WhenStar Wars Outlawslaunched in September, I quickly became a fan. I played for seven hours that first weekend, and was quickly impressed by its approach to building a believably Star Wars-y world withRed Dead Redemption 2-inspired open-world design.
But playing that much in a short period of time also gave me a crash course on some of the game’s bizarre design choices. I was a fan, but Icouldn’t stop writing articles about all the things that were wrong with it.
Here’s Another For Good Measure:
Stealth And Speeders Were Annoying, But Now They’re Fine
Along with many other players, I was annoyed with how stealth worked. When Outlaws launched, its stealth encounters had inconsistent rules. In some missions, you could go loud from the start and win the challenge on the strength of your firepower. In others, you would immediately fail if you were noticed, forcing you to perfectly nail the infiltration or risk an insta-fail.
This old-school choice distracted from the fact that, when it let you play your way, it was a fun stealth-action game in the mold ofHorizon Zero Dawn. I always enjoyed using my bow to sneakily snipe enemies in that game, and Outlaws managed a similar feeling. The problem was that not all of the challenges were that way and the insta-fail sections brought the whole game down a bit.
That’s gone now.Ubisoft has taken out the vast majority of insta-fail sectionsso now you can play all but a few scenarios without worrying that an extra second in a guard’s line of sight will spoil 30 minutes of hard work.
The game’s speeder was similarly fiddly. Not the actual controls, which were good, but the way it interacted with minor obstacles in the environment. I often sent Kay Vess flying through the air when I hit a toothpick-sized pole or ran over a rock that was slightly taller than the rest of the environment.
That’s gone now, too. Unless you run full speed into a cliff, the game’s physics are likely going to err in your favor. Instead of shooting you off into space for minor miscalculations, it feels like the game is on your side. Thanks to the change, I’m having way more fun driving around Tatooine, jumping gorges, and outrunning Krayt dragons.
Carrying Weapons Was Annoying, But Now It’s Fine
Outlaws has also tweaked how the weapons system works. I still have some quibbles — why do I need to press three buttons to chuck a grenade? — but one major annoyance has been resolved. In the launch version of the game, you could pick up enemy weapons but would drop them as soon as you needed to interact with anything else. Need to climb a ladder? Bye, gun. Need to clamber up a rock? Adios, blaster. Need to use a panel to open a door? Sayonara, sniper.
It was a bizarre choice andMassive has excised it from the game. Now, Obama voice if you like your weapon, you can keep it. Not indefinitely, mind you. You’ll need to drop it atsomepoint. But using it for the whole time you’re clearing an enemy encampment is now a viable strategy.
All of these changes add up toa Star Wars Outlaws that feels like what Massive always intended. Instead of fighting against the game over a bunch of small things, it feels like the game is working with you. The overall design was always doing that — like I said, I was a fan from the beginning — but the little immersion-breakers have been dealt with.
Games don’t get a second chance at a first impression, so many players are gone and will stay gone. But if you enjoyed Star Wars Outlaws but set it down to play something else, come on back. Give it a try. You might be surprised how good the game is now.
