Summary
Star Wars Outlawssurprised me in a lot of ways. Whileeveryone but the worst internet chudsseemed to be excited from the moment it was revealed, I had my reservations about the first open-worldStar Warsgame following the standardUbisoft formula popularised by Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.
From what I played, that template is something that Star Wars Outlaws manages to steer clear of as it instead carves its own exploration-heavy path. That helped to change my mind about Outlaws, but even that sudden change from likely skip to must-playwasn’t the thing that stood out the most in my preview.
That honour goes to Star Wars Outlaws’ slicing and lockpicking minigames, which you’re going to run into alotas you work towards Kay Vess’ big heist. Pretty much every mission I played during my preview had one or the other, and sometimes several instances of both. While my tactics-hating brain would usually start to go numb at that idea, I quickly found myself looking forward to running into them.
Outlaws' Lockpicking Is Basically A Mini Rhythm Game
The first access minigame you’re likely to come across in Outlaws is its version of lockpicking, which is referred to as Data Spiking.Whereas most games just copy Bethesda’s way of doing thingsby having you position a lock and wait for a rumble and click, Outlaws’ take is a more interesting rhythm game.
Kay hides her data spike by using it as a hair clip, which is an excellent character detail.
Once you find a vent or door you need to get into, Kay is presented with a datapad that rhythmically chirps, beeps, and spins at her. Initially I had no idea what to do, but I eventually figured out that you’re supposed to press the button at the same time as the beeps and flashes to break the lock, ignoring the pointless spinning. That might sound simple, but there’s a very slim margin of error, which made me wish for a skip puzzle button on my first few tries.
I’m glad I didn’t though, as the feeling of getting the pattern down is far more satisfying than when cracking an expert lock inFalloutorSkyrim. Rather than making me dread going stealthy and trying to sneak my way into situations, it was so satisfying to figure out each rhythmic lock that I actively tried to take the non-violent approach at all times. Which is saying a lot, because I’m an all-fists blazing kind of guy.
It’s a good thing that I liked the lockpicking minigame, as there were several occasions during my preview where it felt like it was mandatory to progress. I’m sure there are some more violent ways to proceed that I missed in keeping with the stealthy scoundrel vibes that Outlaws is pushing you towards, but picking locks was crucial to my preview playthrough.
Hacking Like A Space-Bound Adam Jensen
Outlaws’ second minigame is just as vital. When Kay’s not trying to break into locked areas, she’s trying to get access to computers by hacking them. This, of course, is achieved with another minigame that’s similar to the ones found inDeus Ex: Human Revolution.
Instead of trying to time button presses to a beat, the hacking minigame sees Kay trying to line up Star Wars symbols in a specific order. It starts off as guesswork, but as you choose symbols, you’re given clues as to where they go, with some turning yellow to indicate they’re in the right spot and others going blue to show they’re used but not in the correct order. It’s galactic Wordle.
The strange Star Wars symbols can be swapped out for numbers if you so wish, but I found it actually made more sense as it was. I’m more of a visual learner, I suppose.
If I’m completely honest, the first time I tried out this minigame (which was for a mandatory story mission), I had no idea what I was supposed to do and mostly button-mashed my way through. That eventually worked, suggesting they’re not supposed to be overly difficult or involved, but I took the time to learn it for later puzzles and found them to be great brain teasers.
I definitely preferred the lockpicking game for its rhythmic influences, but both minigames offered a nice change of pace to the sneaking and shooting that I thought Outlaws would be overly stuffed with. Beyond that, they’re representative of what really stood out to me during my time with the game -how different it feels to Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor.
In Cal’s adventures, all of the puzzles involved platforming or using the force in some way, but Kay’s Lightsaber-less heists force her to be more down to Earth (or Toshara, whatever). It’s something we rarely see from a series where everything can be blasted or cut through, but it fits Kay’s situation as a non-Force user perfectly.
Kay isn’t the ultra-powerful Jedi that Cal is, so it makes a lot more sense that her gameplay is focused more on stealth and, as a last resort, gunfire. That makes hacking and picking locks a key part of the scoundrel experience that Outlaws is selling - it’s just the cherry on top that they’re both so entertaining.
