Star Wars Outlaws open-world preview — It’s a big galaxy out there

One of the reasons we all love Star Wars is the grand scale behind it. Whether or not the moment focuses on it, you know there’s plenty happening across the stars. Star Wars Outlaws is taking us to another place in this great conflict, but this time centering around a young scoundrel, Kay Vess. After playing another four hours of it (our previous UbiForward preview here), Massive Entertainment’s bet on small looks like a good one, although the game itself is shaping up to be anything but.

This is because of the open-world being employed. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is kind of an open-world game, but with less freedom than most employ. On the other hand, Star Wars Outlaws is larger than life, with several planets to adventure through. During my preview session, I spent three hours on Toshara, a brand new planet designed for Outlaws, and Kijimi, the snowy planet from Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker.

The very first thing I noticed in this preview was the tone. Everything is wholly Star Wars, from the characters, to the art style, to the dialogue, to the sounds. And don’t even get me started on the music. We know Star Wars soundtracks are generally good, but Outlaws is absolutely perfect and sets the mood tremendously for the sci-fi adventure you’re about to embark upon. Will Roget, the lead composer, has nailed it.

How you’ll go about the open world exploration reminds me a lot of Assassin’s Creed. Kay moves decently quickly, in a way that’s different from Massive’s The Division. You won’t stick to cover either like those games, trading that for a more traditional “walk behind the chest high wall” type design. Also similar to Assassin’s Creed, there are stealth elements, meaning you can hide in the smoke of a vent or find some tall grass in order to either stay hidden, or break the line of sight with an enemy who got a glimpse of you. Thankfully, this means you can go back to being sneaky once you do so, although you might have to sabotage or turn off a Far Cry-like alarm.

I keep talking about the different games Outlaws is like, and that’s because it borrows them so well. The mechanics I’m seeing in motion don’t feel forced into the game or just a copy, but rather that they fit the world. Kay has a grappling hook like an Uncharted or Far Cry game, but it makes sense in the context it’s being used. Nothing new exists under the sun, but I’m happy to see the design choices being applied correctly, in a way that both works in the framework and does it without feeling like a blatant ripoff.

As I walked, sprinted, or sped around Toshara, the sense of scale was immense. Make no mistake, all of this hoopla about getting across a planet in five minutes is greatly exaggerated. You might make it through on a straight line in that kind of time, but that’s only if you ignore the magnificent scenery or the missions that will pop up along the way. Toshara’s design mimics that of the grassy African savannah, and it was amazing taking the speeder bike out for a ride and surveying the countryside. I can easily tell I’ll be searching every nook and cranny, along with taking a ton of pictures in photo mode.

It’s worth your time to explore as well, because while you will still get some question marks on your map or compass to uncover new tasks, some appear when you go off the beaten path. Many get annoyed at what has been dubbed “Ubisoft UI”, and rightly so with how overwhelming the UI has been in some of their games, but that’s not Outlaws from my initial impressions. The cadence and pace of the missions – along with the dialogue and storytelling – feel like they’re done right.

Something I’m glad to see the team leaning into is a narrative structure that has choice. I’m still not completely sure on the scope given the brevity of the preview, but it already has promise. The first main mission I played gave me the opportunity to steal information from the Pykes for Crimson Dawn. I’ll get more into the particulars of it in a moment, but at the end I found an additional file that had evidence that would be useful to either faction. I was left in a conundrum; do I give Crimson Dawn a leg up, or get a bit of a boost in reputation with the Pykes?

Your reputation is something you have to manage with each of the four factions we’ve seen so far. This will allow you access to their bases, cheaper prices at vendors, and more. The nice thing is it seems like you’ll have plenty of chances to influence the meter for reputation, so don’t worry too much about certain decisions. Leaning into how impactful reputation can be, I needed an ion module for a specific job I was trying to take, and because I gave the evidence to the Pykes, I was able to waltz into their facility. Sure, I had to figure out how to sneak into a storage room to steal the part without them noticing (which would probably harm my reputation), but it was certainly easier than going over to the Crimson Dawn HQ and having to avoid all contact entirely.

Speaking of sneaking around areas, the mission I referred to earlier made the Splinter Cell fan in me happy. Stealth isn’t something that’s too intensive, but it’s beneficial if you make the effort. The mission took place in the Pykes facility (BEFORE they liked me), and I squirmed through vents, sent Nix to distract alien thugs so I could walk by, and stunned or took down a few guards as I made my way to the computer with the info. I could have just run through in certain moments and gunned everyone down, but having options to my interactions and engagement is a treat I’ve been missing since Splinter Cell: Blacklist. This might not be a new Splinter Cell game, but the vibes I’m getting at least gives me a hit of the same dopamine. Also, there is an ultimate where you mark enemies before taking them out, just like the old Mark and Execute feature.

One place you’ll definitely have to sneak around: Imperial bases. Just like in Assassin’s Creed games, you’ll be trespassing once you enter the grounds of an enemy location. Similar to the Pyke mission, you’ll want to probe the defenses in order to find a way in, but even then you’ll have to stay on your toes. I ended up being seen while trying to locate the way into a tower where my objective was, and a hilarious firefight ensued where I took out much of a stormtrooper platoon. Unfortunately, this raised my wanted level quite a bit, to the point where Deathtroopers appeared on my radar. Thankfully, this preview didn’t have me encounter them, but I assume they’d be ransacking the Toshara landscape for me had it been enabled.

In the middle of these two sections, I traversed the stars again to replay the second mission I completed at UbiForward. To no surprise, the space navigation and combat is still awesome, and it’s clearly a focus for Massive. I did get a little more context on what is going on, and sneaking onto the Imperial starship was exhilarating. I’m definitely hoping to see more of this, because Imperial interior design is so eye-catching and iconic.

From here, it was on to Kijimi. This was another mission I’d had my hands on, but again with extra background as to why Kay was here. After stealing a relic for the Ashiga clan to boost my reputation with them – and in the process lower my reputation with Crimson Dawn – I had a little bit of fun running around the city spaceport. There are a lot of things to do here, but uncovering a Sabbac den was my personal choice.

Most will remember Sabacc as the game Han Solo played to win the Millenium Falcon. It’s here, but with rules I didn’t recognize, at least from my time playing it in real life with friends. Many games force little card games in as a time waster, but I think Massive has a good idea here to encourage you to drop a coin or two at the tables.

You won’t just be able to mess around and win every hand. The strategy involved will have you swapping cards and hoping for the best ones, along with paying attention to what your opponents are doing and playing perk tokens to give yourself an upper hand. There’s also no winning in the first round; you have to get everyone to play their hands and lose the money they have available.

One hilarious and terrific inclusion: you can have Nix creep up behind the other players to give you insight on their cards. You’ll have to be careful though, because failing a mini-game will cause them to be suspicious and possibly kick you from the card table for a while. The rewards for winning are money and cosmetics that are specific to that Sabacc den, so it’s worth your while to chase them all down.

Given I brought up Nix, I love not only how seamless his cute character is to the story, but also how interwoven to your success he is. Being able to use Nix to distract a guard, or to attack a Stormtrooper’s face while you beat another one up, or bring you a nearby weapon is a skill I rarely forgot was available. Nix is integral to this game, and truly a co-main character. I can’t wait to find out more about this cuddly creature when the game comes out.

Thankfully, you won’t have to wait much longer. Star Wars Outlaws releases on August 30th on Xbox Series consoles, PlayStation 5, and PC. You can pre-order it today to ready the hyperdrive.

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