Ubisoft seems to be cooking up quite a landmark title for the Star Wars series with Outlaws. The upcoming adventure game seems like it will scratch that Uncharted itch while at the same time, delivering an authentic Star Wars experience that stays true to its roots.
During a special 30-minute presentation, I got to watch three main missions from Star Wars Outlaws. Each mission was focused on some unique gameplay mechanics that set each apart from the other. False Flag included a bit of space combat as Kay Vess commandeered a large ship called the Trailblazer and blew up TIE Fighters while zipping through space.
The Wreck focused heavily on exploration with a bit of parkour and puzzle-solving. The Relic, on the other hand, touched on the game’s shooting and cover mechanics as the action-based mission revolved around infiltrating a Crimson Dawn syndicate to steal a relic.
Whatever Star Wars Outlaws seems to throw at the player, it seems to be approachable with different playstyles. Kay can use stealth during the first part of a mission to take enemies down from behind. Sneaking up behind them and knocking them out results in an easy kill.
Kay’s adorable pet creature thing named Nix is also a handy companion when it comes to stealth. It can be tasked to distract enemies forcing them to look the other way while Kay sneaks up behind them. Nix seemingly rolls on its back and tries to distract the enemy with its cuteness. Something that seems to always work (it is very cute so I don’t blame them).
Going stealth also helps add to the game’s espionage mood and Kay is often confronted by terminals that need to be hacked in order to access sensitive data or perhaps unlock a door. These puzzles are seemingly easy to complete. One saw Kay select three symbols and the computer would reveal which of those three was correct. She then had to repeat the same process over and over again with the correct and new symbols to get the correct matching three.
Lockpicking seems to follow a familiar mechanic too. Kay would have to turn a dial to get a light to turn on and repeat the process for the second dial. Once both were aligned and both lights were enabled, the door would then unlock.
Of course, when stealth doesn’t work anymore, Star Wars Outlaws turns into a shooter. These encounters revolve around running from cover to cover while dodging enemy fire and shooting back at openings. There are plenty of explosive canisters to blow up and cover to hide behind.
The game doesn’t seem to have a sticky cover system which is a bit concerning for me. Instead of slunking against a wall or box, Kay just seemingly crouches behind it. When aiming, she then slightly peaks up to point her weapon over the cover. I just hope this doesn’t get too clumsy. Also, the added sticky cover would have given the combat a bit more of a tactical feel.
Kay is equipped with her blaster but can easily pick up weapons around the battlefield and even run to a weapon rack and grab something. Weapons seem to switch up the combat style a bit too. Her blaster forces her to lie low behind the cover and shoot with one hand. However, the E15 Blaster Rifle, on the other hand, is a two-handed weapon which Kay stands upright to fire.
As a result of this, she is left in the open for enemy fire. This does mean Kay’s shots pack a bigger punch than the blaster and can take enemies down much faster.
Kay can also use a focus shot ability that lets her mark a set number of enemies while slowing down time. Once marked, these enemies are all shot at at the end of the timer. Similar to Red Dead Redemption’s focus mode.
She can also grab grenades and toss them to take down groups of enemies. Kay also has smoke grenades that are handy to obscure enemy vision and maybe move to another cover while they are blinded by the smoke.
Star Wars Outlaws also includes a wanted system that raises the wanted level the more ruckus you cause. During some missions, this bar will automatically fill to the max sending the entire fleet after Kay as she tries to escape a stronghold.
During the False Flag mission, Kay escaped a stronghold but the maxed-out wanted level meant enemies would try and hunt her down in space. Enemy ships can easily warp to your position and you’ll have to either fight them off or try and escape.
If you choose violence, Kay will need to fight off the enemy ships by entering Pursuit Mode. This gives players better control over the ship and engages the weapons for easy shooting. Combat here seems pretty much in line with other space shooters. You fly around dodging fire and line up your crosshair to time your shots towards enemy ships.
If you choose to escape and not fight back, Kay can use various methods to fool her enemies. One is to fly through a debris field and try to lose them. Hopefully, they crash or just give up the search.
Either way, Kay needs to reach a satellite to clear her wanted level. Be this by fighting off enemies or getting away from them. Once cleared, she can go about her business.
From the missions I saw, I can’t say just how expansive Star Wars Outlaws is when it comes to the open world. One mission did see Kay take off from a space station, fly towards a planet and land on it. Once there, she exited the ship and walked about large biomes and cities. Here, missions, shops and side objectives were available.
I don’t think the game will offer a “fly anywhere and do anything” scenario but different ships and planets will house their own explorable areas once you arrive at them. Some places will also offer their own linear missions. The Wreck mission, for example, was a linear area where Kay had to explore the wreck of a Republic Cruiser. It was scattered across a dense jungle but offered very little room to explore out of the mission bounds.
From what I gather, Star Wars Outlaws will include a handful of large open hubs across some planets. When you arrive at a planet, the game asks where you would like to land. More locations unlock the more you progress in the game.
I am quite looking forward to Star Wars Outlaws. I don’t think the game is going to offer anything groundbreaking when it comes to the typical action-adventure experience. However, the idea of having a “good ‘ol Star Wars adventure” definitely makes me happy. If I can explore alien planets and engage in loud blaster combat, I am pretty much sold.
Star Wars Outlaws is expected to launch on 30 August for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC.
