Summary
Going into myStar Wars Outlawspreview, I was nowhere near as excited as a lifelong fan of a galaxy, far, far away should have been. I’ve been more burnt out withStar Warsthan Anakin on Mustafar since The Rise of Skywalker, but the bigger problem is that the past two console generations have given me major open-world RPG fatigue.
I used to adore exploring expansive maps and slowly building up my character, but it feels like no matter where you turn in the genre, there’s an avalanche of skill trees, XP, crafting mechanics, pointless incremental stat boosts, map-revealing towers to climb, and endless question marks dotting the landscape that I’ll never have the time to check out.
That template clearly works, or we wouldn’t have seen it in so many games, but I feel completely done with it. Seeing how Ubisoft kickstarted that trend with the likes ofFar CryandAssassin’s Creed, the idea of it handling the first open-world Star Wars game put my brain to sleep before I ever got my hands on it.
Outlaws Isn’t What You’re Expecting From Ubisoft
While Star Wars Outlaws does contain several of the things I mentioned above, it steers away from the tropes in key areas.As great as it is to explore freely without having to shimmy up a radio tower, the most refreshing change that Outlaws makes is how it handles levelling up, XP, and skill trees.
I say ‘change’ but what I really mean is ‘remove’.There are no levels or XP to worry about in Outlaws, with Kay’s progression instead handled through optional missions given by “Experts”, who are marked down as rumours for the player to investigate. Completing them gives Kay new skills tied to that character, such as a Speeder Expert who unlocks new weapons for her ride or a brawler who teaches her hand-to-hand attacks.
These Expert missions were the thing I was most curious aboutgoing into my recent hands-on preview with Star Wars Outlaws, so as soon as I’d broken away from the main path, I made it my main priority. I was presented with two Experts to follow up on in Toshara, the aforementioned Speeder master and a hacking whiz.
The Speeder master is interestingly enough a Jawa, who asks Kay to venture into a dead Sarlaac’s mouth.
Becoming A Hacking Expert
Considering Outlaws’ focus on the seedy underbelly of Star Wars, I figured that the hacking mission would be a more interesting get. To kick things off, Kay headed to Mirogana’s Cantina and overheard someone talking about a renowned hacker who might be able to teach her some tricks of the trade.
After sneaking my way into the Crimson Dawn base and finding out the hacker’s location, I sped across Toshara towards an Imp (that’s Outlaws speak for Imperial Empire) radio tower and was tasked with stealing a code sequence from a technician. I’m sure I could have done this more skillfully, but as someone just jumping into the game, I decided an all-out firefight was the way to go.
As I shared in my preview, gunfights aren’t the main focus of Outlaws, as stealth takes a priority. It’s basically Watch Dogs 2 in space.
That approach didn’t go too well for me as the Imps rained down blasters on Kay and Nix, but one embarrassing death and a respawn later and I was on my way to the real core of the mission, which took place in one of the Empire’s bases. While in one of the most dangerous places I’d seen during my time with Outlaws, Kay had to sneak around and find the expert hacker, who had locked themselves somewhere in the base.
Outlaws' Side Quests Are Well-Worth Doing
Expert missions feel like Outlaws’ equivalent to proper side quests, so I half expected the mission to end once I’d reached the hacker, but things were only just getting started. Kay was given a new tool that let her override turrets to cause a distraction and let the pair escape, which I just about managed before being run down by an AT-ST and learning a harsh lesson about how brutal Outlaws’ Wanted system is.
Completing that mission not only gave me a bit more experience in how to deal with the Empire, but it also gave Kay a brand-new hacking skill to add to her repertoire. As you complete more missions for each Expert (which presumably get tougher and tougher) the rewards you receive are also more valuable, so even though the first skill I unlocked wasn’t that memorable, it paves the way for Kay to become a scoundrel so good she’d make Han Solo jealous.
I only had enough time to try out one Expert mission and didn’t get the chance to use the new skill I learned, but it was still far more exciting and involved than I expected it to be. These are side quests that can rival something you’d see inRed Dead Redemption 2orThe Witcher 3.
Beyond just being a great distraction, the real reason the Expert mission stood out so much for me is that it acted as a much-needed refresh for the open-world RPG genre. Most side quests just give out some random loot and a healthy helping of XP that the player then chucks into whatever they want, but by giving a more meaningful reward I was instantly more inclined to see it through to the end and pursue each Expert as far as I could.
The hacking mission I played was just one small part of the overall questline and offered arguably the least interesting reward out of the ones I could have pursued, but it was still enough for me to say that Expert missions are one of the most exciting parts of Star Wars Outlaws.
