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Star Wars Outlaws showcases its scum and villainy in gameplay debut

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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Today’s Ubisoft Forward closed out with a whopping 10 minutes of gameplay footage for the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws, only a day after its debut trailer was released at this summer’s Xbox Games Showcase. You can view the entire gameplay video directly below, but we’re also breaking it down for you.

Star Wars Outlaws: Official Gameplay Walkthrough | Ubisoft Forward

For longtime Star Wars fans, there’s a lot to unpack here. Historically, Lucasfilm’s galaxy far, far away has been a ripe setting for video games, yet it’s been almost 20 years since the heyday of games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars Galaxies. Both of these offer the most freedom of any video game in the franchise, but are antiquated by today’s standards — not to mention, neither of them is considered canon.

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Star Wars Outlaws seems exactly like what fans have been asking for, mixing elements of modern open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and the Assassin’s Creed series with the signature cinematic trappings of the Star Wars universe as players eke out their own existence as interstellar freebooters. The gameplay reveal featured all the sights and sounds you’d want from a Star Wars game, from blaster combat to ground-based speeder chases to even interstellar space travel.

Star Wars Outlaws speeder vehicular gameplay gui
Ubisoft / ubisoft

It seems like protagonist Kay Vess can manually pilot her ship in and out of a planet’s atmosphere and warp across the known galaxy at her leisure. Star Wars Outlaws takes place in the canon between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, and it seems like Kay Vess and her companions — such as the adorable alien Nix and droid crewmember ND-5 — will face off against enemy factions like the Empire, as well as the Hutt, Pyke, and Ashiga clans. Players will be able to make choices to influence the events during some cutscenes too.

There’s no specific release date for Star Wars Outlaws as of today’s Ubisoft Forward, but it’s slated for a vague release window of 2024. Star Wars Outlaws is set to launch for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

Gabriel Moss
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As a Contributor on Digital Trends, Gabriel Moss shares his insights about video games and technology. He also contributes to…
One small Star Wars Outlaws moment gets autism representation right
Star Wars Outlaws key art that features Kay Vess.

While playing through the first few hours of Star Wars Outlaws, I found myself once again presented with an all-too-familiar trope. ND-5, the game's primary droid crewmate to Kay Vess, appeared to be yet another autism-coded droid that is typically played for laughs or treated as "other" by the main cast.

He is introduced as a stoic and serious character who appears to have no sympathy for anything but his mission. Once he and Kay officially team up, he is given the role of the straight man. Kay will quip and make ironic or sarcastic comments that ND-5 responds to with sincerity. Whenever she asks a question, he delivers his honest answer without cushioning the blow if it would be insulting. In times when Kay wants to act based on emotion, he counters with cold logic. Generally speaking, these are all common traits those on the autism spectrum present.

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Star Wars Outlaws pays its respects to a 1980s arcade legend
An arcade machine appears in Star Wars Outlaws.

While the era of arcades was long past its prime by the time I started playing games, I still appreciate the elegant simplicity of many of those classics. Games like Pac-Man, Pole Position, and Galaga aren't that complex ,but I'm drawn to replay them as I chase high scores. I was reminded of that grace of arcade games when I played Star Wars Outlaws, which includes some original ones as in-world minigames.

Players can find arcade cabinets for two different games-within-a-game near cantinas across Star Wars Outlaws' planets. One is titled Raven 6 and is a space shooter based on the look and feel of Atari's classic Star Wars arcade game. The other is Racer, a time trial game where players must speed to the end of a level as quickly as possible without hitting any obstacles.

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The best Syndicate rewards in Star Wars Outlaws
One character points a gun at others while gambling in a bar in the trailer for Star Wars Outlaws.

You will learn very quickly in Star Wars Outlaws that it isn't the Empire that runs things -- it's the syndicates. These crime families each fight for power over the various planets you will explore and all see you as a potential pawn in their schemes. Kay has a lot of useful skills and abilities they want to take advantage of, but it isn't a one-way street. If you can raise your reputation with a syndicate all the way to the max, you can earn yourself some valuable and exclusive rewards you won't find in any container you lockpick. Doing that many jobs for a syndicate takes time, but also tends to incur the wrath of other syndicates at the same time, making it very challenging to keep everyone happy. These syndicates have the best rewards that you should work your way through the ranks to get.
How reputation works

Each of the four major syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws has their own reputation meter you need to manage. These have five major segments: Terrible, Bad, Poor, Good, and Excellent. You raise that meter by doing jobs for a syndicate and lower it by either doing jobs that hurt that syndicate or by fighting or trespassing on their turf.

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