Ubisoft has developed something of a specialty when it comes toopen-world adventures. So naturally, when it came to making an open-worldStar Warsgame, Ubisoft seemed the logical choice.Star Wars: Outlawspromises to not only provide an open world but also dive into, as Obi-Wan famously said, “a wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
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Information onStar Wars: Outlaws, remains vague; in typical Star Wars fashion, but it is known the story centers around Kay Vess and aninteresting new speciesand a cute creature called Nix who acts as her companion, and their odyssey through the morally ambiguous criminal underworld of theStar Warsgalaxy. However, even with the little information available, there is a lot of interesting material to unpack just from the clips that have been seen so far.
6Female Protagonist
Star Warshas a strong history of creating some of the strongest female characters in the galaxy far, far away, and it seems thatStar Wars: Outlawsis set to debut another with the protagonist: Kay Vess. Although audiences have yet to see all of Kay’s story, it already seems promising, and she’ll join the ranks of the best female characters in Star Wars.
What fans have seen of Kay Vess so far has been promising, as the trailer and gameplay demo both show her taking on the Imperial Forces, riding speeder bikes, and piloting her starship. The trailer also hinted at a major character flaw - Kay’s difficulty trusting others. This is probably a big part of the story.
5A Deep Dive Into A New World
TheStar Warsgalaxy has a pretty extensive criminal underworld. There are plenty of crime-filled planets, organized crime syndicates, and corrupt leaders. But it has never been thoroughly explored. Some iconic characters have come from this background, acting as both antagonists and anti-heroes at different times. But most of the time, the focus is on dealing with specific crime bosses, or a former crook finding their way out.
There was a bit of crime exploration withThe Book of Boba Fett, but the show can only do so much with a single setting.Star Wars: Outlawscan change that. For once, the game moves outside of the usual dichotomy of the Light and Dark Sides of the Force to explore the morally grey world between them.
4Timeframe
According to Ubisoft,Star Wars: Outlawswill take place between the events ofThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi. This is an interesting era to choose as it breaks off of a recent wave of stories that occur during the end of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire, where Luke Skywalker may even havehis new lightsaber.
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While the timeframe betweenThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jediis presumably small, it does open up a window to explore the galaxy far, far away at a point when the fighting was most intense- and does so from a perspective other than the Rebellion or Empire.
3It Feels Like A Ubisoft Game
Ubisoft channeled a lot of experience from their other franchises into makingStar Wars: Outlaws.There are stealth mechanics reminiscent ofAssassin’s CreedandWatch Dogs, mixed with the sort of gunplay and vehicular mayhem ofFar Cry. Hopefully, the safety of Kay is not compromised through a wanted system that could see the infamousJedi killer, Darth Vader emerge.
It plays like one might expect from a Ubisoft title, only now it applies those mechanics to theStar Warsgalaxy. This is a good thing. It makesStar Wars: Outlawsfeel like it belongs alongsideAssassin’s Creed,Far Cry, andGhost Recon. It also means Ubisoft can put its spin onStar Warsand go in some new directions that haven’t been as widely explored in other titles.
2Difficult Choices
A lot of Ubisoft’s more recent open-world games have incorporated RPG mechanics, but the gameplay demo forStar Wars: Outlawsseemed to emphasize one in particular - player choice. Near the end of the clip, Kay meets with a shady crime boss and a corrupt imperial officer who demands a bribe. Kay is given the choice to pay her off or refuse. The demo shows Kay refusing, which results in an immediate bounty being placed on her. The obvious implication is the player will, to some extent, make choices that have consequences. Presumably paying the bribe would have made things easier for Kay.
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That said, it is unclear at the moment how frequent such choices will be, or the full extent of their impact. But even if the choices turn out to be a minor detail, it still allows players to interact with and influence the world around them.
1Locations
Star Wars: Outlawsis being promoted as the first (non-MMO)Star Warsopen-world game, which makes sense. The closest thing before now might have been thebelovedStar Warsgame,Knights of the Old Republicand even that had to limit the player to moving between small sections of each world. Star Wars:Outlawsis expected to let players explore the galaxy, seamlessly land on or take off from planets as they want, and freely jump to hyperspace to get around. Ubisoft is trying to make the most out of space travel.
Although there has been no indication of exactlywhich planets will be available, fans can make a few reasonable guesses. Tatooine would be a logical choice, given its iconic status inStar Warslore, plus it is a hotbed for all kinds of shady characters that would fit with the game. It would certainly make sense to see at least one of the many urban crime-filled worlds make an appearance: Taris, Nar Shadaa, Daiyu, or maybe even Coruscant.
The one planet that has been confirmed isAkiva, a water world featured in theAftermathnovels. Ubisoft has not yet disclosed information on what players can expect from it.
