The First Level: Grabbing a Valuable Relic
The first mission I participated in saw Kay Vess sent to pilfers a relic for one of the several crime syndicates she will be working with throughout Star Wars Outlaws. Her first chore was figuring her way in after being turned away at the front door; it was also the first very humorous example of what felt like a corny but charming tone; she just needed to wander a few feet to the right of the entrance and there was a side route leading into the building. Though it's not precisely an example of immersive environment design, there is much to be said for not squandering the player's time on a minor component of the long crescendo to a more compelling narrative climax.
Vess has a lot of tools at hand once inside to finish the task. She can walk vents herself; if they are closed, she can have Nix open them for her. She has a data spike to hack doors, starting a rhythm sub-game in which I had to match the blips of the door's system with a right trigger pull. Vess can also sneak her way over heavily guarded areas hiding under cover. Nix can assist either directly attacking an enemy or just diverting their attention to allow for slip past.
Star Wars Outlaws Seems Every Bit The Rogue Fantasy It Promises
Entering Star Wars Outlaws, I hoped it would be as good as Jedi: Survivor. I left hoping it might be sufficient to inspire its own series of quirky, lovely games starring Kay Vess. Massive & Ubisoft have a wonderful knowledge of how to create that experience with style; there's just something about the way Star Wars depicts a well-meaning scoundrel that makes it seem like the ideal home for that storyline.
One flaw, though, is the lifespan of the several Star Wars Outlaws gaming mechanisms. While combat in space was too brief to determine how much complexity is there, shooting is fun but not particularly deep beyond the ammo swaps and cover; and the stealth elements most definitely aren't sufficient to justify a classification as a game involving a significant degree of sneaking.
Get To The Ship (And Pilot It To Escape) - The Third Level
At last, the third mission I observed consisted in Kay Vess breaking into a base and thereafter guiding her ship out. Vess could hide behind various environmental obstacles while progressively killing one poor guard after another, so the former section of the quest contained somewhat more of the stealth gameplay I observed before. With each of these corridors and rooms presenting a somewhat unique arrangement or challenge, Vess passes through them with clearly a strong rhythm and sense of development.
Following the infiltration, I was caught and forced to fight another Star Wars Outlaws pistol battle on the way back to the ship. Here Vess may employ cover, alternate blaster settings for best effect, and keep down the fort until her ship was ready for takeoff using Nix as a repeated offensive weapon. I made it aboard and as Vess settled into the captain's seat I was ready to see the screen fade to black for the third and last time, then I was startled by another area of space dogfighting.
Second Level: Escape a Derelict Ship
Kay Vess investigates the surface of a planet on the second level then finds an abandoned ship she must investigate. Here the adventure and platforming of Star Wars Outlaws takes front stage. Before reaching a generator she needs to negotiate flora on the surface and multiple leap problems in the ship. Though neither of those games are direct analogues, both Tomb Raider-ish simple platforming and Assassin's Creed parkour should assist convey what's going on in Outlaws with its many, many systems and gameplay features.
Following a run-in with a bounty hunter seeking Vess silently, a negligent touch of a few buttons causes the ship to come active and fast starts to fall apart. Here is an exciting escape from a jumble of wires, sparks, and collapsing metal. It's like an Indiana Jones temple escape, and most the game plays like a scoundrel story in the demo - that mix of exploration, agility, and repercussions makes Vess a compelling lead and Nix the adorable foil.
Star Wars Outlaws: Practical Preview
Arguably Ubisoft's best game release of the year is Star Wars Outlaws, and that fits a calendar also dotted with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Developed by Massive Entertainment, the game brought Kay Vess, a scoundrel searching for large-scale theft targets, backfire and revived interest in a long-beloved character archetype inside the Star Wars world. She is accompanied by friend Nix, presumably the mascot of the game and a functional mechanic in his own right.
Though much has been said about the Ubisoft formula of game design, 2024 seems to be a year the publisher is really challenging that idea. It seems like ambition is the theme for the studio between Assassin's Creed Shadows, which returns to stealth-based gameplay while fusing in some of its action-RPG elements, and Outlaws, which rejects the familiar of a Jedi hero and embraces the crime syndicates that developed under the shadow of the Empire.
