Image: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
On June 10, Ubisoft held its annual Ubisoft Forward event as the final big event of Summer Game Fest 2024. The show was a bit subdued compared to past years, but we did get a huge look at Star Wars Outlaws, which is set to launch on August 30, 2024 on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
We dug through all the videos and trailers Ubisoft shared during and after the event and put together a list of some of the coolest (and weirdest) stuff we noticed.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Early on in Ubisoft’s big gameplay reveal, they show off an abilities screen that doesn’t feature the usual RPG-like skill trees we’ve come to expect from most open-world games. Instead, in Outlaws players will meet characters and complete missions and challenges to access new skills, like lockpicking.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Also seen early on is a nice look at the in-game map, and we can spot a few things. For starters, Mos Eisley and the surrounding area around the Tatooine port look big. Secondly, the map screen (and all the UI) in this game finds a nice balance between modern and classic Star Wars.
Gif: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Unlike Bethesda’s Starfield, exploring space and completing random missions in Outlaws seems pretty seamless. In the gameplay video, we see Kay walk out of a bar, into her ship, sit down in the cockpit, and take off into space without an obvious loading screen.
Later, we see Kay land on a Tatooine in a segment that looks canned (and is likely hiding a loading screen of some kind) but still looks more impressive and immersive than the menu-hopping I did in Starfield to get around the galaxy.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Something that really stood out to me in the gameplay shown by Ubisoft is just how all the various cities and ports we’ve seen feel like big, living spaces. NPCs are milling about, things are happening everywhere you look, and every corner feels packed with details and little touches. As a Star Wars sicko, I can easily see myself getting lost for hours exploring these places.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
It’s a little moment, but I love the idea that I can just sit down at a table in a random cantina in some back-alley bar in Outlaws and start playing space poker or whatever.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Bleh, I’m so tired of Tatooine. I admit that getting to explore Mos Eisley sounds neat, but I’ll be excited to poke my head around all the other locations in Outlaws later this year.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
At one point in the gameplay video, we see Kay zooming around Tatooine (ugh) on a speeder bike and I got the sense that the worlds in Outlaws are going to be massive.
The fact that the game lets you drive around that fast is impressive and seems to imply there will be plenty of big open spaces to explore outside the busy cities. Oh and yes, there are Jawas and Sandcrawlers in Outlaws and yes, you can interact with them.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
I know it’s a bit of an overused joke at this point, but at times Star Wars: Outlaws really does look like a hodgepodge of other Ubisoft games. At one point Kay uses binoculars to mark enemies and then sneak into a base using a climbing rope. Nix, Kay’s pet and partner, can be sent out to attack or distract enemies. Nix also seems to have a ping ability that lets you mark enemies through walls, sort of like Eagle Vision in Assassin’s Creed.
Later, she is spotted and fights her way out. It all reminded me a lot of the kind of stuff I’ve done in Far Cry or other Ubisoft games. But hey, if it ain’t broke…
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
While entering the base, Kay is able to use a stun option on her blaster to drop an enemy without killing him. We also see her knock out another person with her fists. Later, we spot Kay tasing a Death Trooper from behind. While I personally will be blasting every Strom Trooper I encounter, it’s nice that the game will let you decide just how deadly you want to be.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
Don’t worry, you’ll be able to encounter the galaxy’s most annoying Kowakian Monkey Lizard.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
The galaxy’s smoothest and coolest criminal, Lando, shows up in a different gameplay overview trailer from Ubisoft. This was teased a few days ago, but it’s always nice to see the suavest scoundrel in the universe.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
I already loved Nix, Kay’s awesome and adorable pet, when the creature was first shown in the game’s initial trailers back in June 2023. But now that Ubisoft has shown us more of Nix, I think my love for this alien has doubled.
Not only is Nix cute and perfect, but the creature can be used to distract enemies. At one point we even see Nix pretend to be dead in what might be one of the funniest animations I’ve seen in a video game trailer all year.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
A small thing I loved from Star Wars: Outlaws was a moment where Kay saves or kidnaps an alien head in a jar that talks to her in a weird accent. Look, I love Andor and the Mando TV show. The gritty and more adult spin on Star Wars is cool and appreciated. But I’m happy to see Outlaws leaning into “Weird Star Wars Stuff” which tends to be some of the most memorable and interesting content in the franchise.
Screenshot: Ubisoft / Lucasfilm / Kotaku
In the gameplay overview trailer for Outlaws, we see Kay fire up a big blaster with a shield and fire at a Stormtrooper hover carrier in the desert. But folks, this is Star Wars, so you know that random thing probably has a weird and deep history. And it does.
This is actually a design inspired by an old Kenner-produced Star Wars toy from the 1970s. For Star Wars: Rebels, the toy was updated and re-released and officially became a part of Star Wars canon in the process. And now it’s in one of the biggest video games of 2024. We live in a weird world.
Star Wars Outlaws is out on August 30, 2024, on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
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