Star Wars Outlaws Is All About Who You Know – and Who Still Likes You
In a preview at SGF 2024, Restart entered the seedy underworld of Star Wars Outlaws to learn how to make friends and try not to alienate aliens.
Posted 6 months ago
Star Wars Outlaws may look like an open-world action shooter on the face of things, but it's actually a far tenser battle for the hearts and favor of friend groups that hate each other.
Out at Summer Games Fest 2024, Restart had a chance to go hands-on with Ubisoft's school lunch table simulator. Cast into the role of Kay Vess, an upcoming scoundrel in the Outer Rim underworld, we embarked on a number of different segments from later in the game, as well as seeing the "Expert Quest" as shown in the recently released gameplay showcase.
©Ubisoft
For that quest, Kay must find a legendary gunslinger if she wants to improve her chances of survival in the dog-eat-dog side of the Galaxy. The gameplay showcase charts the start of this hunt as Kay happens upon an ambush on her way to the desert planet Tatooine, in an asteroid field where a pirate group attacks the Pyke Syndicate, one of many factions Kay must balance her reputation with. You can choose to intervene to gain their favor, or just keep to yourself if you're some sort of yellow-bellied space coward.
Stealth can help you avoid uncomfortable conversations with your bestie Jabba the Hutt.
©Ubisoft
Other criminal factions include the "crafty and cunning" Crimson Dawn, and the Hutt Cartel (of Jabba fame) who happen to control most of Tatooine. In the gameplay showcase trailer, Kay lands in the legendary hive of scum and villainy that is Mos Eisley spaceport, and is directed toward a Hutt Cartel storehouse on the outskirts.
Somewhere inside is the gunslinger who can teach her the ways of the blaster, but going in all guns blazing is sure to give Jabba something of a chip on his slimy shoulder about Kay – not a smart position to put yourself in as an emerging talent in the underworld.
Stealth in Star Wars Outlaws can let you take on these adverse jobs against allied factions without alerting them to your presence. It's in these stealth sequences that Kay's animal companion, Nix, really shines, as he can scan the environment, allowing you to see enemies behind walls and obstacles, as well as distract foes so you can sneak by them unseen (among many other abilities).
During our Summer Game Fest demo, we were challenged to infiltrate a faction's base to take back a stolen artifact. This mission places Kay in the middle of a moral triangle, as she can be allied with both factions (the thief and the artifact's owner), and her actions during the mission will impact her reputation with both. Even with Kay's standing on the line, players still have the freedom to shoot everyone in sight if they'd prefer a more direct approach, rather than utilizing stealth – the way the mission was clearly designed, given the number of waist-high obstacles dotted around guard patrol paths.
Tatooine is just one of the planets where Kay can take on jobs like this – as well as possibly the most famous in Star Wars canon, if not Sci-Fi in general. It, and other planets, are brought to life through beautiful cinematics and lush details that make each area truly feel alive. This really is the Star Wars safari experience everyone dreamed of after their first introduction to the world.
Other than Tatooine, Kay's journey will take her to the jungle world of Akiva, the ancient city of Kijmi, and the savannah moon of Toshara. Her story melds together flashbacks of her past growing up in Canto Bight, as well as meeting Nix for the first time, pulling small time heists and hustles to survive.
Star Wars Outlaws feels unique in the expansive Star Wars canon, with its focus on faction relationships and an open world, rather than Jedi and lightsabers. Fans of some of Disney's recent, more experimental, world-building uses of the licence – like Andor and The Mandalorian – may be feeling their pulse rise at the prospect. But also, there looks to be plenty here for more traditional Star Wars fans to appreciate, and we're excited to get our hands on the full game this summer.
We'll have more for you as Star Wars Outlaws approaches release on PS5, Xbox Series and PC (via Ubisoft Store) on August 30.