Star Wars Outlaws review: An excellent heist adventure in a Galaxy Far Far Away

As a long-time Star Wars fan, Star Wars Outlaws blew me away in quite a few ways. From the characters to the planets, it felt like a return to the classic Star Wars formula. Shady deals, treachery, and of course, the oppression of the Galactic Empire - it all fits together perfectly into one, huge heist game. This is a deep game that you could easily sink dozens of hours into, just exploring the planets and breathing it all in.

This was my first hands-on experience with Star Wars Outlaws. I did have a hands-off preview previously, which teased what was to come. Whether you’re playing Sabacc, sneaking around, or defeating bandits, this game has a wealth of opportunities and adventures to experience.

Kay Vess’s struggles perfectly fit the tone and reality of Star Wars Outlaws

Kay Vess isn't the smoothest, but she does her best out there (Image via Ubisoft)

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The most important part to me is the setting of Star Wars Outlaws. It takes place during the original trilogy when the Galactic Empire is in charge of the galaxy. The Rebellion is doing whatever they can to bring peace everywhere, but what about the laymen? Kay Vess isn’t a diplomat or a freedom fighter, she’s one of the many downtrodden masses of the Star Wars universe.

Living in a Cantina, Vess does what she has to survive. Maybe, that's the reason why she has so many sneaky skills. The important thing to note here is that Kay Vess isn’t Han Solo. Neither is she Dash Rendar or Lando Calrissian. She’s very much her own character, with her own struggles and quirks. This is what charmed me about the game so much. Although she tries to be a smooth talker, she lacks the world experience and finesse that Han has.

All Vess really wants in life is to be free, but the deeper you go, the more you realize that freedom just doesn’t exist under the rule of the Galactic Empire. Everyone tries to use you for something. In fact, there’s something about the Star Wars Outlaws storytelling that fits the real world, and the setting of the universe perfectly.

Star Wars Outlaws is a brilliant open-world(s) experience

No matter where I was, I felt like I was hip-deep in the Star Wars universe. I never felt out of place (Image via Ubisoft)

If there’s anything Ubisoft knows how to do, it’s craft an open-world adventure. In this case, it’s open worlds, because Kay Vess will travel to quite a few planets in her quest for freedom - and one last big score. She’ll meet incredible characters, not all of whom have her best interests at heart. That’s what makes an adventure like Star Wars Outlaws so great.

The planet maps are pretty huge, with a lot of territory to explore. The beginning of the game is pretty straightforward, but it will soon open up and let you roam on your own. There will be times when you’re landlocked, but it all fits into the story nicely. Whether on Toshara, Tatooine, or anywhere else, there’s stuff to do.

You can just push through the main quest and skip a lot of the extra content, but I wouldn’t. There are side quests, bandit treasure hoards, and enemy bases to sneak into. This is how you unlock a lot of the Expert Skills, upgrade your weapons, and amass a satisfying pile of credits. You can even help the locals! Most of this isn't compulsory, but I feel like skipping the side content really robs you of the full experience.

I just enjoyed riding around on the Speeder, shooting bandits, and seeing what each planet had to offer. I discovered all kinds of neat adventures and ways to get stronger. Since this isn’t a traditional RPG in the sense of having level-ups, you have to find other ways to improve. This can be achieved through buying better equipment, and unlocking skills. It takes time, but you’ll feel like a right scoundrel by the time all is said and done.

Syndicates offer opportunities for success, wealth, and best of all, betrayal

It's all about the political game - and how you play it (Image via Ubisoft)

I really like that this game is built around the various Syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws. They’re a major part of the underworld and don’t get enough credit in the films. Sure, we’re all familiar with Jabba the Hutt’s faction - who do show up. But there are other forces out there, all trying to get a piece of the pie.

As a player, you have a great deal of freedom in who you work for, and who you betray. There will be opportunities to set other Syndicates up so that you can help someone else - or just help yourself. This is represented by reputation meters that unlock further opportunities and some cosmetics as you fill them up.

However, one qualm that I noticed was that there really weren't many downsides to betraying one faction too many times. It makes sense at least - you don’t want to hardlock players out of potential story beats. Still, I spent dozens of hours betraying the Pykes over and over, only to still be able to do the occasional job for them like nothing happened. Same with the Hutts.

Sooner or later, everyone's going to get betrayed - it's the cost of doing business (Image via Ubisoft)

I feel like, if you are betraying a faction, and then have to work with them in the main story, there should be some kind of penalty, even if it’s a minor one. Sure, that’d make the game harder, but it would fit the setting better. That said, I loved being able to pick and choose what factions I did jobs for or having a choice to sneak through one faction’s base or the other.

When I snuck through a Crimson Dawn HQ to steal something, it was easier because I wasn’t KOS (Kill on Sight) like I was with the Pykes. I still had something to lose, but it was far less stressful. This was the part of Star Wars Outlaws I enjoyed the most.

In and out of combat, Kay Vess has plenty of tools at her disposal

Nix is so invaluable in and out of combat. Your little pal can turn the tide and make situations much easier (Image via Ubisoft)

While combat isn’t a major part of the game, it’s important that the fighting feels good. I'd say combat isn’t a major part of Star Wars Outlaws, because it’s safer to be sneaky. You will do a lot of stealth missions in this game. The degree of stealth varies - sometimes you need to never raise an alarm, and in others, it’s recommended you keep out of sight.

This is where the game shines, though. Just because an enemy sees you, that doesn’t mean you’re immediately going to be kicked back to the last checkpoint. If the enemy doesn’t have a way to raise an alarm - say, if you sabotaged the alarm panel - and there are no other foes around - they will be helpless.

You’re free to kill them/knock them out and move on. In fact, sometimes it’s good to make a little noise. Bring one or two guards nearby, take them out silently, and then resume sneaking. Kay Vess has so many tools at her disposal. She can slice/hack, lockpick, and most importantly, she has Nix. Nix can do so many incredible things.

Normally, Gamorreans require a special tool to stealth kill them - unless you distract them with Nix! (Image via Ubisoft)

The way you use Nix will be what separates stealth players in Star Wars Outlaws. Taking the time to let Nix steal stuff, and then cause a distraction so you can get past, or even do a little fighting, feels great and is rewarding.

However, there will be times when gunfights are unavoidable and Kay Vess is fairly decent in a scrap. Her Adrenaline Rush (targeting multiple enemies to take them out) is amazing, and you can always duck behind cover to take potshots from safety.

However, I do wish the Bacta Vials (healing items) would move faster. If you get hit while recovering, it completely stops your healing process, so you have to be really careful while patching yourself up. However, in many cases throughout Star Wars Outlaws, simply being sneaky and clever will let you avoid such tense battles.

Star Wars Outlaws delivers on Accessibility so that everyone can enjoy this game

You can adjust a wide assortment of Accessibility settings (Image via Ubisoft)

I also appreciate just how many accessibility options Star Wars Outlaws features. You can get audio queues while lockpicking as well as normal numbers for Sabacc. There were settings for Gameplay, Cognitive, Colors, Vision, and Hearing.

You can give yourself more (or less) health, lockpicking attempts, adjust enemy difficulty, Wanted level difficulty, and so much more. This game has more than just a preset difficulty level. There are plenty of options to make the title more approachable - even if you aren't an ardent stealth fan.

Star Wars Outlaws is an absolutely gorgeous cinematic game - mostly

In every way, Star Wars Outlaws is visually brilliant (Image via Ubisoft)

I cannot talk enough about how beautiful Star Wars Outlaws is. Each planet is unique, but you expect that in a Star Wars experience. The characters are well-designed, and there are lots of really familiar archetypes here. The cities you explore make sense, and it’s often easy to see exactly where you can climb, crawl, and swing through the air.

However, If you want to do it all yourself, you can turn on Explorer Mode and disable visual cues for exploration. And of course, it’s a Star Wars game, so it has incredible Star Wars-themed music. That should go without saying.

Still, one thing I did notice on the PC version, is that the art seldom rendered in fully. It might be because of my graphics card but I doubt it (Nvidia RTX3070). The developers did state that they were aware of some visual issues, so I think this will be fixed with the full launch. I also have word that this wasn’t the case on consoles.

Even with that said, the visuals were great, there was no real slowdown or lag, and the graphics were gorgeous. It was very distracting in combat, sometimes. For example - I’d be in a gunfight on Tatooine with the sun setting on the horizon. You can’t help but bask in how beautiful it is - even when pirates are trying to murder you.

Final Thoughts

Whether dogfighting or sneaking, the Star Wars experience is legit (Image via Ubisoft)

Star Wars Outlaws is an incredibly fun game, with a gripping story that doesn’t let up. It has solid pacing, and most importantly, feels like a Star Wars story. For the most part, I adored every minute of this game - with one noteworthy exception. Main story missions put their checkpoints so far apart - so does virtually every lengthy mission.

I cannot tell you the number of times I’ve had to replay the same 15-20 minutes over again, because I took one step in the wrong directly, and about a dozen Stormtroopers or something spotted me.

It’s the only real, sincere complaint I have when it comes to the overall presentation and experience of Star Wars Outlaws. It was infuriating to think that despite making progress, I have to re-infiltrate a base, or completely redo an escape sequence. Other than that, the game itself was a genuine joy, and fans of the franchise should not be disappointed. Kay Vess is a fun, flawed character, just trying to find some peace in a galaxy that is on fire. From the story to the exploration, this game delivers.