It’s a weird time to be a Star Wars fan. On one hand, we’ve got Sigourney Weaver joining the cast of The Mandalorian & Grogu. On the other, The Acolyte getting canceled after just one season amid a hurtful culture war. And then there’s Star Wars Outlaws, the game publisher Ubisoft touts as the first true open-world Star Wars game.
Following the success of EA’s Star Wars Jedi series –
first Fallen Order and then the even better Jedi Survivor – Outlaws
brings with it no small amount of anticipation. But then came the unflattering
gameplay clips on social media, the apparent bugginess on launch day and the
general sense that this game wasn’t quite ready for release.
But are the underworld adventures of Kay Vess and her
adorably marketable pal Nix truly as disorienting as a jaunt through Black
Spire Outpost after one too many Fuzzy Tauntauns at Oga’s, or is this an
unpolished kyber crystal of an experience in that galaxy far, far away? Well, it’s
somewhere in the middle.
On Tuesday I purchased the Gold Edition for PS5, which
carries with it a hefty price tag of $109.99. The extra credits allowed me to jump
into the game three days early and granted me access to all kinds of Season
Pass goodies. On the plus side, the basic traversal and cover-shooting gameplay
is simple to learn and satisfying overall, and the ability to use Nix to
distract cameras, attack enemies and even pick pockets creates a lot of fun
possibilities as you explore the incredibly immersive environments. The game
also provides the sense that a new “big score” is always right around the
corner, and I found myself actively looking for NPCs to interact with just to
see what might happen. It’s also just a lot of fun playing a Han Solo-esue
scoundrel – and not a Jedi – while rubbing elbows with infamous Star Wars
factions like Crimson Dawn, the Pyke Syndicate and the Hutt Cartel. This is a much
different experience than the Star Wars Jedi series, and that’s a great
thing.
Less great, however, are the forced stealth missions, which make
the game feel like it was plucked from 2005 – especially when getting caught by
an enemy forces you to replay entire sections of gameplay without checkpoints.
It’s during these sections that the jankiness of Outlaws starts to rear
its ugly head, like a Krayt Dragon about to chomp a Jawa. Some enemies far away
will notice you immediately, others will wait until you’ve landed a punch
before they’re alerted to your presence. This might be a skill issue (I never really
liked mandatory stealth sections, especially not in recent games like Sony’s Spider-Man
franchise), but I couldn’t help but feel like I was stuck in a
less-than-premium experience whenever these sprung up. And they spring up a
lot.
I’ve also experienced two game-stopping glitches that forced
me to restart, one instance in which I fell through a planet’s surface, and
some bizarre character animations that reminded me of Mass Effect: Andromeda
in the worst way possible. I understand a lot of these issues are being patched
post-release – apparently requiring those of us with early access to delete
our saved games – but it’s disappointing that a game with so much momentum
behind it released in a borderline-unfinished state. But, hey, buggy games like
No Man’s Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 were vastly improved with post-release
patches, and I have full confidence that my primary gripes with the game will
be addressed in due time.
All that said, there’s a lot of promise in Star Wars
Outlaws, and at its core is a fun, sprawling adventure in the seediest
parts of George Lucas’ iconic universe. But when your character clips through a
Twi’lek cantina patron during a very important cutscene, just keep the words of
your favorite scoundrel in mind, “She may not look like much, but she’s got it
where it counts, kid.”
