Star Wars Outlaws Review

Game Title:	Star Wars Outlaws
Developer:	Massive Entertainment
Publisher:	Ubisoft
Release Date:	27th August 2024
Platforms:	PS5/XSS/XSX/PC

Star Wars Outlaws is an action adventure open world game and the latest entry in the Star Wars Saga game. 

Star Wars Outlaws took place in the period after Star Wars Episode V: Empire Strikes Back and before Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. 

Story

You play as Kay Vess, a slicer / thief living in Canto Blight. Together with her companion, Nix, she makes a living by taking job after her mother left her to fend for herself.

Kay & Nix living inside Bram's Bar in Canto Blight

Unfortunately, this time she took the wrong job: to rob Sliro Ruback, the crime lord of the Zerek Besh syndicate.

Ended up captured by Sliro, Kay decided to make a run while stealing Trailblazer (a refined EML-850 light freighter from the Republic Era) from Zerek Besh and crash-landed in Toshara.

Wrong Place and Wrong Time

There she was caught in-between the syndicate war between Crimson Dawn & Pyke Syndicate while trying to repair the Trailblazer. After successfully getting Trailblazer fixed, Kay was recruited by Jaylen Vrax and was asked to recruit members to perform that one final heist that would be their golden ticket to freedom.

That is basically the quick summary of the plot for Star Wars Outlaws. First of all, we need to remind all of you that this is not the story where you will cross paths with Jedi and the Force. You are in control of a normal human who has the skill set of a thief. There will be no Lightsabers, no Jedi, no Force in the game.

The story itself doesn't contribute too much to the whole Star Wars Saga movie (Episode I - IX), but it's a good experience for people who want to experience the Star Wars Universe beyond the movies and understand a little bit more about the Crime Syndicates and the extra story in the universe.

Also, some characters that appear before in the movies or other media return as cameos in this game. The most notable ones are Lady Qi'ra (You might remember her from the movie Solo: A Star Wars Story played by Emilia Clarke back in 2018 as Hans Solo's first love), Jabba the Hutt, and also Lando (previous owner of the Millenium Falcon).

And much more which you can experience by playing the game! And based on the timeline of the game in the Star Wars Universe, you might see "him" inside Jabba's palace?

Personally, we think that the game stands on its own and you can still enjoy it without understanding too much about the Star Wars lore. But, if you are a Star Wars fan, you might be in for a treat for the extra lore of the Star Wars Universe.

Also being able to explore some of the notable places in the Star Wars Universe is definitely a plus point as well.

But, Kay herself as a protagonist isn't really interesting. Her story isn't something that people would like to invest in, and also her motivation for doing whatever thing she does and her end-game is just not convincing enough. It feels like if you change the protagonist from Kay to another Slicer like Riko, it won't affect the narrative too much.

Gameplay

There are so many things we would like to talk about regarding the gameplay of Star Wars Outlaws.

First of all, we would like to mention that Star Wars Outlaws really focuses on the stealth action. 

Combat

Almost 90% of the Story Missions or Sub-missions will focus on Kay doing infiltration. Whether it's an infiltration mission of an Empire Base to steal some data, or infiltration mission on a syndicate area to free your soon-to-be crew, or maybe an infiltration mission to steal all kinds of stuff.

There is not too much variety in the missions as well. You just infiltrate some areas and try to reach your target using different infiltration skills you have (mainly Nix), again and again.

Sending Nix to Distract or Attack enemies is the best way to clear a mission

People who don't have enough patience will find that this is very boring. Most of the time you are "FORCED" to use stealth to clear the mission, otherwise you will get the "Game Over" screen.

Sometimes you just want to shoot it out, because the stealth gameplay gets stale after doing infiltration missions for the 10th time. But, unfortunately, the game won't let you do that for the narrative purpose.

While the game gives you some kind of freedom to clear the mission (like different entry points, or different ways to reach the target), you don't have the freedom to choose the way you want to clear the mission.

Also, this might sound like a nitpicking, but the way Kay does a stealth kill, sometimes doesn't make any sense.

It's different when you are an assassin who has a sharp hidden blade, but Kay is a thief with no real martial arts skills. Most of the time she uses her fist to do a stealth kill.

Like basically punch the other guy to KO.

And sometimes it doesn't make any sense when you are stealth-killing an imperial trooper with full armor and helmet on.

That uppercut should have done more damage to Kay's fist rather than the Stormtrooper

While you can also shoot your way out while doing some of the missions, it's definitely not the recommended way to deal with it. You will either end up alarming the enemies or raising your own wanted level.

There is nothing too deep regarding the shooting mechanics. Besides your main blaster, you will be able to get a secondary weapon like Grenade Launcher, Rifle, etc.

Won't have this Rifle for long

But you won't get to keep it, as you will drop it most of the time when you are doing other actions (such as climbing a ladder, riding Speeder, etc). What we don't like about the shooting part is that a headshot doesn't mean a headshot. Before you upgrade your blaster, you will sometimes need 2-3 shots on the head before the enemy is down. We can understand if it's an enemy with a helmet on, but an enemy without a helmet took a laser attack to the head and didn't die? Weird.

Also, another thing we don't really like is when you ride Speeder you can't attack enemies normally unless you are using Adrenaline Rush.

Adrenaline Rush is an ability Kay can use that's similar to Red Dead Redemption's Dead Eye system.

Adrenaline Rush only when riding Speeder

Also, this is only limited to the Imperial's army though, there's a Wanted Level just like in GTA if you mess with the Galactic Empire.

But, to be honest it's kind of weak as what they will do is just send another set of army again and again until you defeat them all. It will end up with you having to deal with Death Trooper, but they are not coming to you. Instead, it will appear as a side activity you need to deal with in a designated area. This is weird considering you are on the Manhunt list, so they should be the ones looking for you, not the other way around.

Exploration

This is where the game shines. Exploration!

You will find A LOT OF ACTIVITIES you can do in the game.

It's kind of different from the Assassin's Creed series as it's not like a checklist kind of exploration. 

Points of Interest

First of all, we would like to talk about the Points of Interest on the map. You will be able to see some Points of Interest that you found during your exploration, for example, an Empire's Base or Syndicate's Base, or maybe some caves or tunnels. And in each area, there are treasure chests that you can obtain (they also show on the Map how many treasure chests in the area you haven't found/unlocked).

Basically, most of the Point of Interest is kind of like a small dungeon where you have to explore a little to find the treasure chests. Sometimes the area is a bit HUGE and you are going to have trouble locating where the treasure chests are (for example Empire Base).

Most of the time, you might have to explore the area by climbing and swinging through ropes like Uncharted series. The other times are mostly infiltration again.

Finding these treasure chests will reward you with some rare materials that you can use to upgrade your Blasters, Speeder, or Trailblazer. In any case, it will definitely help on your journey throughout the galaxy.

You can see How many treasure chests left in Pyke Guardhouse

Intels

This is where it gets interesting, some of the Side Activities in the game won't appear immediately like in a normal open world game. You need to get the intel for that before you can find it on your map. This makes a lot of sense as it's quite realistic.

There are different ways you can get Intel in this game, whether you buy it from merchants / brokers, talk to some NPCs in town, listen to people's conversations, or just read some data pads that contain required information.

To some people, this might sound a bit annoying, especially those who are looking for 100% completion. We still think that there are things that we have not unlocked due to the huge vast area that you can explore and find.

We was quite surprised when we just went and talked to one of the many vendors in town, and a side activity started suddenly which ended up with me getting a permanent discount from the same vendor. This kind of event is quite random and sometimes you don't know what triggers it.

Intels you received can be checked on Journals

Space Exploration & Combat

Another thing we like about Star Wars Outlaws is the Space Exploration & Combat. The transition from flying Trailblazer from a planet into a galaxy is very smooth, and vice versa.
Just like the normal exploration on the lands, there are also Points of Interest on the space. But it's more like salvaging stuff in the said area rather than exploring dungeons or places. The great thing about this space exploration is that you can actually roam around the spaces. While limited, the area is vast enough for you to explore and find something new.

There are a total of 4 galaxies that you can roam around in your Trailblazer.

Each with their own orbit you can explore

Some galaxies are different from others, but most of the time it's almost the same, you know, it's space.

We think it's a good spin including the Space mechanics, it gives a good change of pace when you are bored playing on the lands.

Beautiful scenery in the space

Mini Games

The game also has a good amount of Mini Games you can enjoy.

There's this arcade machine where you can compete in getting a high score, also betting on races, Nix's Gourmet minigame, and Sabacc.

While it's not necessary for you to play these mini-games, some of them actually have benefits. For example, by doing Nix's Gourmet minigame, you will get the gourmet that you can set to give different stats increases or ability boosts for Nix.

Also, Sabacc is one of the most important mini-games in Star Wars Outlaws, as it has a whole quest line connected to it, and will reward you with a new Skill Tree from a memorable character from the Star Wars Universe.

A total of 4 mini-games

Skills & Upgrades

Skills & Upgrades definitely play a big role in this game. You will be able to learn skills from different kinds of NPCs by finishing their quest lines. 

The thing about learning skills isn't as easy as leveling up and using your ability points to learn it as there are no such systems in Star Wars Outlaws. But, rather you have to finish a specific task for it to be unlocked. It can be tedious because sometimes you have to do something that might ruin your reputation between the Crime Syndicates or you end up getting arrested or killed by the Empire army.

Some of the tasks are easy and some are quite troublesome to complete. Also, one of the skills has tasks that you can complete on random occasions (I'm looking at you Speeder's Race!).

Unlock conditions for the Speeder Shot ability

While Blasters, Speeders, and Trailblazers upgrades are more straightforward.

They require certain materials for you to upgrade them. The problem is getting the said materials. Because you can only buy them for a certain amount of quantity. Then you have to go around all other vendors to find if they have those materials as well or loot from one of the points of interest. It may take a lot of time if you want to fully upgrade everything on your possessions.

So many materials needed to upgrade

Gears
You also get various numbers of Gears that Kay and Nix can equip. 

These gears also have their 3 rarities level as well (Superior, Cosmetic, or None).

Superior Gears give an extra ability boost by equipping the set.

Equip 3 pieces of Akiva Thief Set to activate the Thief Gear Set Skill

This is good as you can equip Gear that works for your play style, while you can also change the appearances of the Gears without actually changing it. So you can dress Kay the way you want to. We do love it when your equipment actually changes visually.

Choose which appearances you want

Factions

This is another part that we don't quite like about Star Wars Outlaws. Factions.

Basically, there are a total of 4 Crime Syndicates that you will be associated with, and you will have reputation stats among them all. As these Crime Syndicates are rivals of one another, if you do something in a Syndicate's favor, then you will lose the trust of other factions.

By having a good reputation, you will be able to walk freely into their areas without getting into any trouble. And by having bad reputations, they will start attacking you when you try to get inside their area.

As for us, getting attacked all the time will take the fun out of the exploration, so we try to keep a good balance of the relationship with all syndicates. This is very hard because some of the story missions or side missions will end up with you deciding which syndicate will benefit from your actions.

Excellent reputations with all of them

It will always end up with you losing reputations from other Syndicates because your decision works in the favor of the other one.

Honor your deal with The Hutts or cross them?

There are other ways for you to increase the reputation of each faction, it's to do some tasks for the Syndicate through Contracts. You will find brokers all over the game who can provide you information on Contracts.

These contracts are mission-based and will appear again and again no matter how many times you finish it. Just finish the contracts related to the Syndicate in which you want your reputation to increase.

You can check which brokers have what contracts in your Trailblazer console

Graphics & Performances

This is probably something that people have been talking about a lot recently in terms of graphics.

We played the game on PlayStation 5, and fortunately, we didn't encounter any game-breaking bug like the one we saw or heard on the internet (It looks like those are for PC version?)

The game gives you options to play on a 21:9 (with a black bar on the top/bottom side of the screen) to give you a more cinematic feel for the game, or you can just play it on a fill-screen setting like normal games.

But the default is 21:9, so we did our whole playthrough with that.

Left: Fill Screen   Right: 21:9

The game also has a Graphics (30fps) or Performance (up to 60fps) mode that you can choose.

Unfortunately, the performance mode is quite grainy, and sometimes the fps isn't stable as well. But our overall experience with isn't that bad.

But if you want a more cinematic experience, we would recommend the Graphics mode as the pre-rendered cutscenes are also on 30fps.

Despite the problems we mentioned earlier, the game did a very good job of capturing the beauty of the Star Wars Universe.

The photo mode works like magic and there are areas in the game where you can just enjoy the views.

Jabba's Palace in Tatooine

Toshara's landscape

On the other note, the character's expression could be better in our opinion. It's hard to notice because most of the time the NPCs are aliens, but when it comes to Human NPCs, their faces are stiff like robots, but this could be just nitpicking from our side.

Sounds

We think they did a very good job in terms of the sounds.

The BGMs are Star Wars-esque, not to mention that BGM when you fly to space or when you are in space combat.

Boy, that is awesome.

Leaving Jaunta's Hope ~ The Debris Field is our personal favorite.

You can also check the other BGMs from the playlist.

It certainly still gives the same majestic feel as the older Star Wars BGMs.

The Verdict

We definitely are aware of what people have been saying about the game since it was first released.

But, after playing the game and experiencing the game first-hand. We can definitely say that Star Wars Outlaws is by no means a bad game. But, we are not saying that it's a great game as well.

The game focuses A LOT on stealth but wasn't really marketed as a stealth game. People who don't like these kinds of stealth actions might get frustrated.

Also, it's hard to relate to Kay as a protagonist, as her story isn't that interesting and her motivation is not that strong as well. 

While it really lacks on the narrative sides and the combat gameplay, there are a lot of things they did right for the game.

Exploration is the best aspect of the game. There are a lot of things to do inside the game and things that you can find and explore.

This is definitely a game that can be enjoyed by both Star Wars fans (to expand the universe's lore), and also those who don't really know anything about Star Wars (it's a totally new story without anything to do with Jedi or The Force).

Star Wars Outlaws is definitely something worth a playthrough if you are a fan of the stealth / espionage kind of game like Metal Gear Solid or Splinter Cell series.

We finished the game after 49 hours of gameplay. Finishing all sub-quests, having all 4 Syndicates reputation on excellent. Almost learned all abilities (42/45), and almost fully upgraded both Speeder (15/17) & Trailblazer (26/29).