Ubisoft
The Star Wars video plot universe is expanding once again . Set to release on August 30,Star Wars Outlawsis Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment ’s take on a raw eccentric of Star Wars game . It ’s a traditional Ubisoft open - world plot with shades of Uncharted layered in between its sci - fi action . More crucially , it ’s telling a amply unique story in the Star Wars universe . It ’s exculpated where its inspirations draw from for better , and certainly , for bad .
place between the events ofThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi , Outlawsfollows primary friend Kay Vess , an outlaw villain embarking on a series of quests to make it in this cutthroat galaxy . It ’s a strong concept , let players live out their lives as more of a Han Solo figure rather of a Jedi . But after a recent hands - on demonstration withOutlaws , I ’m not sure that the potency is paying off just yet .
Not-so-uncharted territory
Clearly drawing brainchild from theUncharted video game serieswith its climbing , gunplay , and quippy character , Outlawsfeels a piece like a souvenir of the yesteryear . Granted , it ’s hard to get a sense of a secret plan like this in one posing . This could just be a difficult plot to show a small perpendicular slice of when the large picture could be more interesting . However , the three sections I play left me want more .
The first section go through Kay and her trusty foreign companion Nix working their way through a broken - down reactor . I walked from way to board as the floor fell out from under me . Yellow grates show me where to climb , and I slowly made my way to the bottom of a massive yap to turn the generator back on . After turning it on , Kay remark that she would involve to climb back up to get what she came here for . After more climbing , I finally extend to the room , go to grab the mysterious item postulate , and two guards bust down the door , entering me into a stealth segment .
As I sneak around box , hitting X to criticize the guards out , I could n’t serve but feel likeOutlawsfelt a bit antiquated . I ’ve done and see mission like this countless time before , but this clock time it has a new bright Star Wars skin on it . It all culminate in a climactic Salmon Portland Chase through the areas I just traversed with the walls crumbling around me , narrowly elude death each time . I hop on a speeder bike , and the demo faded to black . It was a fine but softened scratch line .
The other two demos focused a bit more on scrap , which has Kay switch between the two mode on her chargeman . The ion shot lets you overheat droids and open switches , while the standard module is your typical red optical maser used to carry off anything in front of you . You ’ll be able to customise and elevate your blaster throughout the plot , but I did n’t see much of that in the preview .
Outlawsfocuses a muckle on stealth , but I never felt I had enough tools to succeed in the situation . One wrong move , and the rest of the level became a firefight through minor bowl . I ordinarily had to take natural covering , shoot my chargeman , and work my way through the older - fashioned way .
There’s still hope
WhereOutlawsshines is in its cities , towns , and small town . While I only take a coup d’oeil of the larger world it looks to limn , each area I see was hustle with street vendors , alien race , and the general vibes that make Star Wars so popular . It ’s severe to beguile the sum of the cock-a-hoop picture in a demo , but I thinkOutlawscould go above and beyond . Telling the story of a scoundrel strain to make it alternatively of a larger - than - life Jedi lets the story take a breather and not have to tally into the grander tale of affecting the canyon .
The last section of my demo showed off some of the space fight and hand me a good horse sense of the weighing machine Massive Entertainment is looking at . There was n’t a freight screenland between proscribed space and the planet ’s control surface , and that ’s an telling feat . for certain , some foggy atmospheric condition was used to cleverly dissemble a load , but it did n’t hard foreshorten or snap off the sensory faculty of throwing on your ship ’s boosters and total in hot onto the aerofoil . I had multiple options for where I could land , showing that a major planet does n’t just sport one location , but a collecting of many .
Despite birth qualification about its disappointingly safe action - adventure formula , I walked out of my demo with some hope . I ’m affirmative thatStar Wars Outlawscan cut through a ocean of media with a more inner story , rather than another howling adventure with tremendous interest . If it can keep that momentum up , I suppose I ’ll have an gentle sentence pad through any rough patches .
Star Wars Outlawslaunches on August 30 on PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X / S , and PC .
