videogameblog

(spoiler free)

Surprisingly alot of fun! Strips away the mechanical tediums typically expected from an Ubisoft open-world game, resulting in a significantly better experience. It's still extremely reminiscent of Assassins Creed, but it's a far cry (LOL!) from it in the quality department. Combat has been simplified, providing players with two main avenues of offense - their gun and their sidekick, Nix. At a surface level it seems relatively unintuitive, but the avenues that open up as you progress allow for a variety of different playstyles. Your gun has 3 different modules you can swap out - one fires like a normal blaster, one does stun-damage and the third is a charge-shot. These 3 modes also come with 3 sub-modes each, allowing players to combine their modules to best fit their approach to combat. I found close-range stealth to be my preferred playstyle so I upgraded my blaster accordingly, focusing primarily on stunning and quickly eliminating enemies. The blaster system accommodated for this; I set my stun-shot to 'surge' which modified it to act more like a shotgun, allowing me to stun enemies quickly from close up. I also set my default module to shoot charged shots, allowing me to one-shot enemies from a distance. Alongside this, there's a variety of different consumables and abilites that can be utilised in combat. The main ability I would use was the smoke-bomb which creates a cloud of smoke around the player's feet, blinding all enemies caught inside of it. I upgraded this ability to the point that it would also stun and electrify enemies caught inside of it which comboed perfectly with my close-up stealth build. I paired this with an armor set that would charge up another one of my abilities, adrenaline rush, when I got takedowns in a smoke cloud. Adrenaline rush functions virtually the same as dead-eye from red dead redemption; time freezes temporarily, and you choose a selection of enemies you'd like to instantly kill. My previously mentioned armor set also had a secondary ability - my smoke bomb would instantly replenish if i got a kill with adrenaline rush. This encouraged me to engage in a satisfying combat-loop in which I would run in, stealth kill some enemies caught in a smoke bomb, then trigger my adrenaline rush, then repeat. This wouldn't work in every situation, but when it did it was extremely satisfying. You're also able to utilise your small companion, Nix, to your advantage in combat. He can distract enemies, jump on them to trigger a stun or even set off their grenades. Executing these actions is done simply by pressing Q and selecting what you'd like him to do, allowing you to quickly and easily execute actions in the midst of combat. Some fights I'd be dealing with one batch of enemies, so I'd quickly send Nix over to another group to detonate one of their grenades. I'd then see them explode a few moments later. The additional layer of depth that Nix provides to combat allows for even more variety of play, allowing you to control the battlefield in a way that sometimes feels like an extremely juvenile version of an RTS. Movement in combat is also extremely simple and fun; I'd often find myself sliding from cover to cover and hip-firing my blaster like Han Solo. Everything comes together to sometimes create some occassional cinematic fight scenes with you in the midst of the action. These systems also operate within the realm of feasability; they don't take away from the immersiveness of the experience like the respawning enemies in Jedi: Fallen Order do.

Exploration has also been stripped down significantly in comparision to the typical Ubisoft open world. Instead of scattering 100 collectible feathers around a vast but empty map, Outlaws instead focuses on packing detail into smaller environments. The first major planet you come across, Toshara, is packed with cities, outposts, explorable caves and bandit camps. Players aren't encouraged to investigate these areas by something arbitrary like unlocking icons on their map (i hate assassins creed!!); exploration is instead directly tied to vertical progression. To unlock major abilities like the smoke bomb or the stun-shot, players must seek out these locations and aquire them. side content feels less meaningless, and you get a substantial reward for completing it. There's also been a shift in the side content present in the game; collectibles are virtually absent, with yakuza-like minigames and events taking their place. Whilst you're exploring the dense, extremely detailed streets of any city, there's a variety of different simple activities you can engage in. You can bet on horse races, play cards, go to an arcade, get lunch or evesdrop on passers-by for useful information. These activities are fun and engaging, while also making the world feel much more grounded and immersive. The cities don't feel like vessels to provide quests - they feel active and alive. I'd often stop by and play a hand of Sabacc (the card game) on my way to a quest location. Navigation is also extremely versatile. You have access to both a ship and a speeder, both of which have unique combat systems. They aren't very complex, but providing the player with a variety of modes of transport contributes significantly to the groundedness of the world. One mission has you sneak into an imperial base, fight your way back out after the alarms go off, jump on your speeders, then hop in your ship. You're fighting enemies the entire way, and the utilisation of a wide variety of modes of play creates an extremely engaging experience.

As expected, the narrative is Outlaw's weakest point. It's a typical heist story, with your main goal throughout being the assembly of a crew to rob a vault. None of the characters are especially memorable, including Kay Vess (the player character). Your droid sidekick ND-5 is easily the most interesting, but he would benefit from a little more depth to his character. It's frustrating, as there's clear avenues that could be explored with him, as he's an ex-war droid who exhibits system errors reminiscent of PTSD. One of my main issues with Disney's Star Wars has always been how sanetised it is, with a clear reluctancy to explore any themes even vaguely dark. This is especially evident in Outlaws as it's supposed to focus on the criminal underbelly of the universe, a narrative area which would typically include various ill-mannered activities. Like usual, everyone is a smuggler, which seems to be Disney's preffered avenue of crime in Star Wars (probably because it has no 'victims' involved) and never really exhibit any signs of depravity or genuine maliciousness. This isn't to say the narrative is bad or boring by any means, it just fails to amount to anything remotely memorable.

Contemporary Star Wars has become infamous for it's repeated inclusion of 'Glup Shitto' cameos, which Outlaws is also guilty of. However, I find the methods through which cameos are implemented into Outlaws to be the least intrusive in any Star Wars media I've consumed. Characters like Jabba the Hutt can be encountered, but they don't feel out of place. In a narrative about criminals, it makes sense for a crime boss like him to make an appearance. I especially appreciated the approach to Han Solo's body frozen in carbonite, which can be found in Jabba's Palace. The camera never focused on it, you can't interact with it, Kay doesn't say anything if you go up to it, he's just there. It makes you feel like a piece of the world thats operating on a parallel track to the movies, present but not involved. This same feeling is evoked by a cameo much later in the game (which I won't spoil) where Kay overhears a comms call involving a major character from the first trilogy. Her reaction is one of confusion; she's just like 'who was that?' and moves on. While it's clear these inclusions are likely only present to appease reddit Star Wars fanboys, their inclusion feels appropriate and doesn't distract from the narrative.

I hope that in the future, Outlaws will be looked back on as the point where Ubisoft pivoted from making copy-paste open world slop to actual engaging, well-made experiences. I had a tonne of fun exploring the different planets and experimenting with the combat. Easily the best 7/10 I've ever played.