Outlaws accomplishes what it set out to do. So it’s weird seeing the negative reactions online. Sure, there are some areas that could use more polish. But it’s also hard to throw hate at other areas that are as advertised.
So what is Outlaws? To put it bluntly, this is basically a Han Solo simulator. The major differences are that you’re playing as a new character, Kay Vess, and her pet Nix. Instead of just being everyone’s favorite smuggler, you’re getting a fresh new angle with Kay. You’ll make acquaintances along the way, maybe betray a few, and in general live the life one would have expected Han to have had in Star Wars.
I mean this as honestly as it sounds. You’re not expected to dive in, guns blazing, and just eat this game up in as few hours as possible. The point here is to take it easy and explore. Towns are dense areas and even right from the start, you’ll be exploring Ubisoft’s own world, Toshara, once you get out of the intro. The area feels lived in and it’s easy to get lost at first. There’s no arrows along the ground to guide you to your next objective. It’s just that marker on your compass. Go find it.
On top of that, stealth missions can be cumbersome. However, at the same time, they fit. It’s annoying to not just be able to go full tilt with your blaster. But if you’re on an imperial ship and they raise the alarm, that would kind of be game over. Sure, you could sneak through vents and all to safety. That’s still only going to get you so far. I was left confused and frustrated in stealth missions, having to try them over and over. But at the same time, it wasn’t any different than dying to a boss again and again in Dark Souls. It makes sense for Kay to have these sorts of missions.
One thing that I have seen posted around that does irk me though is dropping weapons. Punch an enemy, you drop any secondary blaster. Climb into an air vent. Same. It seems like any action drops secondary weapons. It didn’t bother me at first, but it quickly became a nuisance. In one instance, I cleared a room and found a sniper rifle. Sweet! Go to leave the room through a vent, and there goes my new weapon on the floor. Hopefully this is something that can be addressed.
Unlike other reviewers, I do find the game has a Division vibe. Which makes sense since it’s the team who developed that series. While wandering an imperial ship, I couldn’t help but think back to the arena in the first The Division game. Which works. I’m just working my way through the area, avoiding or taking down enemies.
Yes, some silent take downs seem to attract attention when it really doesn’t seem like they should. I’ve turned down the difficulty since, so maybe it’s better now. I just need to keep playing to find out. But there are some times that it seems like you’re in the clear, but eagle eyed enemies still spot you.
Another fun aspect however is the ability to choose how you complete a mission. Will you help the quest giver, or betray them to gain rep with a rival outlaw faction? That’s the sort of balancing act you get to perform throughout the game. I’m still playing, so I don’t know how far it stretches out, but it does feel like I’m in good with my chosen groups. Which makes the game feel more organic instead of just following a script.
A lot of the game is just fun! Driving around on a speeder, wandering the big towns, and in general just role playing as Kay in the world. It’s all about being an outlaw. Sometimes, it’s frustrating. Sometimes it’s just fun. But Massive Entertainment has done a great job of just mixing in so many successful ideas to make this a different experience. Sure it’s kind of like Assassins Creed. It’s sort of like The Division. But it also has this coat of paint on it that makes it Star Wars. It isn’t just some “reskin” to make it a Lucasfilm Game.
Sure, as I’ve said, there are some annoyances here. Like data pads in stealth areas. Like, am I supposed to take everyone out and read that? What if someone comes in. Is the game paused while I’m reading? What about after I’m ready to move on and the sirens are blaring? Should I just take the time to read the news? If Link can do whatever he wants while Zelda tries to hold back the forces of Calamity Ganon, I’m sure I can take the time to read about some mishap on an imperial ship.
The main question here is, do you want to play a Star Wars simulator? If you’re just looking for an action game there are plenty of them out there. This is more about being in the universe instead of racing through it. That’s the important angle to be looking at this game from. It’s an experience, not a new Star Wars Jedi action game. Of course the most important thing is the game feels Star Wars. It gets the vibe right.
I do like the choice of Kay Vess. She fits the 80s vibe of the actors of the time. It’s fine to say that she could be a complete knockout super model instead. But that just feels silly. Sure, outlaws in Star Wars have certainly been handsome characters. Han Solo and Lando Calrissian just to name two. Kay isn’t a flat character though. She’s a plucky outlaw who’s good at her job and dreams of the big score that will set her up for life. It’s almost like she doesn’t fully get what she’s doing, and she’s “playing the game” as even other characters mention. Sure, we could have had a custom character. But Kay stands out as her own character well enough.
This was a weird one to review. Star Wars has received a lot of backlash in recent years. It’s even weirder to see other reviews calling so much of this game “nostalgia.” It’s not nostalgia. It’s Star Wars! Just because Ubisoft adds in a TIE fighter, that isn’t a throwback. There’s a TIE fighter because this is a Star Wars game set during that period. Ubisoft isn’t trying to trick you into liking the game through callbacks. They’re giving you what’s expected!
To paraphrase MST3K – “Just repeat to yourself it’s just a game, I should really just relax.”
Sure, there are some minor glitches. The odd hiccup. But it’s also an open worlds game made by a company who was focused on tight knit streets in their previous game. If you want a game you can sit down, relax, and do some Star Warsing in, this is a good time. You’ll likely get lost, maybe not know exactly how to proceed at times, and blow your cover in stealth missions multiple times. But once you get into it and get used to what the game has to offer, it flows well. I’d say it took me about a good three hours to settle in and really understand. After that, it just starts to feel right.
So there you have it. A new Star Wars game with open world areas, space combat, and even the unique use of having your pet Nix retrieve items for you, create distractions, or interact with objects. It isn’t going to reinvent the wheel, but it doesn’t have to. When we first heard about this game as a concept, everyone was like, “So it’s Star Wars Assassins Creed? Cool!” Now that it’s out, people are like, “It’s like Assassins Creed!” Well, yeah! It’s made by the same company. Why wouldn’t they use their own formula that works while further adapting it to improve their style.
Outlaws works. The moment I stopped hating stealth areas and accepted them as part of the game, it made more sense to me. I was trying to rush forward. Pushing toward the ending. But why? There’s a whole bunch of places to explore and be an outlaw in. In that way, Ubisoft has captured some of that Witcher magic here. Sure the storylines may not be as engrossing, but it’s all about just playing almost episodic missions. Hop in, play out a story, hop out. When you start taking your time and just experiencing the game, that’s when you really start to get what Massive created here.
