Star Wars Outlaws review: Invigorated Ubisoft formula fails to inspire greatness

Going into Star Wars Outlaws I wouldn't say I was a pre-existing fan of the long-running galactic universe, having just seen most of the films and not much more. 

It can be easy for extended universe projects to feel not necessarily 'fan service' but in service of fans, and I was worried that would be a barrier for someone like me who isn't all-in on the world.

While in the end, it didn't prove to be anything I had to work through necessarily, I'd say that your enjoyment of Outlaws very much lives and dies upon your love for the Star Wars series as a whole. 

It definitely has its moments, and it's a more than playable experience, but overall I can imagine that the experience would be greatly enhanced for someone who would find thrill in simply being there amongst it all, which was unfortunately largely lost on me.

World out to get you

We begin as we intend to go on with Kay Vess, a downtrodden outcast simply looking to survive in a world that appears to be against her. Paired with her close animal companion Nix, she quickly gets caught up in a job that's far bigger than initially thought, finding herself on an unknown planet and on the run from a dangerous crime Syndicate.

What greets her on this new world is another complex crime network of competing factions, so it's up to you now to navigate these fractured relationships and find a way out on top. There are often times in both the main story and countless side activities where you'll be presented with tough choices. Who do you side with? Is it wise to backstab your employer? What gives you the best chance of survival?

These choices are innately intertwined with the game's reputation system, which tracks your standing with each of the (eventual) four Syndicates. You'll quickly find that there's rarely a net positive choice to make, as siding with one faction often goes against another, leading to some really intriguing interactions and decisions.

I would have liked to see this reputation system interact with the main quest a bit more though, as sometimes it did feel rather disconnected from what was going on outside. I'd sided with the Crimson Dawn early on in my playthrough, but when interacting with them on another plane, it didn't seem to make a difference whether we were best friends or sworn enemies, negating any incentive for multiple playthroughs.

Kay and friends

When it comes to the characters themselves, though, there are plenty of faces to become acquainted with. Of course, at the heart of the story is our main character Kay, and she's certainly a likeable focus of the game.

I appreciated the balance of cockiness, confidence, and insecurity in her character, and it made her relationships with many of the other core cast members enjoyable. Sometimes her penchant for terrible lies did get a bit too much, but otherwise, she's a perfectly likeable character.

Likeable is also what I'd extend to the larger cast, as they offer nice additions to the game in their interactions with Kay, but don't expect any deep or meaningful relationships to be forged. Kay is very much a nomadic character, but it doesn't particularly feel as if anyone else is given the space to flourish within this narrative.

What also didn't help in this regard was the offputting lip-syncing during almost every cutscene. This was particularly apparent as most of the characters, including Kay, look absolutely fantastic, so it felt especially jarring that their speech movements didn't match at all. It felt especially disappointing with some of the more alien characters, as they look so incredibly detailed but that illusion falls apart when they open their mouth.

This isn't the combat you're looking for

Outside of the main story and your interactions with other characters, it's very much a mixed bag too, offering competent combat and stealth scenarios that tend to lack depth or fall apart in chaos.

It feels like Outlaws is meant to be a stealth-first experience, prompting Kay to take the quiet route in almost every situation. You have several different tools at your disposal, which grow throughout your time with the game.

At the heart of everything though is your aforementioned companion Nix, who uniquely allows you to act from afar and toy around with the enemy. You can command him to distract foes, attack them directly, trigger explosives, open doors, disable alarms, and so much more - all from the safety of cover.

Mastering this and figuring out the capabilities of Nix was remarkably enjoyable, as it can feel like you're orchestrating things from the shadows if everything goes to plan. There were some levels where I was able to slip by without even touching an enemy due to clever use of Nix, and those were a joy to pull off.

Unfortunately, I encountered many areas that just didn't feel designed with the flexibility that stealth approaches often require, leading to a lot of frustration on my part. This was particularly apparent in stronghold-type areas, where huge clusters of enemies were aggravating to avoid, as the level and enemy design felt like they limited my creativity instead of encouraging it.

Things don't get much better when everything goes wrong either, as the game doesn't deal well with the chaos of an open gunfight. Your combat tools are innately limited, and I appreciated that any weapons beyond your measly blaster can only be used for a short while, encouraging you to continue moving and cycling through these guns.

However, too often I found myself just crouching behind cover, waiting for enemies to run in a straight line towards me. This wasn't helped either by a seemingly endless stream of foes coming your way once an alarm is raised, which felt lazy and a punishment for not playing the 'right' way.

Intel & exploration

While it's easy to rag on at Ubisoft-style open worlds at this point, Outlaws was actually a refreshing change that focused more on nudges than simple box-ticking exercises.

I still didn't find the worlds themselves particularly interesting to explore beyond their fantastic visuals, and they were often unintuitive to explore due to unclear routes and paths, but the activities you undertake are a step up from what I was expecting to find going in.

Your activities beyond the main quest are split up into different sections, comprising enterprises like side quests, contracts, and intel. The latter was the most engaging as it's triggered by listening to conversations throughout the world or finding peculiar items.

Often you'll just be given a location and not much else, and it's up to you to piece together the rest based on what limited info you've picked up. These can range from treasure to new NPCs and are worth taking on as they can lead to new paths and valuable items.

The Verdict

Star Wars Outlaws is a perfectly playable experience that will only be enhanced by a player's potential love of the series and its world. It's clear to even me as a non-fan how well-crafted the characters and planets are in the context of the Star Wars universe but as someone without that pre-existing interest it fell a little flat for me.

I found Kay to be an intriguing and enjoyable main character and the balancing of various complex crime Syndicates to be engaging - especially in those tense decisive moments, but there wasn't too much in the way of depth beyond that.

The same conundrum appeared in both the world and the general combat, as great moments like the intel system and Nix's interactions were washed down by a largely uninteresting landscape and inflexible stealth and gunplay.

Overall I largely enjoyed my time with Outlaws, but its flaws prevent it from transcending from a great game for Star Wars fans to a good game overall.

3/5

Reviewed on PlayStation 5. Code provided by the publisher.