I’m not what you’d call a “Star Wars Guy”. I mean, I like it, certainly. I’ve seen the original trilogy many, many times, and have even seen the prequels and a handful of more modern films.
I even saw that god-awful Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure.
It doesn’t really get me stiff in the pants (or kilt, depending on whether I’m embracing my aging anti-gender-norms-punk-aesthetic), though.
It should also come to no surprise from folks who followed me over here from GGN that I am not a big fan of Ubisoft; They barely coast along with the same tired formulas, and ignore what fans actually want in favor of Wal-Mart-generic creativity designed to appeal to the largest demographic.
So, when I say that - despite all insane amounts of criticism for the game - that Star Wars Outlaws is one of my favorite releases of 2024 - you should know that I fucking mean it.
Let’s break down why.
Again - if you know me from my GGN work - you know I love stealth games. Star Wars Outlaws IS a stealth game; while it wasn’t marketed aggressively as such, it most certainly is.
It should’ve been a big clue that you play a young, naive rogue looking to make a splash in crime. Han Solo wasn’t known for his combat prowess; He was known for being a sneaky smuggler (who’s bluffing skills were famously weak, much like our lovely Kay Vess).
This - I believe - is where most reviewers started to get off the rails.
This doesn’t play like your typical Ubisoft open-world RPG.. and I’m honestly having a hard time making a comparison.
It’s got a certain “Splinter Cell” quality; Certainly the stealth isn’t near as detailed, but the lack of focus on combat and more focusing on utilizing the tools available is where this game shines (especially given the amount of forced stealth content).
You may have noticed that every screenshot - EVERY SCREENSHOT - in this review focuses on a totes-adorbs little critter.
That critter is - despite Kay being VERY well crafted, written, and acted - the real star outlaw here.
Nix is what makes the gameplay so much fun, and so unique. He’s got multiple abilities that open up your options as to how you approach getting through areas and accomplishing your goals.. And he’s cute as the dickens, too.
The world itself - and story - is all absolutely wonderful. It’s richly detailed, and feels truly handcrafted; I never once felt like something looked like a copy & paste of another area. Exploring with Nix the nooks and crannies of each settlement on each planet is a joy.. And there are a lot of secrets to discover.
Even the little side-contracts and random encounters - despite being much more basic than the crafted quests - are nice additions to the immersion and sense of discovery.
Speaking of discovery, the skill system is a breath of fresh air; no grinding for XP, planning where to put skill points, or struggling because you’re under-leveled. Star Wars Outlaws uses an “Experts” system; On every planet there are some experts you’ll encounter throughout the main story that will unlock new tools and abilities for you as you complete certain tasks and collect certain items.
These abilities range from boosting your available health, to increased stealth, to new tools and more in order to enhance the gameplay experience.
Combine that with the modification system for your speeder, ship and blaster (plus an outfit system that also comes with transmog by default for all my fellow fashionistas), you’ll find character growth more than just a storytelling feature.
Of course, we need to talk about accessibility - and the first stumbling block - of Star Wars Outlaws.
Ubisoft is known to really nail it out of the park with granular accessibility controls, and Star Wars Outlaws is no exception. I’m seriously impressed with just how far they want to make it so folks with a variety of disabilities and limitations can play the game, and have fun doing it.
Where it fails, however, is onboarding (and some controls).
You see, Ubisoft did so good with the accessibility, they forgot to really.. Well.. Explain many controls and mechanics.
I never saw a prompt telling me how to crouch. Only a handful of Nix’s abilities are ever showcased in gameplay tutorials. Hell, you only find out if you’re in a restricted area when you ENTER the restricted area most of the time - and you’d better get out quick if you want to avoid pissing off whomever the area belongs to.
Additionally, controls.. Suck.
Mouse & keyboard is just a non-starter currently; I tried, but after about 5 hours of gameplay I switched to a controller and was MUCH happier.
On top of that, the speeder camera forces a reset to low & behind you after just a second or two of not moving the camera around.. Which frequently results in you slamming hard into other speeders, rocks, and more.
Finally, the save game functionality took a page from Assassin’s Creed Mirage: If you’re in a restricted area, you can’t save.. Even if you’re in a friendly faction’s region. If it could potentially be restricted for you, you can’t save in it.
This becomes a real issue on longer infiltration missions; While there is an auto-save mechanic, in the early game I lost a lot of time because I kept failing right before completing a critical step and getting forced back to a checkpoint that was much further back than I would’ve saved at myself.
In fact, I had a bit of extra accessibility concerns directly related to this save mechanic.
A week and a half ago I banged my head - hard - on a metal railing.. And 24 hours later I had every indicator for a concussion.
Of course, I didn’t go to the ER; I don’t have the $6,000 it would’ve cost me to get imaging done just to tell me what I already knew, and how to treat (please buy me a coffee).
Anyway, this required that I severely limit my gaming time, and only play in short bursts (which is why this review was delayed as long as it was) if at all.
I actually had to focus more on side content than the main story missions, just because I wasn’t sure if I could get to a good stopping point or if I’d end up having to replay a portion again just because the game doesn’t think I should be able to save.
This was.. Annoying, and didn’t exactly help with the headaches (although the other accessibility settings were certainly useful thanks to my sensory problems being exacerbated).
I’m doing better now, of course (although I seriously wish Google Docs would FINALLY ADD A FUCKING DARK MODE as I write this review there), but for about a week I was really annoyed at how limiting the save mechanic was.
With any luck, though, hopefully these issues will eventually get patched out.
Let’s wrap things up a bit, shall we?
The anti-woke mob has been out in full force. Rage-focused reviews are more popular than ever. Hell, even major publications are twisting reality to craft more doom & gloom for the title’s release.. And no, Ubisoft’s stock didn’t tank thanks to Star Wars Outlaws - it’s been in a steady decline for a while now for the past 5 years to the surprise of literally no one (because Star Wars Outlaws being good is the exception lately, rather than the rule).
Of course, with all this controversy, what are you supposed to do?
Don’t buy into the damned hype.
It’s all the rage now to feed the hate-hungry hordes their daily spoonful of demon-jizz doom.
I am enjoying the game immensely, and if you’re at all on the fence, Ubisoft+ is a good option.
Folks can wave their hands in the air and pretend they’re Jedi, trying to convince you that this droid.. Err, game isn’t what you want, but in reality most of the critics aren’t even Sith; Like this game, there is no force to be had here.
The best reviews are the honest ones; the 7/10s are a fairly good indicator of a reliable review that’ll cover most of the salient points here, if you’re looking for more about the game itself outside of my nerfed gamer perspective.
To me, this is a great game about a non-magical main character with an adorable companion who sneaks around, gets into scrapes, and works to find their place in a richly detailed universe so they can make a name (and a lot of credits) for themselves.
If that sounds like fun for you, then absolutely play it.
If you hate stealth, are impatient, prefer to min-max RPG characters or refuse to play outside a standard gameplay mold, this game will not be your cup of tea.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5 Nix squeaks (because those squeaks are fucking cute as fucking fuck).
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