive errors, however her means to adapt and improvise flip her right into a succesful main girl nonetheless. That, mixed along with her endearing angle and, after all, her unbreakable bond with the lovable Nix make her and her little companion extremely straightforward to get invested in.
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INCONSISTENT WRITING
Let’s kick this part off with Star Wars Outlaws’ writing deficiencies, since we’ve already touched on them. To be truthful, it’s not just like the writing within the recreation is horrible throughout the board. As talked about, Kay is a superb protagonist, as her bond with Nix is one other brilliant spot, however typically, the sport is let down by nonsensical contrivances, leaps in logic, inconsistencies, characters being needlessly silly, and what have you ever. That is additionally a recreation that clearly didn’t get the “present, don’t inform” memo, due to which a few of its largest narrative developments within the latter levels find yourself falling virtually utterly flat.
INSTA-FAIL STEALTH SECTIONS
I don’t know how we’re speaking about insta-fail sections in a significant new AAA launch in 2024. Even a decade in the past, this may have been known as extremely dated design, and Star Wars Outlaws not solely adopts it, however then additionally proceeds to double down on it. There’s a irritating quantity of compelled stealth sections within the recreation, that are made worse by the truth that, due to tough AI points, technical glitches, and half-baked stealth mechanics, the stealth gameplay on this recreation simply isn’t excellent. We’re big followers of the stealth style right here, however there are few issues worse than a recreation that hardheadedly emphasis stealth gameplay although it merely isn’t outfitted to take action.
STIFF MOVEMENT
That is the one drawback you normally don’t anticipate finding in video games by Large and Ubisoft, which just about at all times really feel glorious to play when it comes to their moment-to-moment gameplay and recreation really feel. Weirdly sufficient, the identical undoubtedly can’t be mentioned about Star Wars Outlaws. The overall motion within the recreation feels simply extremely clunky, and although numerous that’s clearly right down to the sport’s many technical points (which we’ll get to shortly), even absent these, the sport simply feels clunky and cumbersome to manage on a really basic stage.
BLAND CLIMBING MECHANICS
The checklist of AAA tropes that Star Wars Outlaws employs is an extended one, with Uncharted-model climbing mechanics being excessive on that checklist. Sadly, the climbing doesn’t really feel almost as {smooth} and enjoyable because it does in Uncharted video games, with Kay’s actions feeling extremely janky and stiff. As you’re clambering over partitions and ledges, you possibly can virtually bodily really feel the seams between one animation and the subsequent. There’s additionally the truth that climbing sections virtually at all times find yourself being extremely easy and linear, to the purpose the place they find yourself feeling like essentially the most low-stakes strings of QTEs possible.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Sadly, technical points at launch are by no means unusual in Ubisoft video games, and even in AAA games- hell, final 12 months’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor had comparable points, too. Outlaws, nevertheless, feels notably tough across the edges. In our time with the sport, we’ve been hit with efficiency drops, muddy draw distances, lip syncing points, texture pop in, animation glitches, and all types of bugs. Given the truth that the sport went gold virtually two entire months earlier than launch, we’re stunned to see it coming on this sizzling.
