Star Wars Outlaws hands-on review

While four hours is not enough to get the full sense and scope of the game, we did get a chance to meet two syndicate bosses and spend some time around the open world of Toshara. The story of Star Wars Outlaws is essentially Kay Vess and her adorable companion Nix trying to make it big within the Star Wars underworld while the Empire and the Rebels duke it out.

So don’t expect force-wielding users to throw you around or a lightsaber to conveniently get tucked in your equipment belt. Kay and Nix are thieves who want to crack the biggest heist and then spend the rest of their days, hopefully, sipping Green Milk on a planet far far away. You as a player get to play out this fantasy for Kay and Nix, completing missions for different syndicates while managing a good relationship with all of them. Which, of course, won’t be easy because you’ll probably end up stealing from one syndicate for another or worse, the Empire.

That’s pretty much what we could deduct from the four-hour gameplay. There’s a deeper lore here which you will uncover throughout the journey and even meet familiar characters from the Star Wars universe like Jabba the Hutt, Lando and Lady Qi'ra. The game is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi movies and visually, the game is a time capsule which captures the 80s Star Wars retrofuturistic aesthetic. Even Kay’s soft shag haircut and jacket inspired by the 70s and 80s is a nod to movies of yore. Blasters, jackets and city environments, all convey a compelling and cohesive Star Wars universe narrative.

After you crash land on Toshara, which is run by the Pyke Syndicate, you’ll be greeted by a vast open world with a few enemies you can pew-pew your way through with RDR2-esque bullet-time shooting.

Initially, you’ll be handed a couple of fetch quests and while they don’t offer any cinematic spectacle you can expect the environment, dialogues and level design to flesh out the experience. Cantinas are the best place to pick up missions from strangers and familiar faces. Danka is one such face you’ll meet in the start and you can think of her like the Fixers from Cyberpunk 2077.

Surprisingly, the game involves a lot of sneaking around and taking out enemies as quietly as possible. Well, you’re a thief so it makes sense but should you choose to go loud you should come equipped with more firepower. That said, Nix’s help is best valued in stealth. He can detect, distract (very adorably), steal and attack enemies, making it easier for you to tip-toe past watchful eyes.

You can also pick up enemy weapons but the game only allowed us to pick up a rifle and a sniper at one point in the game. Climbing and moving through tight spaces drops the weapons from your hand and they don’t go inside your inventory. This may be an early game restriction much like Ghost Recon and Far Cry games but we’ll know for sure in the full review.

Kay’s VM19 heavy blaster shoots with precision and a satisfying kick. Besides the regular pew-pew, it has three adjustable modules — Plasma (regular), Ion (good against shields and droids), and Power (charges up for more damage). This can be swapped on the workbench inside the Trailblazer (Kay’s ship) which also lets you equip charms, jackets, holsters and boots. Each with unique modifiers for the job ahead.

The A300 Blaster Rifle which we picked up from an enemy had a hefty recoil and characteristic bullet spread with sustained fire. It was a fun weapon and was efficient at handling multiple enemies but you don’t get ammo for it. You can only fire the amount of rounds available from the moment you pick up a weapon. Kay’s VM19 blaster has a cooldown in comparison. From whatever time we played so far, don’t expect a 7-course meal of blasters variety to fall into your hands. Star Wars Outlaws seems judicial in dropping weapons but we’ll only truly know in the full review.

Movement, traversal and shooting are very similar to the Uncharted games. You sneak around until you can take down an enemy from the back or set yourself up for a shoot-out with conveniently placed explosive barrels and a cowboy-style bullet time. Nix can also trigger explosive barrels to detonate and even grenades holstered on enemies.

Kay Vess will mostly spend her time sneaking around enemy territories to steal something. Hiding behind cover and tip-toeing through vents is regular business for her but she’s also good at hacking into computers and doors. Locked doors can be unlocked through a rhythmic mini-game. Tap the RT (if R2 if on PS) button at the correct beeps to unlock the door. Computers are locked behind another mini-game which can only be described as Wordle with odd boxes (glyphs). You have to match the provided set of glyphs in the correct order to hack into a computer. It’s not perfect because most of it is trial and error but it’s still much better than whatever Spider-Man games were trying to do.

The open-world sections bring a bit of climbing and rope-swinging much like Uncharted along with free movement with the speeder in whichever direction you decide. Alien species of animals fill up the huge open landscape of the Savanna-inspired planet while red rocks peer through the soil adding another mystic element to the alien planet. The devs at Massive Entertainment tell us that cities like Mirogana are built with the planet’s natural resources and conditions in mind and as such, the cities on Toshara are nestled under giant rocks that have been carved away by strong winds. Even the open world will become inaccessible in certain regions of the planet because of strong winds and you must upgrade your speeder to cut through these sections of the game.

Upgrades don’t come based on experience points but rather through the teachings of various ‘experts’ in the game. The devs say that characters in Star Wars have always grown by learning from someone, for example, Luke and Yoda, and so that was the inspiration behind this approach. You must find experts and interact with NPCs to learn certain skills and necessary upgrades in the game. We think it’s a fantastic way to force exploration and intrigue.

Similarly, you’ll have to manage your reputation with the Syndicates to get store benefits and access to better upgrades from the merchants in their districts. A good reputation with the right syndicate will give you access to important blaster and ship upgrades.

You can also start a dogfight in space and loot cargo. Although, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Small ships will try to chip away your shields and you must keep them an inch behind your crosshairs to blast them away properly. The ships blaster work like tracking shots so it’s always good to pick and choose your battles wisely. We preemptively attacked a freighter just to be surrounded by 6 to 8 small fighters which took out our shields faster than we made our rogue decision. There were also crashed ships with SOS beacons and some pirates attacking anyone in sight. We dealt with pirates and the freighter in two different instances during space travel, both of which were exciting and educational.

A mere four hours with Outlaws isn’t enough to even scratch the surface. There’s so much to do and see in the game. The open-world sections are always inviting you, and the cities are filled with NPCs and mini-games that include a card game, a race betting game, arcade games and more. Frankly, even though the devs say the game can be finished in 25 hours, the real meat on the bone will be the open-world exploration, with hopes of no bloat and very few fetch quests.

Star Wars Outlaws certainly looks promising with a smooth transition between planets and their orbits. Coincidently, Outlaws is very committed to the whole Star Wars Underworld theme and you should keep your expectations there as well.