Ubisoft's freshly revealed open-world Star Wars Outlaws title has received a 10-minute gameplay walkthrough at Ubisoft Forward which revealed a feature similar to GTA's famous wanted system. Star Wars Outlaws will be the first ever open-world Star Wars game and will highlight Lucasfilm's effort to branch out following the expiration of EA's Star Wars exclusivity.
Star Wars Outlaws follows protagonist Kay Vess and her fuzzy alien companion Nix as they swindle and scam their way across the galaxy. Featuring a mix of stealth and third-person blaster gameplay, players will be able to explore the open world on speeder bikes and even take off into space seemingly in real-time. Star Wars Outlaws even seems to be taking some inspiration from other popular games. As a scoundrel, Kay Vess will be able to form and manage relationships with different crime factions a la Fallout. The cover-based blaster combat is somewhat reminiscent of Gears of War, and Kay even tosses a rope to descend off a small cliff like Nathan Drake. However, it's unknown if Outlaws will feature a larger emphasis on Uncharted-style traversal like its Star Wars Jedi cousin.
One gameplay system in particular showcased in the footage makes a huge callback to Grand Theft Auto's classic multi-leveled wanted system, where players garner additional levels of aggression from the cops based on the intensity of their criminal activity. After a sour meeting with a crime boss and an imperial officer in a private cantina room, Kay Vess becomes wanted by the Empire. As she exits the saloon, images of her face populate screens in the bar. Upon stepping outside, the whole screen turns bright red with the word "Wanted" appearing in big, bold letters. As Kay runs to her ship, the Empire's icon populates the upper left corner of the screen with three flashing red bars out of six filled up around the logo. "Escape the Empire" reads on the opposite side of the screen.
During a thrilling space battle above the planet, a fourth bar on the Empire's logo lights up before Kay is able to jump into hyperspace, gradually losing all wanted levels in the process. It's unknown if this system in Outlaws is just a visual used to support the narrative moment or if it's an actual dynamic free-roam gameplay feature. Either way, the system is fitting considering Kay's story as an outlaw entrenched in a life of crime. It'll be interesting to see the different ways in which Kay will be able to shake the Empire in the open world aside from jumping into hyperspace.
With the stunning debut of Star Wars Outlaws gameplay, more details are sure to emerge about the first-ever open-world Star Wars title as its release window of 2024 gets closer. With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releasing this year to positive reviews and the very promising-looking Outlaws on the horizon, Star Wars gamers have a lot to look forward to.
Star Wars Outlaws is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2024.