Star Wars Outlaws Takes Risks, But Falls Short of Being Truly Bold

Star Wars Outlaws Takes Risks, But Falls Short of Being Truly Bold

Ubisoft has unveiled the premiere trailer for Star Wars Outlaws on June 11, which has enchanted fans. Although the upcoming open-world game is breaking new ground, it’s not quite as novel as it could be. This newest entry into the massive catalog of Star Wars video games promises a fun romp across a galaxy far, far away with the new perspective of a gun-for-hire outlaw. While this promises to be a departure from the typical Jedi- and Sith-centered stories Star Wars usually relishes in, the game needs to do something different with its settings to stand out.

One of the prominent worlds featured in the Star Wars Outlaws content seen so far is the series staple, Tatooine. This crime-ridden desert planet is more of a nail than a staple, relied upon for countless Star Wars stories. If the game wants to set itself apart from the pack and truly surprise players, it’s going to have to move things away from the series’ classic hive of scum and villainy.

Ubisoft’s take on a sub-legal adventure in the Star Wars universe is a bold new vision, but it needs to go beyond what players will expect to succeed. Without any of the trailer content for context, it’s reasonable to assume any Star Wars game with the subtitle Outlaws would involve the planet Tatooine. It’s been showcased as a hub for criminal activity from the very beginning of the franchise, when it appeared as Luke’s impoverished homeworld in A New Hope. It featured again in Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, and much more. Fans know it’s a crime hotspot, and Star Wars Outlaws needs to go beyond this to bring players to exciting new locations for story and side content.

As Twitter user The Paladin Journal points out, Tatooine has become even more prominent in Star Wars content with the newest additions to the series by Disney. Early footage for Star Wars Outlaws picture main character Kay Vess on Tatooine alongside a few other scenes depicting the desert planet. The combat and speeder bike traversal seen in the gameplay demonstration is admittedly flashy, but even the gameplay’s novelty isn’t enough to make Tatooine fresh. There are plenty of other iconic Star Wars planets the game could dazzle players with, and luckily it is confirmed that players will travel to a variety of other planets, including Kijimi, a frozen planet with a cliff-side city.

The list of worlds Outlaws could visit is extensive, considering the full range of Star Wars’ canon locales. There are iconic locations from the movies like the forest moon of Endor or molten Mustafar, and even new planets added by extended series Andor, like Ferrix in the Free Trade Sector. There is such a wide breadth of environments a renegade like Kay Vess might visit, smuggling, stealing, and sabotaging for credits. The success of the bold, morally gray Star Wars Outlaws depends on Ubisoft’s ability to surpass tired expectations like the old story of lawbreakers on Tatooine.

2023-06-15 13:00:05
Original from screenrant.com

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