Star Wars Outlaws (2024)

How to do quest givers and quest events well without quest icons: Dragons Dogma 2.

How to do quest givers and quest events poorly without quest icons: Star Wars Outlaws

I’ve been looking for Intel on the “Missing Brother” for at least a half about now, but the search area is half the size of Mos Eisley, which is itself a maze, and I can’t find whomever I’m supposed to be talking with because you don’t know someone is a quest giver/milestone until you get close enough that a tiny white dot appears in front of them. And three-quarters of the time, they are just unrelated quest givers. Ugh 😩

I found three different people who will talk to me about him, but none of them are the correct person. I guess it’s guide time 😞

Ubisoft Is Fixing Those Early, Annoying Star Wars Outlaws Stealth Missions

I'm curious which missions people are referring. The article makes reference to an early mission in Mirogana, and the only two I can think of are the first time you sneak into the Pike area and then another when you sneak into the Crimson Dawn area. Neither felt particularly hard, nor punishing, so I'm curious if I'm forgetting something.

You know, after quite a number of hours put into this, I think this might be the least buggy Ubisoft title at launch that I’ve played in over a decade. I know I briefly complained about a bug early in my playthrough, but I really haven’t encountered any others. It’s really polished, mechanically and graphically. No inside-out faces, no missing heads. No bouncing off walls or getting stuck on the terrain (except that one clipping issue which hasn’t reared its head again).

I don’t know if this is because it was made by Massive, or if it’s because the Snowdrop engine is technically robust, it’s just been really solid so far. There are a few graphical issues that Digital Foundry pointed out, like the fact that RTX Direct Lighting doesn’t really work properly and tanks performance (which is and Nvidia problem, not an Ubisoft/Massive problem and can be resolved by not utilizing it) or that there can be some minor frame-rate dips under certain conditions, but it’s performed quite smoothly to my eye on my machine. I think the console versions have it a little rougher, but I’ve heard it performs fairly well there too. Regardless, for how detailed and visually rich this game is it’s amazing it’s not constantly bugging out or bursting from the seams.

I’ve also had a blast with stealth, which I’ve seen more than a handful of reviewers complain about, and it leaves me wondering if they didn’t play wearing the Crimson Dawn outfit that reduces detection. I’m playing this like I play an AC game: I throw the stealth gear on immediately and never take it off 😂

Just lost a round of Sabacc to someone with two sixes, despite having two threes. Nothing in the rules explains why I would lose despite having a better hand.

Why do open world games always include tedious tabletop games? Aside from Queen’s Blood in FFVII Rebirth I’ve rarely encountered one that is fun enough that I could imagine myself playing the game in actual tabletop form.

Confirmation that this is definitely an Ubisoft game:

Losing 30-40 minutes of progress after you somehow clip through a nearby surface when you were tagging enemies with your binoculars and have to reload (Star Wars Outlaws doesn't autosave, nor allow manual saves while in a restricted area) is annoying. Having it happen again 30-40 minutes later, putting you back at square one, is unforgivable.

Got my hands on temporary (and crucially unpaid for) access to Ubisoft+, so I’ve decided to check out Star Wars Outlaws and spent a few hours in-world so far. Bear in mind that the following represents my initial impressions.

It’s definitely a very good looking Star Wars game, with gorgeous locals that range from familiar interior ship and building aesthetics to stunning vistas. And the Snowdrop engine is impressive, because I haven’t experienced a single stutter or drop frame in the open world despite staggering draw-distances and mind-boggling levels of environmental detail, all with ray-tracing set to ultra.

But it’s also a very bare bones Ubisoft experience, with not a lot of real substance beyond a conventional story set in an enjoyable recreation of a beloved fantasy sci-fi universe. I think it will resonate with anyone who enjoys Star Wars and wants to enjoy a low stakes blockbuster AAA experience, but I don’t think anyone who wants a Star Wars game to break new ground or to give them truly novel interactive experiences in a Star Wars setting will be particularly blown away. What Outlaws brings to the table is quality nostalgia for anyone who wants a straightforward scoundrel power fantasy that is a fairly welcome break from all the Jedi business.

If you’re the kind of person who just wants more Star Wars content, you’ll probably be pretty happy. But if you’ve played other open world games that try to challenge player expectations to curate a strong artistic and gameplay design vision (games from 2024 like Dragon’s Dogma 2 come to mind) you might find that Star Wars Outlaws feels very safe and familiar. That doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable, you’re just not in for any big design surprises.