With the gameplay video living rent free in my head every minute of every day, suffice to say Star Wars Outlaws is one of my most anticipated video games and Star Wars pieces of media. An open-world game where you mix it up with the criminal underworld as fresh but determined Kay Vess, alongside her cute little friend Nix? If the final game is even an ounce like its opening video, we’re in for a treat. At SDCC 2023, Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment had a panel about the upcoming release, sharing details like the new criminal syndicate made for the game or there may be cooking, while also showing off the video above, where we see atmospheric video of the new planet Toshara and Kay voice actress Humberly Gonzalez filming mo-cap. Head below for all extra nuggets gleaned from the panel!
Thanks to Star Wars Explained for live-tweeting the panel and the official site for their interview with creative director Julian Gerighty.
Let’s start with Kay herself:
- Her ship, the Trailblazer, is one she “borrowed permanently” and players will be able to explore it and unlock secrets inside it.
- The speeder has an autopilot so you can summon it to you.
- A potential cooking/food element (if Zelda can do it, so can Star Wars!) was mentioned, so I’ll be curious how this factors into health, gameplay, and the game’s ecosystem.
- She’s got a “fake it till you make it” attitude, and being new to the syndicate game, will be a good player surrogate with the story.
- They reiterated the reputation system’s features, how doing something for one syndicate will make another dislike you, cutting you off from resources or specific areas, though sneaking/gunning into said spaces will be high risk, high reward. I wonder how much replayability this aspect could bring to the game.
With the game taking place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, the growing war with the Rebellion and the Empire means more room for the syndicates to play. We’ve seen this with the big comic events, with Qi’ra’s return as the ruler of Crimson Dawn, so I’m still very intrigued to see how Outlaws will include those events (or, if it takes place after them, at least mention the fallout). More on the syndicates:
- On Kijimi, a new syndicate was created: the Ashiga Clan. They are insectoid-inspired, so I’m looking forward to seeing their design (will they have a hive-mind like the Killik of Legends?). Curious if we’ll see the Spice Runners of Kijimi as well, as they were active during this period, and could be butting heads with the Ashiga.
- The Hutt Cartel will make an appearance, including a little visit with Jabba himself!
- The Pykes, everyone’s new favorite syndicate punching bag, will feature too, as we saw in the gameplay video/announcement trailer.
Toshara was built by the team at Massive from the ground up, alongside Lucasfilm Games’ approval, and I love the amount of detail they seem to have packed into making it feel like a living, breathing world:
- Toshara is windy, which we see some shots of the planet’s foliage reacting to the gusts, but we also see ships tethered to the ground, floating around near farms, showing us a way the locals have learned to harness or use the planet’s often ferocious wind. Little details like that make it feel lived-in and another planet in Star Wars’ vast galaxy, so I’m curious to see what other little details they packed into the place.
- We got to see some local creatures, further giving the planet a unique feel instead of reusing familiar creatures.
- Toshara’s capital, Mirogana, is built out of the amberine rocks of the world, and it looks like a big, intriguing place that also adds to the planet’s vibes.
- There will be weather events here, instead of static weather, which is not something we’ve really gotten in Star Wars games before.
As for what cameos could happen in the game, they were tight-lipped, but promised, “…Fans are going to have to play the game to see who might show.”
With the above video prominently stating “Work In Progress” over the footage we saw in the gameplay reveal and 2024 still a vague release date, I’ll keep updating about Star Wars Outlaws as we learn more, but keep expectations in check about its release. I really, really hope we see it before 2024 is over!
Ryan is Mynock Manor’s Head Butler. You can follow him on Twitter @BrushYourTeeth. You can follow the website on Twitter @MynockManor and Instagram @mynockmanor.