Highlights
- Star Wars Outlaws feels like a game that Star Wars fans have been waiting for, with its thrilling and familiar gameplay reminiscent of The Mandalorian show.
- The desire for a Mandalorian game has diminished since the announcement of Outlaws, as it appears to offer similar elements and characters in a fresh Star Wars setting.
- Outlaws presents a new Star Wars story with promising characters and never-before-seen worlds, offering an intriguing and enjoyable experience in the expansive Star Wars universe.
Since its initial reveal, Star Wars Outlaws feels like the game Star Wars fans have long been yearning for. Traveling across the galaxy with a trusty droid and a loyal companion on your ‘borrowed’ ship, taking contracts from crime bosses scattered among the stars, finding yourself entangled in unexpected situations here and there, zipping around on speeder bike between settlements on vast planets while encountering intriguing characters with their own challenges along the way( not to mention the ever-present option to hop in your ship and make a hyperspace jump into the unknown).
It's thrilling and familiar at the same time. In fact, if I didn't mention ‘Outlaws,’ some might even mistake it for The Mandalorian show, one of the most universally beloved Star Wars projects of the past decade.
Ever since The Mandalorian debuted on Disney+ in November 2019, there has been much talk about how well-suited it is for a big-budget video game adaptation. Its episodic structure, with each chunk featuring a condensed adventure on a specific planet with its own unique set of challenges, quests, and characters, makes it a perfect fit for a game similar to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with its multiple kingdoms, but set in space. The Mandalorian offers a diverse range of experiences, blending exploration, action, dialogues, smaller contracts and important political missions, all wrapped around a larger personal central plot.
The desire for a Mandalorian game is evidenced by recent fan concept artworks, like The Mandalorian: Way of the Warrior, which have been generating quite a buzz online. However, since the announcement of Outlaws by Ubisoft this summer, the appeal of a Mandalorian game has somewhat waned. After all, why would we need another game in the Star Wars universe that appears similar but with a different cast of characters? What unique elements could a potential Mandalorian game bring to the audience that haven't already been teased by Outlaws?
Let's do a quick comparison. Instead of Din Djarin's ST-70 Razor Crest ship, Kay Vess pilots the brand-new EML-850 Trailblazer, a creation of Ubisoft designers inspired by 70s-style toys. While Mando always has Grogu (or Baby Yoda) by his side, Outlaws' ambitious scoundrel has an adorable merqual companion named Nix, who can even assist you in combat and other tasks.
The similarities do not end there: like the Mandalorian, Star Wars Outlaws seems to center around finding your place in the vast galaxy and forming connections with people you can call family, albeit without the exotic Mandalorian cultural references. It's a familiar premise with different faces and destinations, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I'm not suggesting that Outlaws is trying to copycat The Mandalorian's winning formula. It's only natural for a compelling Star Wars story to include these elements to truly resonate with the fans. Take the recent Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, for instance, where Cal Kestis travels alongside his droid BD-1 aboard the S-161 Stinger Mantis ship while striving to restore the fallen Jedi Order and stop the Empire. So the only question is: how will the developers of Outlaws approach and handle these classic story beats?
There's plenty of room for maneuver here. For starters, Outlaws presents a brand-new Star Wars setting, something we don't see too often these days. With its fresh lineup of promising characters, including the fan-favorite ND-5 droid, never-before-seen worlds like Toshara, and the potential exploration of a young mercenary's rise, Ubisoft Massive's new title stands out as one of the most intriguing projects of the coming year. Personally, I find it enjoyable to discover something new in the iconic and expansive universe of Star Wars without being bound to other established stories or characters, often inserted primarily for nostalgic purposes, like Darth Vader's cameo in Jedi: Fallen Order.
At first sight, Outlaws' Kay Vess comes across as a different kind of bounty hunter, just like Din Djarin from The Mandalorian. While the show occasionally features the protagonist taking on some head-hunting missions, he mostly embarks on personal quests across the galaxy. Outlaws seems to follow a similar pattern, with Kay Vess being a scoundrel who prefers pulling off thefts over chasing dangerous criminals. However, I'm confident that the developers won't pass up the chance to include bounty hunting questlines in the game, as it presents a great opportunity for thrilling open-world gameplay.
Hopefully, the game won't suffer from excessive bloat, a common concern with triple-A Ubisoft titles that the company finally seems to be addressing. The development team told IGN it's “absolutely not a 200 or 300 hour epic unfinishable RPG,” meaning we can probably approach Outlaws at our own pace.
But let's hold our horses for now. Ubisoft made similar promises prior to the release of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, and we all know how that turned out. Hopefully, the company has learned from that experience and won't stretch Outlaws endlessly to justify offering more playtime at the expense of game quality.
We still know very little about Star Wars Outlaws, and while the game may not ignite the same level of fan excitement as The Mandalorian did in 2019, if it stays true to its initial promise, it could become the perfect game to scratch that space bounty hunter itch, rendering a potential Mandalorian game needless.
I'll eagerly tune in for Mando's fourth season sometime in 2025, but I don't believe the stoic warrior-traveler needs to venture into gaming anytime soon.