Star Wars Outlaws PC Review

Star Wars Outlaws is finally here, and the game is set between the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

You play as Kay Vess, initially a thief and a freelancer trying to survive in whatever way possible trying to secure her freedom as she tries to pull off the greatest heists the galaxy has ever seen.

Kay, along with her pet companion, Nix, must free herself from the bounty that follows her while hurdling through different worlds and gangs using her speeder and also piloting her starship, the Trailblazer.

Just like any other Ubisoft games, players have the freedom to do their quests however they want and there are plenty of things to do here.

The gunplay in Outlaws is something very basic and there is nothing more to it than that. You will be using a blaster most of the time which has its own unique upgrades and unlockable which can be upgraded with materials acquired through the usual fetch quests and the surroundings.

Even though the game has multiple weapons, Kay cannot carry it with her all the time in her inventory, instead can only equip it temporarily to fight the enemies and since it has low ammo, it needs to be dropped in order to continue forward. Though, you can pick up more along the way and continue alongside your handy blaster.

Kay can melee enemies which is super powerful from the early game itself as run and gun or run and melee seems a better option than just being stealth and helps to fetch quests quite faster.

The speeder that Kay uses can be upgraded in between quests which helps her to drive even in shallow water and lakes giving access to newer areas to loot and explore.

The graphics in outlaws is pretty solid. There is a lot of detailing to everything surrounding Kay especially the settlements and characters. There are different worlds through which players are going to jump using the jump drive found in the trailblazer and each world has its own unique look and feel to it which helps diversify the galaxy.

Breaking into the Empire’s base and killing enemies there raises wanted level. Based on these levels, the enemies will try to arrest you or eliminate you and there are different ways to remove this ranging from bribing empire officials to just keeping a low profile or hiding somewhere for some time till the search stops.

Kay has a grappling hook always on her to traverse to the other side with ease or reach higher ground which helps in stealth sections as well.

The usual problem of lip-syncing is still present here like other Ubisoft games which breaks the immersive experience you get while moving through your speeder and glancing in the environment only to find out the NPCs around you and what they do are soul-less and lacks depth in character.

Despite these flaws, Outlaws is entertaining and fun. The platforming is very basic which resembles other action-adventure games of climbing fences to reach new heights and there is no complicated puzzling involved here which is very sad. Underground areas exist which could have been better with its own aura and nature except it does so little to entertain players.

Only thing outlaws has going for it in terms of look and feel is the detailing. From the textures on the ships, facilities and underground areas to the wilderness and the outside environment, all have details. Everything you will see will be nicely detailed in the PC version of the game.

There are also arcade machines present on some settlements which is nice alongside the usual betting areas which can help kay make some more credits.

Performance with DLSS on and set to balanced on my RTX 4080 gave me around 100-140 fps depending on where I was and there weren’t any major bugs or performance loss anywhere which is a huge plus for Ubisoft. Even mid-tier cards would be able to provide decent fps with DLSS turned on no problem.

As you progress, you will be greeted by the four different clans which would co-exist with each other having their separate base of operations throughout the galaxy. Finishing quests/jobs for them will improve your reputation towards their clan and going against them would diminish the same thus limiting your access to their areas for stashes/loot.

All this can be mitigated since game is very easy and you have tunnel outlets everywhere which can help you maneuver to even the strongest areas easily.

Outlaws also gives player the freedom of choice at the end of every quest, but it doesn’t do much when it comes to a major overhaul due to the taken path of giving or not giving a certain item to someone.

Your pet companion, Nix, is very useful in the game as it can pass through obstacles helping Kay open doors and vents or even loot people without them knowing or distract them which helps make stealth easy and viable almost in every quest.

Lock-picking is also present which can be used to open locked treasure chests which grant upgrade materials, some of the hidden ones often give out superior materials which can only be achieved from certain vendors.

Fusion cutter and slicing kit will help kay progress further into the story and grants access to hidden areas as well to find better treasures which normal data spikes cannot do. Slicing is also required to unlock doors/ steal data on enemy bases.

Finishing quests grants you credits which can be used to upgrade weapons and cosmetics. Some wears grant special abilities including additional healing slots and health regeneration overtime which can be found from certain vendors and side-quests.

Helping vendors or doing them favors will grant Kay discounts ranging from 10%- 50% while buying items which can help buying materials easily and at a fast pace.

When you are far out in the galaxy and in between worlds, you can fight using your trailblazer using cannons and rockets while safeguarding yourself from enemy fire using your shields. All of these are upgradable and can be done so via the ship vendor available on the landing pad.

When you destroy enemy ships outside, you can get close to them and collect materials, you can also collect such materials from de-commissioned ships and vessels which has been destroyed in battles and are scattered throughout the galaxy.

Bounties are available for Kay to collect and can be found in every settlement. Bounties pay the most credits and can be helpful in securing higher materials later in the game. These bounties will vary according to the reputation that Kay has among the four different clans.

The HUD, UI and Map followers Ubisoft last game Avatar’s footsteps and have been finetuned for Outlaws. It also shows you where you can find specific parts for items you are trying to upgrade/create which is neat.

The soundtrack here is pretty good ranging from underground music on the gambling areas to exotic and lushy ones while on the outer areas providing a wider selection of music everywhere you go.

Thanks to Ubisoft India for sending us the game code for the review

Buy: Here