Star Wars Outlaws

Forget the Jedi. Star Wars Outlaws ($69.99) wants you to be more like Han Solo than Luke Skywalker. This new for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S (tested) entices you to become the best thief in the galaxy with its clever reputation system and varied missions. Unfortunately, much of that potential quickly fades due to Ubisoft's familiar open-world chores.

The Star Wars Outlaws Story

Much like the franchise as a whole, Star Wars Outlaws is stronger as a vibe than as a richly detailed plot. It plays out like a spiritual successor to the 2018 spin-off movie Solo, complete with some of that film’s crime syndicate. The underworld focus is a nice throwback to Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and the canceled Star Wars: 1313. This is a game about being the charming rogue who shoots first.

In this case, that charming rogue is named Kay Vess, played by Humberly Gonzalez. She’s a bit of a blank slate—I feel bad I only connected with her after unlocking the Lando Calrissian outfit—but she’s a serviceable enough crook with a heart of gold. After living a life on the fringes, Kay inevitably finds herself in deep trouble. With enemies breathing down her neck, she must put the perfect heist crew for one last big score.

Star Wars Outlaws has a solid premise. The idea of putting a team together reminded me of . Set between Episode V and Episode VI, Outlaws isn't too concerned with connecting to the broader Star Wars mythology. But the game could use stronger, more colorful characters. The only one who left any impression on me was ND-5, a no-nonsense droid bodyguard who wears a stylish coat. Everyone else just felt like alien background extras. At least came up with some imaginative concepts for its knockoff characters.

Rebel Galaxy

Star Wars Outlaws doesn’t want you to stick closely to its main quest. It does a good job of making the smuggler's life feel appropriately free-form. This isn’t a role-playing game, but Outlaws' exploration approach makes it fun to play the thief's role, so to speak.

Once the game opens up, you can fly to multiple planets at any time. There are only a handful of worlds, but they each have distinct and graphically impressive visual themes. Akiva is a wet jungle. Kijimi is a snowy monastery. Tatooine is the familiar cowboy desert. Each planet has a sizable (but manageable) landscape to roam through on your zippy speeder bike.

Each planet also has a dense seedy hub city, like in or , where you can take on new tasks in a variety of ways. Talk to trusted contacts to get new jobs. Investigate rumors and eavesdrop on gossip. Track down mysterious experts in multi-step side quests that unlock their own perk trees. The game makes you believe that you can participate in the hot action by putting your ear to the ground. However, once you actually get in on that action, it isn’t nearly as satisfying.

In the Shadow of the Empire

AAA games, especially Ubisoft releases, often use half-baked mechanics in a weak attempt at extra gameplay variety. Far too often, Star Wars Outlaws feels like an entire game made of those bad mechanics. I understand that you’re a character who steals things, but from the opening hours, you’re subjected to constant, tedious sneaking sections that would embarrass Sam Fisher.

The key to challenging but fun stealth is feeling fair, and fairness comes from consistency. Star Wars Outlaws fails to grasp this. Annoying guard layouts and poorly communicated enemy sight lines make it a pain to plan your next move. Experimentation is discouraged when instant failure is a threat. Sometimes, you can use a handful of helpful tools and weapons, such as a stun dart, an animal companion named Nix who distracts guards, and the ability to talk your way out of a confrontation. But in other missions, the game arbitrarily limits your options, so only pure stealth is viable.

The few times when I improvised my way out of a sneaking situation made Outlaws feel like a Star Wars action-comedy. But all the punishingly tight scripted stealth sequences, many of which are required for meaningful progress, turn the game into a deeply unfun slog. Even the early games felt better because they were fully committed to being dedicated stealth games with more expressive and flexible mechanics.

The rest of the gameplay, while better, isn’t revolutionary. The third-person shooting is initially dull, but improves once you upgrade your blaster with different shot types. The light platforming and puzzle-solving resembles a lesser . You manually control your ship, the Trailblazer, as you fly between different planets so you can also get into dogfights. In addition, you can try your hand at the smuggling trading economy or just straight-up gamble in card games to earn more money.

Star Wars Outlaws has plenty to do, but quantity is no substitute for quality. Its sloppy design contrasts sharply with , a title that deftly melds varied gameplay concepts into a finely crafted whole. Respawn’s title is the Batman: Arkham City of Star Wars games. Meanwhile, Star Wars Outlaws is , an expensive yet obligatory open world meant to dutifully deliver content and little else.

Familiar Ubisoft Bloat

To its credit, Star Wars Outlaws tries to contextualize its content with an intriguing reputation system. Completing missions either helps or hurts Kay's standing with the various criminal syndicates all vying for power. Do a favor for Jabba the Hutt and his cartel will like you. A good reputation can get you better deals from certain merchants, while a bad reputation makes certain areas more hostile than others.

This is a neat idea that makes you feel like you’re manipulating these power players. But the biggest benefit I found was just making enemy camps slightly less annoying to sneak through or paying off corrupt Imperial officers to reduce my wanted level. It doesn’t help that these side missions are just more content. You raid the same pirate camps. Get into the same speeder bike chases. Sneak into the same imperial outposts.

Star Wars Outlaws may be the first open-world Star Wars game (not made of ), but you’ve definitely played other open-world titles like this before. The game’s stab at turning its scoundrel theme into tangible gameplay systems reminded me of the hacking in , a thin extra layer on top of the same Ubisoft core.

Star Wars Outlaws is a next-gen exclusive on consoles. I played on my and only had one crash after a dozen hours of gameplay. Besides that, there was solid technical performance, and the visuals largely captured the iconic look of the films.

Verdict: Star Wars Outlaws Shoots Last

There are moments when Star Wars Outlaws clicks, the stars align, and the system lets you live out a Han Solo-like fantasy. But to make that happen, you have to actively force yourself to only focus on the game’s engaging aspects while ignoring its core frustrations. If you must experience an open-world Star Wars title, Outlaws gets you there. However, playing other Star Wars games will better reward your efforts. Star Wars Outlaws has too much baggage, and a scoundrel should never be tied down.

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