Star Wars Outlaws showcases its scum and villainy in gameplay debut

By Gabriel Moss June 12, 2023 12:02PM

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This story is part of the Digital Trends 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.

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

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.

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Gabriel is a freelance writer with a keen interest in gaming and technology. He has written at several sites including IGN…

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