Star Wars Outlaws: what to expect from the game

Journalist Keith Stewart wrote a review of the game for The Guardian. He attended a press event in Los Angeles along with other journalists. In his article, he talked about the team behind the creation of the game, as well as its features.

Star Wars Outlaws takes place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and is about Kay, an ambitious street thief planning a major heist.

About 10 minutes into the preview for Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft's upcoming open-world adventure, main character Kay Vess enters Morogana: a densely populated, dilapidated city on the abandoned moon of Toshar. The environment is a mix of sandstone shacks and metal sci-fi buildings adorned with flickering computer panels, neon signs, and holographic advertisements. Exotic aliens lurk in quiet corners, R2 droids pass by. Nearby is a country bar with a shady clientele visible through a smoky doorway, and nearby is a dimly lit arcade.

As you explore the city, you can hear imperial propaganda broadcast by robotic voices through public address systems, and stormtroopers patrol the streets checking IDs. These moments perfectly capture the aesthetic and atmosphere of the original trilogy, reminiscent of A New Hope. It's a promising start.

We have prepared well," Keith quotes Navid Khawari, narrative director, as saying. - 'We not only watched the original films but also studied George Lucas's inspirations: Akira Kurosawa, World War II films like The Dam Breakers, and spaghetti westerns. A lot of care was put into the original trilogy to make it tonally consistent. We needed our game to feel just as intense, with light humour, emotional tension, character growth and the hero's journey.

Expected for release on 30 August, Outlaws has been in development by Massive Entertainment Studios for almost five years. In 2018, during The Division 2 announcement event, then CEO David Polfeldt discussed a potential collaboration with a high-ranking Disney representative.

The first presentation was in February 2020, after the release of Division 2 - that's the word from creative director Julian Geraty. - We had a small team - concept artists, game designers - and we went to San Francisco with a short presentation based on three concepts: Star Wars, open world, and a rogue's tale.

Outlaws is about Kay trying to pay a huge bounty on his head by assembling a team and undertaking the heist of a lifetime.

I wasn't attracted to a story about a Jedi farm boy or an old space wizard," Keith Geraty is quoted as saying. - I was attracted to the tough guy sailing the galaxy with his best mate and his most iconic ship. I focused on these archetypal characters and their potential in terms of gameplay.

Players will be able to explore and travel between at least five major worlds, including Tatooine, the turbulent Activa, and the vibrant Cantonica, home to the casino city of Canto Bight. Along the way, Kay will meet crime syndicates from the Star Wars canon such as the Pikes, the Hutts, the Shadow Dawn and the Samurai Ashigu. Completing missions for the syndicates earns credits and reputation points, unlocking access to more lucrative missions and new areas. An alliance with one gang will mean feuding with others, but there will be opportunities to pit crime bosses against each other or betray them.

So why not make a game about Han Solo? Geraty explains:

We always wanted a character that wasn't Han Solo. Han is already the coolest guy in the galaxy. Kay is a street thief who gets into one bad deal after another like a pinball, and suddenly she's negotiating with Jabba the Hutt. It took us a long time to cast the actress, and the personality of Humberly Gonzalez was the final piece of the puzzle. Her voice, acting and approach to the character brought a lot to the table.

LucasFilm's placement of the game in the timeline was chosen for its narrative possibilities.

'We were looking for a moment that would define the gameplay and allow us to explore interesting places and meet interesting characters,' is Steve Blank, director of content and strategy for the Lucasfilm franchise. - We found a time when organised crime was thriving as the Empire focused on the Rebel Alliance. Jabba the Hutt was at the pinnacle of his power.

At a press event in Los Angeles, Keith played a major plot assignment on Toshar, where Kay must steal secret information from the home of crime lord Gorak. The environment has multiple approaches: direct confrontation or stealthy infiltration through ventilation shafts and secret passageways. I also visit the ice planet Kimiji, controlled by the Ashigu clan, a race of blind swordsmen. The mission is to meet a safe cracker, but I am being hunted by an assassin. It's an atmospheric place to explore with temple towers, snowy streets and shadowy bandits around noodle shops.

Although developed by Massive Entertainment, Outlaws bears distinctly Ubisoft traits, combining stealth, combat and a balance between the main story and side quests, much like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Watch Dogs. Kay's ability to slow down time and hit multiple enemies at once references Max Payne and Red Dead Redemption.

But what sets Outlaws apart from other Ubisoft games? Firstly, there's Nix, Kay's companion who can sneak into places out of Kay's reach, distract guards and pick up items.

'Nix was inspired by our pets,' the whale quoted Havari as saying. - He behaves like a dog.

Secondly, the game eschews traditional skill trees in favour of a more natural progression. By completing specialist tasks, players gain new abilities or upgrades.

And finally, space travel. Players can seamlessly launch from a planet, fly within the system, fight fighters, mine resources from space debris, and jump into hyperspace to fly to new planets. Flight controls are simple and arcade-like, with an automatic target acquisition feature. Despite the simplicity, the fun of destroying enemy ships remains.

Keith has only seen a small portion of the game, and there is still much to discover:

Hopefully, the quests and side quests delve deeply into Star Wars lore, moving away from the typical Ubisoft template. Will planets be detailed away from the main hubs? Encounters with Jawa transports, secret Empire bases and monsters will enhance the sense of discovery.

We've endeavoured to give players freedom of action by integrating the essence of the Empire and Return of the Jedi into every aspect of the game," Keith Hawari was quoted as saying. - Star Wars is perfect for an open world game and fans have been waiting for this for a long time, myself included.

Star Wars Outlaws releases on 30 August on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.