Star Wars Outlaws Review

Massive's 2024 game is the first open-world Star Wars title, set between Empire and Return of the Jedi, and its premise is the interesting part: Kay Vess is a thief with no Force powers, no lightsaber and no army, so the whole game is about standing between four criminal syndicates who all want something and none of whom trust you. Reputation with each is tracked separately and visibly, and taking a job for the Pykes costs you standing with Crimson Dawn, which changes prices, patrol behaviour and which doors open. Planets are mid-sized open zones - Toshara, Kijimi, Akiva, Tatooine - traversed by speeder, with space flight and dogfighting between them. Stealth is the main verb and was criticised at launch for insta-fail states, which patches largely removed along with substantial performance fixes. Nix, the companion animal, is a genuinely useful stealth tool. It is the most convincing depiction of the Star Wars underworld any game has managed.