Star Wars Outlaws Review

The greatest Star Wars game ever made.

The way the "open world" is built in Star Wars Outlaws lends itself to a style of storytelling that is both supported by the game and open for player interpretation. As a player, I can feel like I am inhabiting a well-rendered character (Kay Vess) and also have ownership over her story through my actions. These acts might be small (choose one mission over another) or big (choose between two potential rulers of a crime syndicate), but at each moment I am making decisions without being completely flat, which is my fundamental issue with From Software's oeuvre.

The gameplay exists in service of the goal, to feel like you are in a smuggler and outlaw in the Star Wars universe. The primary mechanics of shooting, riding the hoverbike, piloting the ship, sneaking, climbing and exploring; the minigames of choosing fathiers in a bar, playing sabacc with scumbags, playing atari-style bar games, eating a spicy lunch with Nix; it all feels designed to support the sense that you're the scrappy underdog.

Every time I walk down a path and overhear a conversation that turns into a side quest to help someone sell a racehorse to jabba or find their lost brother or spy on someone they don't like; when Nix runs off a path which leads to a fun series of climbs, or I find another Jet Kordova hologram and must study the map, or I accidentally blow up some stormtroopers and find myself WANTED by the Empire; all of this leads to a sense of immersion that is unmatched by other Star Wars games.

Even the very competent Jedi Survivor last year did not have this level of "lived in"-ness.