Star Wars Outlaws Revealed
Star Wars Outlaws will make its console debut next year and features Kay Vess, an underworld criminal with a bounty on her head. Creative director Julian Gerighty and narrative director Navid Khavari have shared that Outlaws will feature multiple planets with open areas while not demanding an extended time commitment from players.
It’s a single-player game
Star Wars Outlaws takes place in the galaxy’s underworld, offering fans more heist-focused action since Solo and Rogue One were released. First revealed at Xbox Showcase and then Ubisoft Forward 2023 respectively on June 11 and 12, it places players into Kay Vess’ shoes: an ambitious young criminal who dives deep into some of the galaxy’s most treacherous factions for high-stakes underworld missions.
Outlaws takes place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, when crime syndicates ruled the galaxy. Narrative Director Navid Khavari has discussed player choice as one aspect of Outlaws; their decisions can have lasting ramifications on the world around them and which factions they decide to align themselves with. During an official gameplay walkthrough with Khavari present, an initial mission where Kay attempts to steal an illicit item from an officer of Pyke Syndicate located on Toshara; although she initially succeeds stealthily through part of it successfully, violence breaks out which jeopardizes her reputation within her syndicate.
Kay recruits Nix as her ally to aid in her escape from the scene and escape pursuers. Nix is a Merqaal, an animal designed to serve as an extension of Kay and help press faraway buttons or reveal secrets. However, Nix often makes goofy noises and enjoys chewing up his chew toys!
Massive Entertainment’s early footage showcased Toshara, Mirogana City and Juanta’s Hope – three worlds where players will have free reign to explore on an Outer Rim settlement – among many more environments they could visit by spaceship with customizable settings or speeder.
Gerighty revealed to Edge Magazine that Outlaws will feature open world gameplay that blends elements from Assassin’s Creed games with Rogue One and Solo, featuring stealth-heavy missions as well as all-out blaster action. Players’ choices will shape both the world they inhabit as well as which factions they join – though he did not specify exactly how many worlds there will be in total.
It’s an open world game
Star Wars Outlaws developer Massive Entertainment is taking an unconventional approach with Star Wars Outlaws by setting it in a part of the galaxy where fans will recognize it – between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi events, but with an emphasis on seedier corners.
Ubisoft unveiled their Star Wars Outlaws teaser trailer at Xbox Games Showcase on June 12th, giving gamers their first look into its expansive open world game. While only providing a CGI glimpse, players still got an idea of the moment-by-moment action to expect in Star Wars Outlaws; its video featured Kay Vess, an outlaw working alongside her alien cat companion on various raids across Star Wars Outlaws’ universe.
Edge Magazine recently spoke with Star Wars Outlaws’ creative director, Gerighty, about their team’s goal of making exploration feel under player control. While Outlaws will feature smaller planet maps than Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Unity, there will still be ample room for players to discover their surroundings.
Players will quickly build their reputation among crime syndicates of the Outer Rim by fulfilling missions for them and undertaking heists with these groups, opening up access to new locations and characters as the game allows. Heists can be carried out solo or with other players; and their completion may allow for some moral ambiguity as they decide whether or not to work with or against these syndicates.
Star Wars Outlaws seems like it could be quite impressive, especially considering it is developed by a studio well-known for producing AAA open world games. To avoid becoming like other open world titles and avoid falling into an empty trend, it should include features like different endings and an alignment system to allow players to customize their experience.
It’s a roguelike game
Modern video games boasting expansive open worlds are often met with mixed reactions: some may anticipate them and others dread them. This can especially be said of titles such as Ubisoft’s modern Assassin’s Creed titles or EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, both known for being overly complex mechanically. But Ubisoft seems determined to change things around with Star Wars Outlaws; their forthcoming sci-fi game promises to be one of the largest titles yet manageable than some others in its genre.
Star Wars Outlaws, developed by Massive Entertainment for Ubisoft, features a cast of characters drawn from the Star Wars galaxy such as cunning scoundrel Kay Vess, her BX-series commando battle droid ND-5, and Nix – her pet alien creature companion. Players will explore its criminal underworld while fighting various crime syndicates.
Outlaws is a tale of revenge and redemption, following Kay Vess on her journey as she flees bounty hunters and takes up a job that will help clear her debts while starting over fresh. With help from her crew she pulls off a daring heist with both stealthy moves as well as gun-slinging action sequences – an immersive gaming experience in itself!
The game, unveiled during Xbox Showcase earlier this week, appears set to become an immense success for the franchise. When released in 2024, it will be available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X | S platforms.
There is still no indication of the size or scope of Massive Entertainment’s game; however, Gerighty told Edge Magazine that Massive has decided to forgoing Bethesda’s procedural generation model used in Starfield and instead create an open world environment that feels manageable to players while creating more opportunities for exploration and discovery while not becoming overbearing in size. This should allow them to create more of an environment for players while making sure each bustling city or rowdy cantina doesn’t overwhelm players too quickly.
It’s a Star Wars game
Star Wars Outlaws will be the first open world Star Wars game released since BioWare’s Knights of the Old Republic for consoles, making KOTOR hard to forget when any new Star Wars videogame is announced; thus setting high expectations for Outlaws from Ubisoft Massive Entertainment team’s debut release this year. However, Ubisoft Massive Entertainment team appears to be taking an alternative route this time around with their launch strategy for Star Wars Outlaws.
Contrary to past Star Wars games, which gave players an option between choosing either side, Outlaws allows gamers to be neutral characters – an unconventional move which the developers hope will help players feel more immersed in the universe and narrative. Furthermore, gamers will now have their first opportunity to take contracts from Jabba the Hutt and even betray him to bring bounty hunters’ vengeance against him.
The announcement trailer for Outlaws showcased both gameplay and setting elements ranging from cantina brawls to blasting Imperial TIE fighters in orbit; however, this did not give an insight into its overall scope. A recent interview with Edge magazine gave some clarity as Julian Gerighty from Massive Studios explained that each planet in Outlaws would be handcrafted rather than procedurally generated and would roughly correspond with two zones featured in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
Gerighty also revealed that the game will take place between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, providing more context on where its place in the larger timeline lies. As part of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Story Group – an organization dedicated to maintaining continuity across movies, books, comics, and video games – Gerighty assured players it would form part of official Star Wars canon.
Outlaws’ trailer also gives off an overwhelming The Mandalorian vibe, making one expect that Din Djarin will make an appearance; however, given that The Mandalorian TV series is currently the hottest property of its franchise this is unlikely.