Star Wars Outlaws’ Galactic Empire is Legion But Meek

As captivating as it may be to invest time in its engrossing open world and experience different interactions with each criminal syndicate, Star Wars Outlaws was always going to lack the teeth it needed to portray these allegedly intimidating factions as truly dangerous and produce high stakes in the narrative. Star Wars Outlaws’ pre-release marketing made it plain that Kay Vess and Nix would make it out unscathed, for instance, and without any genuine threat to Kay or her forgettable companions’ livelihoods the story was never going to be as suspenseful as it could’ve been.

Syndicates aren’t to be trifled with too leniently when players are moseying through a restricted area, to be clear, lest they suffer penalties to their hard-earned reputation statuses. However, mucking about in Galactic Empire territories is less severe in its consequences even if Star Wars Outlaws initially does a superb job of making it appear as if doing so will be tremendously punishing. But, while Imperial forces are rampant and their bases hold a ton of loot for players to willingly seek out during long infiltrations, they aren’t more frightening than any other faction and are undercut by lackadaisical treatment in the open world.

Star Wars Outlaws’ Galactic Empire Poses as an Oppressive Entity in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

A glance at Toshara’s open-world map in Star Wars Outlaws gives an early demonstration of how prevalent and prolific the Empire is. Players will pass through or by multiple Imperial checkpoints that embed their presence on Toshaal’s moon among criminal syndicates, and altogether it seems like there’s rarely a stretch of land players can explore that doesn’t have the Empire’s boot on its throat.

The same is then true of exploring Tatooine’s Mos Eisley or Akiva’s Myrra. Some bucketheads are less rigid in their unwavering loyalty to the Empire, though.

This is great because it showcases more of the individualistic greed and moral grey areas that Star Wars doesn’t often put a lens to, even if nearly every other stormtrooper players come across has no identity or personality of their own. The Wanted status in particular is presented as a game-changing, harrowing repercussion and the incessant pursuit stormtroopers carry out against Kay thereafter instills a sense of urgency and panic for players to hastily quell it.

What Star Wars Outlaws’ Imps Lack in Ferocity They Make Up in Volume

In reality, despite Galactic Empire strongholds being perilous due to the sheer number of stormtroopers they possess—not to mention AT-ST guard dogs they commonly have patrolling out front—there isn’t much to fear. Stormtroopers are taken out as swiftly as any other enemy in the game—not to mention Kay being capable of punching stormtroopers in the helmet with her bare knuckles and somehow knocking them out cold—with the only actual combat challenge being death troopers.

That said, instead of death troopers terrifyingly stalking players when they’re Wanted, players are tasked with seeking them out at tiny camps in an effort to wipe their own Wanted status from the Empire’s database. Narratively this doesn’t make much sense if players are repeatedly placed under a Wanted watchlist because it suggests the Empire has a goldfish memory and can never remember if someone was an active nuisance or not, but it also makes death troopers wholly trivial regardless of being blaster bolt sponges.

The Empire is even easier to circumnavigate in outer space since players can have a flock of TIEs firing on them that will abruptly vanish if Kay can fly the Trailblazer near a satellite and effortlessly deactivate her Wanted status. So, while their presence would seem omnipotent, it is a shame that Kay and Nix can run through the Empire with no trouble at all and this sadly continues a legacy of the Empire being portrayed as more featherbrained or comedic than the cruel, iron-fisted ruler it ought to be.

Open-World

Action-Adventure

Released

August 30, 2024

Publisher(s)

Ubisoft , Lucasfilm Games

Engine

Snowdrop

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence, Simulated Gambling, Mild Language

PS Plus Availability

N/A

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

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