Star Wars Outlaws: Official Story Trailer reaction
Ubisoft has revealed the first look at the story for the upcoming video game ‘Star Wars: Outlaws,’ teasing the missions’ players will be embarking on, and showing how they will be taking on the criminal underworld. It’s something that looks like fun, though not hugely exciting. The story teases the story that’s core to ‘Star Wars’ with a down-on-their-luck nobody who gets a chance to prove themselves, but so far that’s all there is.
The main antagonist starts off the trailer, Sliro, head of the new criminal syndicate Zerek Besh, addressing representatives from major crime syndicates from ‘Star Wars,’ Crimson Dawn, the Pykes, and the Hutts, which is amazing to see these all in the game. He speaks of cooperation while the Empire is busy fighting the Rebellion, which is standard setup.
It shifts to the protagonist Kay Vess learning that in an early job, she crossed Sliro, who is now sending elite bounty Vail after her. But this eliteness isn’t very convincing, especially as the butch Commando Droid ND5 shoves her in a later scene. This is probably why they avoided using Boba Fett, though he still might make a cameo.
Vess is told to rob Sliro’s fortune to buy her freedom, but for this she’ll need to work her way up the criminal reputation ladder, pulling in support from all the other crime factions. This leans into what the game is all about, which is managing support with the criminal syndicates in a way that benefits the player. It’s a fascinating system if it can be pulled off, and it’s great this links into the narrative.
The Empire will be a major thorn in the player’s side during all of this, potentially acting like the cops, which could be a great use of them. They aren’t the direct enemy like in most instances, but more of a nuisance. Players will be able to fight the typical Imperial arsenal, though hopefully there will be some new Imperial units to fight.
Both Sliro and Vess are from the city of Canto Bight, and Kijimi will be present in the game. These planets were introduced in the sequel trilogy so remain an untapped potential to explore, which makes them great locations to visit. It enables the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy to continue to develop. Of course, staples like Tatooine will be present, and audiences get an exciting tease of a Krayt Dragon fight.
Graphically, this isn’t much of a looker. Facial animations in particular are wooden, and the quality is a noticeable downgrade. It’s hard to know if this is just a poor trailer or if it’s representative of the game’s quality, but it’s not selling it well either way.
It’s hard to escape the notion that Kay is, at this point, nothing more than a Han Solo clone, with a familiar origin. From a story perspective, that does make it safe and unoriginal, though, on the other hand, it does allow players to live out their ‘Star Wars’ criminal underworld fantasies without having to worry about canon, which does count for quite a bit in a game.
Audiences won’t have to wait long to find out, as ‘Star Wars: Outlaws’ will be released on August 30.
