Star Wars Outlaws: impressions of the first demo of the game
In Los Angeles we finally tried a portion of Star Wars Outlaws, the highly anticipated open world adventure that will throw you into the heart of a galaxy far, far away.
The Star Wars universe has seen a large number of video games flourish over the years, from action to strategy, stories of Jedi and fighter pilots. The Force Unleashed put us from the perspective of the dark side, Knights of the Old Republic made us weigh the consequences of good and evil, but rarely have these productions fully explored the most sordid and immoral part of the universe created in 1977 by George Lucas . We have seen plenty of smugglers and bounty hunters, but what a “rogue” really is, what it means to collaborate with organized crime and live in the shadiest places is something that has not been explored in depth. And that’s exactly what has made Star Wars Outlaws interesting since the announcement: the promise of a Star Wars game from a different perspective than usual, capable of tackling familiar timelines but through a different lens.
While on Disney+ the saga is exploring new territory with the characters and eras of Acolyte and the High Republic, Star Wars Outlaws instead takes us back to more familiar places and times. The period is that of the original trilogy at the time of The Empire Strikes Back, but this does not mean that there will be a lack of novelties, including characters, races and planets. During the days of the Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles, Ubisoft allowed journalists and creators to try a demo of Star Wars Outlaws divided into three small parts and which gave a taste of what awaits us in the adventure of Kay Vess and the his partner Nix.
Infiltration
The first of three demos saw Kay and Nix exploring the wreck of an old ship dating back to the High Republic period, with the aim of recovering components to bring back to the Trailblazer. All in all, a simple assignment, useful for becoming familiar with the protagonist’s skills and her equipment.
Kay is equipped with a blaster with three different fire modes: plasma projectiles are ideal for eliminating enemies in most situations, while ion ones are useful for deactivating shields; finally the “stun” mode is used to stun an enemy with a single shot, but requires a long time before being recharged. Inspired by the dead eye mechanics of Red Dead Redemption, the developers have equipped Kay with an ability that allows you to slow down time, select multiple enemies and eliminate them instantly with a barrage of precise shots.
As in other Star Wars action games, the blaster does not have an ammo limit, but you must be careful not to overheat it, while the weapon can also be useful outside of firefights : some devices and switches will require you to be powered through ion blasts, although the environmental puzzles never became particularly challenging over the course of the demo.
Star Wars Outlaws: impressions of the first demo of the game
After the inevitable succession of jumps on platforms and climbs, Kay found herself having to overcome a platoon of Imperial stormtroopers in the hangar of a cruiser, before taking off towards the planet Toshara.
In the space
Unlike other Star Wars games where travel from one planet to another occurs automatically, in Outlaws it will be possible to directly pilot the Trailblazer to deliver contraband cargo, escape pirate attacks and chases by Imperial fighters. The encounter with a group of TIE ships of the Empire was the opportunity to try this type of situation: Kay’s ship is well armed and, despite not having the agility of an acceleration and quick maneuvers to get in line with enemies.
However, the impression is that the development team has sought the right balance so as not to make the Trailblazer’s controls too snappy: piloting Kay’s “piece of scrap metal” must be fun, but without making you forget the feeling of being continually hunted . The space combats of Star Wars Outlaws are vaguely reminiscent of those of Battlefront , with a very simplified and accessible system, but all in all engaging, especially when you find yourself flying among the debris of destroyed ships and asteroids. Once you have managed to eliminate all the hostile ships, you can decide whether to explore the surroundings in search of resources to collect, or whether to head at full speed towards one of the planets.
Face to face with criminal clans
The most interesting part of the whole demo, however, was the last one, with Kay engaged in a mission on the planet Kijimi . First seen in Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker, this snowy world is explored in more detail and interest in Star Wars Outlaws, especially as we delve deeper into the dynamics between the local crime families.
The objective in this case is to infiltrate a base of the Crimson Dawn organization to recover a relic and bring it to the queen of the Ashiga, in the hope of being able to strengthen relations with the latter faction. By sneaking into air ducts, hacking terminals through simple minigames and getting help from Nix to create diversions, it is possible to complete the entire mission without ever being noticed. The stealth soul of Outlaws seems perfectly in line with its hand-to-hand combat and its space phases: so don’t expect a varied stealth system or one that has a particular depth (for that, we refer you to our preview of Assassin’s Creed Shadows ) , but rather an accessible and competent blend of action, exploration and stealth.
Unfortunately in the demo we were not allowed to get on Kay’s speeder to explore the open world map, which should represent an important element of the experience , but we spent the few minutes at our disposal visiting one of the outposts teeming with travellers, merchants, criminals and imperial soldiers: a sort of underground city where you can bargain or take part in a series of activities, such as games of Sabacc, clandestine betting or an arcade minigame that winks at the very first arcade shooter by Star Wars. The activities present on the map were not many, the interaction with travelers was reduced to a few passing exclamations, and although there is a reputation system with the clans and the Empire, Outlaws reminds us that it is not a role-playing game and that all Inside the outpost it is not possible to start a fight by punching someone or taking a blaster.
Unfortunately, some of the areas were inaccessible because they were under the control of the Ashiga clan: completing missions with this faction means improving relations with them and, in the end, being able to gain access to restricted areas. However, in Star Wars Outlaws it will not be possible to be friends with all the factions , and you will therefore have to choose who to collaborate with and who to betray, with the knowledge that obtaining the favors of some clans will lead to annoying their rivals.