Star Wars Outlaws Hands-off preview: A fresh take on a galaxy far, far away

Ubisoft recently allowed us to take part in a hands-off preview of Star Wars Outlaws ahead of its release later this year. For those not familiar, it takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi - specifically after the Battle of Hoth. The Galactic Empire has arguably never had as much power and sway during the war, and things were looking more and more dire for the Rebellion.

However, they weren’t the only two powers in the galaxy. The criminal underworld cannot be underestimated, and that’s where the bulk of Star Wars Outlaws’ story seems to take place. Our protagonist Kay Vess isn’t a Rebel Alliance General, a stealthy Imperial Spy, or a Legendary Bounty Hunter. She’s a scoundrel, trying to make a life for herself.

This is a fresh, interesting take on a game in this franchise. While she may take on one of those roles later in the story, we have no way of knowing that right now. Although Star Wars Outlaws may be set in a galaxy far, far away, it shares some interesting DNA with the Uncharted series, with its “One more heist” story, so she can finally enjoy a life of freedom. In a way, it’s very relatable.

In this preview of Star Wars Outlaws, while we didn’t get a chance to play the game, we saw a trio of scenarios that show off exactly what you can expect when it launches on August 30, 2024.

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Star Wars Outlaws’ Kay Vess has a wealth of tools and combat options at her disposal

Kay Vess isn't without options in and out of battle (Image via Ubisoft)

Kay Vess is the kind of character that has a solution for almost any problem. If she can’t talk her way past it, she can sneak in, or disable her foes. She has a few hacking tools (Slicer Kit, Data Spike), and of course, a grappling hook. She also comes equipped with a blaster pistol that can use a trio of modes: Plasma (DPS), Ion (Disabling Shields, Overcharging Droids), and Stun (Knocks out enemies).

She also has a little alien friend, Nix, who can scout for her, grab items, and also allow for moments of distraction. This gives her almost a Batman-level of tools for situations.

It should allow players to have quite a few options when it comes to sneaking around and dealing with problems without being seen. However, this takes place at a very turbulent point in this universe’s history, between Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, so finding peace won’t be easy.

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Ubisoft revealed three "quests" within Star Wars Outlaws to show what players will experience

1) False Flag

It shouldn't be too hard to fool these Stormtroopers and Imperials (Image via Ubisoft)

In this Star Wars Outlaws mission, stealth is the name of the game. While I’m not keen on stealth gameplay - mostly because I’m bad at it - I appreciate that there are going to be potentially lots of ways to get through areas, and not just one solution. For this quest, she’s destroying data on an Imperial space station. However, she needs to help a Gallusian named Bosnok on board the Trailblazer and fight through Imperial forces back to the Pyke Syndicate’s Gorak.

For most of this scenario, she will need stealth on her side. What I like about this is as she creeps around, you’ll see various options of things you can do to distract or cause a ruckus, with blue icons. When highlighting enemies, you can try to steal from them, attack, or detonate a thermal detonator - I assume if they have one on them.

It’s not all stealth throughout Star Wars Outlaws. Ubisoft also teased how combat works, which also felt like Uncharted. You must spend time hiding behind cover and sneaking shots out when it’s safe because you’re almost always going to be out-numbered. Thankfully, you can also grab Imperial armaments to help out, if your Blaster Pistol isn’t good enough.

That's your goal - but it will take some work to get to the ship (Image via Ubisoft)

This was an excellent blend of stealth and action, set in an Imperial stronghold. Finally, you must battle in space against a series of TIE Fighters. While I’m not a fan of most space battles, this looked fun and fast-paced enough. The starfighter Kay Vess has what’s known as a “pursuit mode” which will lock on to make defeating the TIEs easier to deal with. I'm excited to try out space combat for a change, thanks to Star Wars Outlaws.

Once the battle’s over, players can hack a terminal, clear their “Wanted” status, and take off. We also got a glimpse of landing on a planet with the ship, which looked gorgeous, diving into the atmosphere the way it did. Another part of the False Flag scenario showed exploring a planet’s city, as well as hinting at playing the popular Star Wars card game Sabacc. What made this scenario perhaps most interesting of all, is the way Kay Vess plays politics.

When dealing with Gorak of the Pyke Syndicate, she admitted the Crimson Dawn tried to set Gorak up, but instead, she framed them. She brought Gorak a new bookkeeper, who has a great deal of shady information. How players deal with the various criminal syndicates appears to matter and could shape the flow of the game - or at least, how many enemies she has.

The final bit of this teases something for later in the preview - a Bounty Hunter named Vail has been asking about Kay Vess’s death mark - meaning someone, or something wants her tracked down and killed.

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2) The Wreck

A wrecked ship - what could possibly go wrong? (Image via Ubisoft)

The Wreck definitely had Uncharted vibes about it in Star Wars Outlaws. In this portion of the preview, Kay Vess was combing through a High Republic shipwreck to find some spare parts for her ship. It’s all about exploring, being sneaky, and making her way through dangerous, unstable territory.

Lots of climbing, grappling, and scaling walls, similar to what you might have done in Uncharted, or in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - only without the awesome Force powers to make it easy. Without Force sensitivity, she is, by all accounts, a regular person. She can use Nix to find things to interact with in these kinds of situations as well, which could make puzzle-solving just a little bit easier. It was all about being clever, having detective skills, and navigating dangerous terrain. A very cool part of the game, that’s for sure.

The exploration aspects of Star Wars Outlaws look like it will be very fun (Image via Ubisoft)

The ship she explored was massive though. However, she wasn’t alone though, and ultimately, combat broke out on the ship. A heated battle with blaster pistols and grenades, it had a decidedly different feel than that on the Imperial Space Station, which we saw earlier in Star Wars Outlaws' preview.

While confronted by Vail, the rebels were mentioned, but it’s not clear why. It’s a heated moment that I won’t spoil, but it does lead to the introduction of someone who will ultimately be one of her crew members after a wild escape sequence.

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3) The Relic

In the name of freedom, you'll travel to some fascinating places (Image via Ubisoft)

Finally, The Relic. Kay Vess, as a part of the Star Wars Outlaws preview, infiltrates a Crimson Dawn syndicate hideout, to steal a priceless relic. Failure here could lead to some very bad feelings from the Crimson Dawn - so it’s important she doesn’t get caught.

If she succeeds, it will improve her standing with the Ashiga Clan, but failure means her reputation with Crimson Dawn will suffer. That’s one of the things that makes Star Wars Outlaws such an interesting game to me - having to juggle all these criminal syndicates to avoid having more problems in such a turbulent time.

This is where being clever will pay dividends. You must find a way into the Wellspring and sneak around without getting caught. Fans of Assassin’s Creed and Uncharted’s stealth gameplay will probably enjoy this. You will almost certainly have to take down guards, but stealth is still the name of the game.

In Star Wars Outlaws, these heists can go very wrong if you're impatient (Image via Ubisoft)

Kay Vess looks to have quite a few options when it comes to dealing with this scenario, which will make things interesting. It’s all up to how the player approaches the guards, taking them out one by one without getting caught. I won’t spoil how the developers did it, but it is both nerve-wracking and exciting.

There’s plenty of hacking and sneaking, while also knocking out guards. This preview also showed how things don’t always go according to plan, and sometimes, you just have to shoot all the guards.

Though things didn't go smoothly, Kay Vess did ultimately secure the relic, and get it back to the Ashiga Clan. Only time will tell if her actions have major consequences with the Crimson Dawn later in Star Wars Outlaws.

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In the roughly half-hour of gameplay, Ubisoft showed just how deep Star Wars Outlaws promises to be as a game. With stunning visuals and excellent gameplay mechanics, it reminds me of what Shadows of the Empire could have been if it were a modern game, instead of on the N64.

It’s certainly an interesting take on a Star Wars game, focusing on the struggles of the regular folks, instead of on the Empire, the Rebellion, or Jedi. I think that’s why I’m so taken by Outlaws. Fans won’t have to wait too long, as it debuts on August 30, 2024.