Games

Published on June 11th, 2024 | by Andrew Bistak

Star Wars Outlaws … coming soon to a galaxy near you! (Our VOD Preview)

Courtesy of Ubisoft, Impulse Gamer was given an exclusive sneak peek into their new game based in a “galaxy far far away” with Star Wars Outlaws. With that said, fans have been clamoring for a new Star Wars game and while EA Games have done an excellent job with the license, I was keen to see what Ubisoft and developers Massive Entertainment could do with the Star Wars franchise and from what I’ve seen, it is definitely in excellent hands.


For the uninitiated, Star Wars Outlaws revolves around thief and explorer Kay who is from Canto Bight and has set her sights on the heist of the century in order for her to find financial freedom. Kat also needs her own group of scoundrels to achieve her victory such as her alien co-pilot Waka. With the Empire in full power (this game takes place after The Battle of Hoth) and with so many crime syndicates vowing for power, it’s not going to be an easy task for Kay. And as Obi-Wan Kenobi once said “… you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy” but in an awesome anti-hero type way. We are also introduced to her nemesis Vail plus mystery characters such as ND5 which just wants me to play this game now… Oh, I did try to avoid spoilers and videos but power of the force was too strong!



 

Given how long EA Games have held onto the license, more recently with Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, it’s definitely time for a new publishing house and developer to tackle this amazing universe created by George Lucas. From watching the VOD of this presentation, it’s quite refreshing that you are playing (unless there is a twist), a female scoundrel like Han Solo with the game having this almost Uncharted and Tomb Raider vibe to it with blasters, grenades and deals gone south, all set in this spectacular sci-fi universe.


Additionally the premise is great as civil unrest continues across the galaxy, criminal syndicates rise to power with Kay finding a potential solution to her own personal woes. Supporting Kay is her alien pet (more sidekick) Nix who helps her friend along the way from distracting enemies by jumping on their faces or helping her solve puzzles, including fetching weapons and moving objects. Nix also has a special power which is pretty much “Detective Vision” that scans the area for interactivity.

Kay has access to a variety of weapons with the VOD showcasing her blaster skills, including a splicing kit for hacking and grappling hook to reach places us non-Jedi can’t reach and lastly, a data spike for opening doors. It also appears that there are a number of ways to engage in your enemy from stealth, melee and tweaking your blaster energy such as plasma to inflict more damage, ion for disabling shields or overcharging droids and the faithful stun setting.


The gameplay of Star Wars Outlaws which is from the third person perspective looks quite diverse which is fantastic and more importantly, this universe looks quite populated and it really channels the Star Wars setting well. Missions look equally diverse with the VOD presenting three;

  • THE RELIC: infiltrate a Crimson Dawn syndicate hideout and steal a priceless artifact
  • THE WRECK: Explore an ancient High Republic cruiser in search of a nav computer
  • FALSE FLAG – Fight Imperial Forces on a  space station and pilot the Trailblazer to take on their TIE fighters

As you fly the Trailblazer through space which looks quite spectacular as the video showcases space debris, gas from a nebula and light from a sun, what struck me the most was that it appears that you actually fly your ship through the planet’s atmosphere to land. As in, there is no landing cutscene – I’m looking at your Starfield. And wait, there’s more… vehicles and yes, a super fast speeder bike that appears quite controllable from the presentation, so our feisty protagonist will be well supported.


Graphically, Star Wars Outlaws perfectly channels the soul of this universe and it looks and feels how I imagine this fictional galaxy should be. It’ also very detailed and the supporting cutscenes look awesome as does the Star Wars inspired music, including other cultural elements such as an Arabic score which suited that part of the mission well. Voice acting is equally as great, especially Kay and when I heard the British accent of an Imperial Officer, I knew I was immediately home. Kat also changes clothes and while this is nothing new, it reminded me of Star Wars action figures due to the third person view, so nicely played, Massive Entertainment.


Final thoughts?

The VOD of Star Wars Outlaws was a work in progress and from what I saw, this game is shaping up to become something big. The universe is there, the characters are there and it also seems that the gameplay is there and both Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft have done an flawless job of expanding the world building of the Star Wars universe and again I cannot wait until this game is released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|s and PC on 30-August-2024.

It will be well worth the wait and until, may the force be with you.


About the Author

When he's not trying to save the world, Andrew enjoys travel (although loathes turbulence), going to the movies, reading and being a dad to his two dogs (and now twins) with his wife.


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