After what feels like several decades of trying, it would seem that the video game industry has finally made a full-on Star Wars scoundrel video game in Star Wars Outlaws.
Massive Entertainment debuted the first Star Wars Outlaws gameplay at Ubisoft Forward, following the game's reveal at the Xbox Games Showcase. I was given the opportunity to see a hands-off presentation of the upcoming Star Wars game which went into more detail on the way Kay Vess actually handles elements like combat and exploration as she prepares to tackle "one of the greatest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen."
And while it feels like Ubisoft would potentially want to distance itself from the comparison, it's hard not to immediately be reminded in some ways of Far Cry in space.
There's a bit of stealth involved in avoiding nosy enemies while taking them down quietly without being noticed by others, sneaking around using cover to avoid ever-watchful sentries, and using Nix – Vess' adorable companion – to do things like push buttons surreptitiously. But getting caught isn't the end of the open world, however, as Kay is seemingly just as happy to pull out her blaster in order to… blast away.
From there it was a grappling hook out of the building to her speeder, from which she can fight others that give chase. There's a sort of reputation system at work underneath the surface too, so the fact that she was caught trying to rob the specific criminal organization will apparently have consequences. What, exactly, that might be is unclear.
What is clear, however, is that in addition to that reputation system, conversations with NPCs will also have different ways of breaking. Following the heist and meeting with a broker, an Imperial essentially threatens Kay with getting turned in. While the gameplay footage I saw had Kay decline to bribe the official, it's possible that bribing them would have had an entirely different outcome. Sadly, however, turning the Imperial down made Kay wanted by the organization – complete with a giant flashing 'WANTED' across the screen.
This is all only a taste, of course. Ubisoft's only just revealed Star Wars Outlaws, and while that's two trailers in as many days, we still know effectively nothing about, for example, ND-5, the lanky droid that features prominently. Exactly how many worlds or locations are there to explore? How does Kay actually end up in this position in the first place? And how far down the rabbit hole of criminal activity can she go?
All of these are perfectly reasonable questions to have. But all of the above, plus what looks to be a fairly robust set of space-based ship travel and dogfighting, makes for a compelling fantasy of a no-good Star Wars scoundrel in a way that the Star Wars Jedi games simply don't. Sometimes it can be good fun to play a bit morally gray, especially when we have collectively had such little opportunity to do so in this specific sandbox.
Star Wars Outlaws has a 2024 release window, and will be available for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X
