Star Wars Outlaws is out in less than a month, on August 30.
And although reactions to June previews of the Star Wars game were less than positive, there is good news.
Another final round of previews has been held and this one has resulted in a much better outlook for what we were hoping to be a title to rival Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
One repeated, eyebrow-raising Star Wars Outlaws observation from critics in these latest previews, based on a five-hour chunk of play, is that Outlaws has some of the same feel as Red Dead Redemption.
Some see the latest epic from far far away as much a western as a sci-fi space game.
Star Wars Outlaws is also a large open-world adventure, a staple of the game’s publisher, Ubisoft - the company behind Assassin's Creed Valhalla and Far Cry.
The producer’s games in this style are frequently criticised for their tendency to boil down to a massive map full of mostly meaningless quests.
While the previews for Outlaws didn’t have the time to fill a world map with quest markers, some also compared it to the feel of previous Ubisoft games.
There have also been complaints of bugs slowing the game down.
We’ve read through a bunch of the Star Wars Outlaws previews and here are some of the best bits.
What have Star Wars Outlaws previews been saying?
IGN says Outlaws “feels very Star Wars in all the right ways”.
“The blaster battles felt like they had meaningful stakes, and the stealth gameplay had a bit of weight to it because I knew that I’d be up against it if I messed up,” IGN’s preview reads.
It doesn’t sound like IGN is going to give the game a masterpiece-level score later this month, but the conclusion is roundly positive.
"Since there’s somehow never been an open-world Star Wars game before, it feels new, fresh, and most welcome. I’m glad this is arguably the first big-name game out this [autumn] on August 30, because I can’t wait to play more of it.”
GamesRadar was one of the publications that compared Outlaws to Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption.
“I found myself feeling like I'd returned to the Wild West deserts of the original Red Dead Redemption,” it says.
Its preview also digs into some of the fundamentals of the gameplay dynamics, how everyday quests will affect your standing with gangs or factions.
“It's the loop you'll see throughout Star Wars Outlaws. You'll find a mission to be done, a number of ways to accomplish it, a few factions who'll take note - positively or negatively - of your accomplishments, and a reward for seeing it through,” writes GamesRadar.
And the conclusion? “I'll need a lot more time with Outlaws to know how it measures up against incredible games like Red Dead Redemption and Ghost of Tsushima, but the fact that it's reminding me so strongly of them is a good thing indeed.”
That Ghost of Tsushima mention refers to the game director claiming it was the key inspiration for Star Wars Outlaws.
PC Gamer’s preview had more criticisms to level at the game than most, and predicts “it probably isn't going to make a clean landing. I tripped over a few annoying bugs in my demo”.
The preview also notes “there's an unmistakable sluggishness to the action—like Uncharted playing back at half speed”.
However, the take is still roundly positive. “When it all comes together, I'm having a really good time,” the preview reads.
And that happens when the stealth and open-world mechanics work properly.
“One pleasant surprise of my extended time with Star Wars Outlaws was discovering how much of a stealth game it is. Yes, you can blast your way through most encounters, but I spent my demo ghosting past Stormtroopers, triggering distractions, and knocking out the occasional gangster.
“I played nearly five hours of Outlaws, and a good chunk of that time was spent chatting up NPCs, taking on side jobs from factions that all hate each other, and full-sending Kay's speeder off the biggest rock ramps I could find on Toshara, a planet of deep canyons and desert brush where the opening hours take place.”
DigitalTrends also compared Star Wars Outlaws to Red Dead Redemption.
“At its highest points, it feels like Ubisoft’s Massive Entertainment is using Star Wars Outlaws to deliver a sci-fi answer to Red Dead Redemption,” its preview reads.
That comparison is more about flavour than gameplay, though, and DigitalTrends didn’t like the parts of Star Wars Outlaws that feel limited and constrained. It’s at its best when making use of its open-world scope.
“If the Star Wars smuggler fantasy and open-world mechanics appeal to you, Star Wars Outlaws looks as though it delivers that swimmingly,” it says.
“There’s a fairly linear story path for players to follow, but there’s also room to craft more personal, emergent stories within the game’s sandbox.”
Eurogamer’s preview may be worrying for those sick and tired of the Ubisoft formula. It says Star Wars Outlaws has those vibes, though doesn’t say it’s necessarily a negative this time.
“It's all so predictable if you've played more than a handful of Ubisoft games before but, at the same time, I found myself getting pretty into it all,” says Eurogamer. “It felt like getting a comfy pair of Star Wars brand slippers for Christmas.”
The message from Eurogamer is don’t come to Outlaws expecting anything too revolutionary and you may go away happy.
“It's not quite the Star Wars GTA that a lot of people were hoping for, but if you're after a familiar, inoffensive bit of Star Wars, I don't think this one will miss the mark.”
Gamespot talks about stealth a lot. It says Star Wars Outlaws is “a stealth game, where combat is best avoided and shooting your way out of a situation is a scrambling, desperate affair that doesn't often end well.”
You don’t have a lightsaber in Outlaws (not in the demo part anyway), and your character can’t take too many hits before being killed by the often sharpshooter-level enemies.
“It's pretty clear that Outlaws doesn't generally want you to get into straight fights where you're outnumbered and instead takes a more realistic approach to what these gunfights would be like,” says Gamespot.
But it’s not all stealthing.
“Another major part of Outlaws' gameplay, especially when sneaking through locations such as this, is the kind of environmental climbing puzzles you'd find in something like the Uncharted games or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.”
