Star Wars Outlaws Review – Flying So Low

As a seasoned gamer with over two decades of experience under my belt, I have to admit that Star Wars Outlaws left me feeling a bit disappointed. Despite its promising premise and organic open-world design, it’s hard not to notice the glaring flaws that seem to be holding it back.

Hey there! This past week, I splurged on a lightsaber. Nothing fancy, just one of the affordable ones available. To my surprise, it turned out to be quite a good buy. The sound effects were surprisingly crisp, it let me adjust the blade’s color, and it even had motion sensors for sheathing and unsheathing – all the standard features you’d find in most lightsaber replicas these days. Now, I might sound a bit odd saying this, but the fun I had playing around with that lightsaber (I’m 29, by the way) was more engaging than my time spent on Star Wars Outlaws.

This space-faring action-adventure title from Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment isn’t lacking in fun moments (even if they are occasional). It successfully captures the Star Wars aesthetic, offers a well-designed open world, and embodying a classic Han Solo-style scoundrel feels as thrilling as it ought to. However, its biggest assets are overshadowed by numerous issues. Technical glitches, inconsistent writing, outdated design choices, and more make this game trip up frequently, and these stumbles aren’t always easy to overlook, especially when you consider the whole of its flaws. It’s not a bad game, but it’s rough around the edges, and perhaps not the Star Wars game you were hoping for.

“It’s definitely not a poor game, but it can be quite challenging. It might not be the ‘Star Wars’ game you’re expecting.”

In “Star Wars Outlaws,” you assume the role of Kay Vess, a resident of Canto Bight with aspirations of leaving behind the crowded planet and becoming a prominent figure in the galaxy’s criminal circles. With her lovable companion Nix as her only responsibility, she has few obstacles standing in her way- except for the minor issue that in the underworld, she’s still too small to be considered even a small fish. The story takes place between the events of “Episodes 5” and “6,” but the galaxy is in chaos, making it an ideal time for those looking to break the law and possessing the necessary skills to find ample work opportunities.

Since its unveiling, Star Wars Outlaws has been marketed by its creators as the ultimate scoundrel adventure within the Star Wars universe, and it certainly delivers on this promise. From the Hutts, Pykes, Crimson Dawn, and the freshly introduced Ashiga Clan, Star Wars Outlaws places Kay in a variety of criminal circles that, as you’d imagine, are frequently at odds with each other. Guiding Kay through the underworld and assuming control over her intricate maneuvers to keep all her figurative plates spinning is one of the game’s most compelling aspects. While the writing can be uneven occasionally, especially in some less crucial quests (often the optional ones), overall, there’s a satisfying story to engage with in Outlaws.

The game’s gameplay effectively embodies its scoundrel theme, even if momentarily. It offers an improvised and dynamic feel to the actions you take during tense situations, whether they involve firefights, hand-to-hand combat, or high-speed speeder chases. The protagonist, Kay, excels in high-pressure scenarios, utilizing her quick wit and diverse skill set as a criminal masterfully, particularly when plans go awry, which happens quite frequently. Much like Respawn Entertainment’s Star Wars Jedi games immerse players in the role of a powerful Jedi warrior, Outlaws similarly succeeds in allowing you to embody a swift-thinking, charming, albeit inexperienced, interstellar criminal.

In tight spots, there’s usually an intuitive, off-the-cuff feel to your actions, be it during firefights, close combat, or high-speed pursuits.

From a broader perspective, the Reputation system plays a pivotal role. As Kay navigates through various syndicates in the galaxy’s Outer Rim, her choices, particularly tough ones, influence her standing with these factions. This has implications for both gameplay and storytelling, culminating in a system that effectively breathes life into the scoundrel experience portrayed in Star Wars Outlaws. Indeed, the Reputation system is a commendable blend of narrative and design elements.

Although Outlaws effectively captures the outlaw ambiance it aims for, playing it is frequently disappointing due to a poor moment-to-moment game feel. The main culprit behind this is that the movement and actions, such as parkour and traversal, feel awkward, sluggish, and often glitchy. Even basic movements like walking around on foot with Kay can be surprisingly unrefined, which is made worse by the game’s overall lack of technical refinement (which I’ll delve into further later). When even basic actions frequently don’t feel intuitive while holding the controller, it becomes challenging to enjoy the game.

Indeed, certain aspects of the gameplay in Star Wars Outlaws seem a bit unrefined. For example, the traversal mechanics, reminiscent of Uncharted’s climbing, can at times feel overly restrictive and more like a series of quick-time events than an engaging climbing experience. Additionally, the stealth sections incorporate standard AAA stealth elements, but are let down by enemy AI that can be frustratingly inconsistent. However, the progression mechanics appear to be more developed and rewarding. As an action-adventure game, Star Wars Outlaws adopts a streamlined approach, offering players numerous upgrade options for Kay’s equipment, blaster, speeder, and ship, the Trailblazer.

In the game, the movement seems awkward, both parkour and traversal feel rigid and sluggish, and the animations frequently malfunction. Moving about with Kay on foot surprisingly feels clumsy, an issue that becomes more noticeable due to the game’s lack of refinement in technical aspects.

To put it simply, even if the main gameplay problems with “Star Wars Outlaws” were minimal, the game would still be superior to its current state. The primary reason for this is a series of outdated design choices that are glaringly obvious. One of the most apparent manifestations of this issue is the numerous sections in the game where failure occurs instantly if you don’t follow specific rules. Given that “Star Wars Outlaws” doesn’t excel at stealth gameplay, as I previously noted, it seems questionable to compel players to use these mechanics in sections that punish them harshly for any mistake. This type of design choice is unexpected from a major AAA developer like Massive Entertainment, considering the current standards in today’s gaming industry.

As a gamer, I can’t help but feel annoyed when I come across unnecessary restrictions within the game, particularly when compared to the freedom it offers elsewhere. On a smaller scale, there are usually multiple strategies to handle situations – like leveraging Nix’s abilities to divert or disable enemies, experimenting with various blaster modules, or even mixing gunfire with hand-to-hand combat. On a broader perspective, the open world design is nothing short of impressive, and it truly stands out, especially for a Ubisoft game, due to its unconventional feel.

As a gamer, I’ve found that Star Wars Outlaws’ open world isn’t your typical modular, cookie-cutter experience. Instead, it’s got a surprising amount of fluidity and spontaneity. The game seems to guide you from one adventure to another as you traverse its vast interstellar map, making exploration feel less like following markers or completing tasks and more like an organic journey. This natural progression definitely adds depth to the open-world aspect, even if it’s just a small part of the overall experience. There’s also no shortage of side activities to keep you busy, from engaging in space battles to various combat scenarios, which can be quite thrilling. Interestingly, moving through space feels incredibly smooth and responsive, while movement on foot can sometimes feel a bit clunky – this just makes the areas where it falls short stand out even more.

In my gaming journey, instead of the typical modular and copy-paste feel, “Star Wars Outlaws” offers a more organic open world that’s surprisingly immersive. The game seems to have a knack for guiding me from one captivating diversion to another as I traverse its expansive interstellar map, making each exploration an exciting adventure.

Indeed, playing Star Wars Outlaws isn’t just about the smooth gameplay experience – unfortunately, a challenge that even contemporary AAA games often face. Synchronization issues with speech and audio bugs, poor hit detection, blurry draw distances, animation glitches, and significant frame rate drops are all problems I’ve encountered while playing. Fortunately, none of these technical issues have been severe enough to ruin the game, but they’ve certainly been annoying enough to notice, especially when combined together.

Star Wars Outlaws boasts some appealing aspects – its authentic open-world exploration, engaging swashbuckling narrative, and convincing portrayal of the scoundrel lifestyle. However, the game seems a tad unpolished. From technical glitches to uneven writing, outdated design choices to awkward gameplay mechanics, it appears as though the game could have benefited from another round in development. Despite my anticipation to continue playing Outlaws due to my deep-rooted affection for Star Wars, I’m not convinced that the current version of the game will offer me more enjoyment than my toy lightsaber does at this moment.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.

2024-08-26 16:11

Read More