Summary
Over the years,Ubisofthas managed to develop a reputation for its open world games, and whether you love them or hate them, you tend to know what you’re getting when the publisher announces a new game, regardless of the franchise. Big towers to climb, lots of markers on a map, and skill trees out the wazoo have been Ubisoft’s bread and butter these past few years, butStar Wars Outlawsis trying to set itself apart.
This is according to creative director Julian Gerighty, who explained in a recent interview withGamesindustry.biz(thanksGamesRadar) that the team behind Star Wars Outlaws is “hyper conscious” of Ubisoft’s typical approach to open world games. Unlike the developers of Ubisoft’s other open world offerings, Star Wars Outlaws' developer is Massive Entertainment, and while it’s still owned by the publisher, it isn’t considered as one of Ubisoft’s “in-house” studios.
Gerighty goes on to explain that Massive Entertainment is separated enough from Ubisoft, and has been through many different experiences, that fans shouldn’t be concerned about Star Wars Outlaws feeling too similar to the likes of Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. He even says that “Star Wars itself” gave the team ideas for different ways of doing things.
“Massive has always been different. The Division and The Division 2 were different. Originally, Massive was an independent studio, then an Activision studio, so it has always thought very differently. The DNA of Massive is quite unique from Ubisoft.”
Star Wars Outlaws Is Already Sounding Like A Very Different Open World Ubisoft Game
From what we can gather from videos and interviews about Star Wars Outlaws so far, we can already tell that it’s bucking several trends that have featured in Ubisoft games for several years. For starters, it sounds as though Star Wars Outlaws will be going for quality over quantity, as it was recently revealed thatplayers will be able to get across an entire planet’s map with a Speeder in just a handful of minutes.
We also know thatStar Wars Outlaws is going for a much more Dungeons & Dragons-inspired method of leveling up, having players visit experts across the galaxy to grow more powerful along with the story,instead of your standard XP gains. It’sa more narrative-driven approach to character progression, and it will definitely set Star Wars Outlaws apart from the rest of Ubisoft’s offerings. Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed there are no radio towers.
