Star Wars: Outlaws review – A safe adventure in one of Ubisoft’s better open-worlds

A surface-level breath of fresh air

Since its reveal, we’ve known Outlaws was striving for something a little different. Throughout my earlier hands-on previews, I praised Ubisoft’s choice to pivot away from familiar territory. Telling a new tale, one without the Skywalkers, without Jedi or Sith, Outlaws focuses on the galaxy’s underworld.

A slew of rival factions are locked in a ceaseless power struggle and it’s mixed up in the middle of it all where Kay Vess finds herself. I chuckled when our fledgling hero first heard mention of the Rebels, questioning “who” they even were. As she reminds those around her, the plight of the Rebellion in the face of the Empire is “someone else’s war.”

Detached from it all, Outlaws brings us to new settings with new characters and excels at doing so. It’s a genuinely refreshing focus in a relatively unexplored period on the timeline, between the events of Empire and Return of the Jedi.

As for how the story unfolds, the plot we get is serviceable, though certainly takes the safest route. Outlaws suffers from a more recent Ubisoft trend. Much like Far Cry 6, we have a fascinating villain, Sliro, introduced right away. This menacing foe is among the richest in the galaxy and knows how to leverage the power that comes with wealth.

While the introduction is thrilling and the opening hours keep you hooked, pacing issues can grind that momentum to a halt, at least depending on how you play. As a self contained story told across a few hours, it may have been more impactful. But given the open-world structure, we don’t see Sliro through vast chunks of the game. Beyond the first sequence, it’s easy to go a dozen or so hours without so much as hearing his name. Naturally, it’s hard to be intimidated by an antagonist we scarcely see.

Instead, it’s syndicate leaders and a ragtag group of companions that fill the void, pushing you along as each story beat comes and goes. Unfortunately, the game does little to truly connect you with each fresh face. Outside of an introductory set of missions, side characters mostly fade into the background, making it hard to establish a meaningful rapport. In fact, when one group showed up near the end of the game, in a specific moment I won’t spoil here, I was more surprised than anything.

Did we really help each other that much? Does Kay actually know them well enough for what’s happening here? It was a confusing moment to say the least.

Speaking of the game’s ending, the final act is where Outlaws felt weakest. It’s obviously impossible to discuss thoroughly without delving into specifics, but for our money, the closing chapter worked completely against the overall promise of the game.

A galactic adventure

Make no mistake, besides our gripes with the overarching narrative, Ubisoft has put together one of its strongest open-world games to date in Star Wars: Outlaws. There’s the stigma around Ubi-published titles but Outlaws couldn’t be further from a run-of-the-mill, checklist-heavy offering. It’s a charming experience from start to finish, one that truly puts players in the driver’s seat.

Kay’s journey begins proper on Toshara, a moon created from scratch for Outlaws. It’s here where you come to grips with the game’s sheer amount of content, though that’s offered up in enticing ways so as to never overwhelm.

Ubisoft

Toshara is a new high bar for Ubisoft.

There’s so much to see and do on Toshara alone, this one location could’ve easily justified the price of admission, yet there are four enormous planets to explore, and that’s before you factor in their surrounding orbit and the many space stations you can land on too. If you’re after bang for your buck, you can’t do much better than Outlaws.

Each location comes packed with Intel Chains to pursue. Often, you might overhear a conversation in a Cantina that leads you off on a self-contained story. One faction might be trying to swindle another, or perhaps it’s a smaller tale as a merchant left some stolen supplies in the Outer Rim. Following the Intel Chain doesn’t explicitly tell you every step you’ll need to take, but rather, more elegantly nudges you in the right direction.

Then there’s Experts to find, talented folks who you can glean some experience from. One is a natural with bigger weapons, another may be an experienced mechanic, but all help Kay evolve in one way or another.

You’ve got your more structured side missions too, with plenty found out in the open world and many more uncovered through the Reputation system. Each syndicate also has a number of strongholds to explore, as does the Empire, so you’ve got plenty of traditional Ubi-style ‘bases’ to work your way through too.

Topping it all off, there are heaps of minigames to enjoy, with the delightful Sabacc card game even getting its own fleshed-out questline – we need an online multiplayer version of Sabacc yesterday. Then there are endlessly grindable Contracts too, some having you sneaking into bases to steal intel, others asking you to take down a threat, and much more.

Each open world is littered with secret areas to explore, collectibles to unearth, and plenty more surprises to keep you hooked for hours on end. It’s an extremely dense game but one that never comes across as overbearing. Even now as I write this review, I’m eager to jump back in and keep progressing through an abundance of side missions that I’m still only just beginning to find.

Ubisoft

There’s plenty to explore, not just on the ground, but out in orbit too.

It’s a testament to Outlaws’ more fun-focused systemic approach that none of the above ever feels tiresome. With no linear progression or XP systems to speak of, you’re never forced into any optional content. You don’t have to mindlessly clear camps to level up before the next main story mission.

Rewards attached to all other content are merely bonuses, new tricks for Kay, new cosmetics, and the like. You can go anywhere and do anything in whichever order you so choose. It’s a refreshing take that puts the onus on players to get out what they put in.

Clever open worlds put you in the driver’s seat

Making the non-linear experience all the sweeter is the Reputation system, a unique factor that didn’t quite get the attention it deserved in the lead-up to launch. While it’s not a total game-changer like the Nemesis system or anything of that ilk, it’s a clever step forward and a feature that feels very natural in the Star Wars universe.

It effortlessly ties together all of the content in StarWars Outlaws together with a singular underlying focus. Each activity, from the biggest missions down to the minor Contracts, it all has a bearing on your Reputation.

Outlaws has four main Syndicates vying for power in the galaxy’s underworld. The Pykes, the Hutts, Ashiga Clan, and Crimson Dawn. In one way or another, almost everything you do in the game impacts your standing with one of these groups.

Ubisoft

Who you side with is entirely your call.

Take on a mission from Crimson Dawn, for instance, and while it may get you in their good books, at least temporarily, it could have the Hutts locking you out of their exclusive markets. Scratch Ashiga Clan’s back and the Pykes may start hunting you down. It’s a delicate balancing act that keeps you on your toes at all times.

Think Mass Effect, but rather than just Paragon and Renegade, you’ve got four distinct levers to pull at. Getting any one of them to either the minimum or maximum Reputation has game-changing ramifications, but it’s often more of an ebb and flow. Rarely will you be focusing on raising your status with one particular group, instead, it’s a constant debate as to which faction you want to support in any given moment.

When I previewed Outlaws earlier in 2024, I asked the game’s leads if it was possible to ‘game’ the system, so to speak, and max out every faction all at once. They laughed, saying it might be possible, but “good luck” in trying. Well, I certainly tried, and it turns out they weren’t kidding.

The Reputation system isn’t a mere gimmick you can grind through in a matter of hours to see and do everything. Rather, it’s a neatly ingrained part of the experience influencing your every action from beginning to end.

Is Star Wars: Outlaws perfect? No, no game is. The speeder has a mind of its own when you call it in. Climbing animations can be quite finicky. Having Kay yell at the top of her lungs during a stealth sequence when she finds a Bacta Vial is hilariously awkward. Akiva’s map can be a tad confusing. There’s plenty of nitpicky particulars to list. But not a single issue impedes the overall joy of the experience.

Combat is satisfying in terms of both melee and gunplay, far more refined than some early builds showed. Balance is on point too, with most content feeling fair, while some optional tasks will have your heart racing, looking at you Death Troopers. Things just work exactly how you’d expect them to.

On a technical level also, Outlaws is one of the most exceptional AAA releases of the generation. Performance on PS5 was absolutely stellar throughout. I played 30 hours on the balanced quality mode, striving for 40FPS. Not once did I notice a dip in the frame rate, there was never any noticeable texture pop-in, nor did I encounter even a single bug.

Given the sheer scope of the open-worlds on offer, along with the many intertwining gameplay systems, it’s a tremendous accomplishment worthy of praise in today’s landscape.

Ubisoft

Other AAA studios need to take note of how polished Outlaws is at launch.

Star Wars: Outlaws ultimately feels like an appropriate first step with the Star Wars IP for Ubisoft. Nothing too risky as to turn heads, just an incredibly well-rounded set of systems capturing players long enough to guide them through a risk-averse narrative.

What the devs have accomplished in realizing that unmistakable Star Wars charm is nothing short of extraordinary. And doing so with this degree of polish should have all other AAA studios taking note. This is how you release a big-budget game.

The verdict – 4/5

In establishing a solid foundation from which to build, I hope the market is kind to this endeavor and the team at Massive gets to venture off in new directions. Now the core pillars are set, where Kay goes from here is a very tantalizing prospect.

Reviewed on PS5