Star Wars Outlawshas made a brand out of being the first open-worldStar Warsgame, but despite that claim, it’s an experience that’s familiar in many ways. Even setting aside the saturation ofStar Warscontent since Disney’s acquisition of IP, every big new game from publisher Ubisoft carries over some formulaic elements, whether in the consistent monotony of theFar Cryseries or simply in fundamentals of structure. It’s not exclusive to Ubisoft — a lot of companies have taken on similar formulas — but it’s hard to deny how obvious the through line is.
I’m not fundamentally opposed to the average Ubisoft game, and I have a significant fondness for some, like anumber ofAssassin’s Creedentries. Over the past decade or so, however, I’ve had one big point of frustration with the Ubisoft approach that recurs game after game. Even in richly detailed worlds with plenty of fun gameplay opportunities, it’s difficult to get fully lost in the experience, and I think a lot of that ultimately has to do with UI.
Star Wars Outlaws Review: Dazzling Hives Of Scum & Villainy
Star Wars Outlaws focuses on a grimier, seedier side of the universe with a rich, detailed open world that features both new and legacy characters.
Star Wars Outlaws Has One Big UI Limitation
Platforming Button Prompts Shouldn’t Be Necessary
Star Wars Outlaws,to its credit, has a lot of user interface options. Even more to its credit,it’s possible to turn off a lot of UI elements and still play the game comfortably. Disabling everything from enemy detection indicators to the compass at the top of the screen can help make sneaking through hostile areas more engaging and intense. There’s nothing wrong with preferring to play the game with a more obvious framework enabled, but I do think everyone should at least try the minimal UI approach, and it really doesn’t take much getting used to.
UI toggles and other ease-of-play settings can be found under multiple categories in theStar Wars Outlawsmenus, so it’s worth looking through accessibility, gameplay, and dislay categories to get a complete picture.
There’s one thing that I haven’t found a toggle for, however, and it’s one that really irks me. Although the focus ofStar WarsOutlawsis mostly on stealth and gunfights, it has its fair share of clunky platforming. Protagonist Kay Vess can clamber up and down ledges, jump across gaps, and swing from grapples, all with simple button presses. Coming to a small gap and jumping across it always relies on the same button, just like games have done for decades, butStar Wars Outlawsfeels the need to show a button prompt for platforming every time.
I’m Disappointed We Didn’t Get To See More Of This Planet In Star Wars Outlaws
Despite all there is to see and do in Star Wars Outlaws' open-world, there is one planet that is present that I wish we got to explore a bit further.
In the overall scheme of things, this is a fairly minor complaint, and there are bigger problems to pick apart withStar Wars Outlaws. I think it’s incredibly silly, though, andit serves as a particularly good example of why Ubisoft’s approach to UI still feels clunky and a bit insulting in spite of some recent improvements.Assassin’s Creed Mirage,Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, andStar Wars Outlawsare all a lot better in regard to UI than many of their predecessors, but there’s still some work to be done.
Ubisoft’s Reliance On UI Is Both Tired & Tangled
Recent Improvements After Years Of Stagnation
The problem initially emerged from a UI creep that grew alongside Ubisoft’s games. AsAssassin’s Creedgames grew larger, for example, they also grew more afraid that players wouldn’t always know exactly where they were going and what they were doing. Rather than working to implement reasonably natural ways to guide players toward objectives or call attention to interactive,the games just brute forced a solution with cluttered HUD displays, including the persistent indicator on the screen pointing in the direction of the current objective. I dread this particular feature, which robs me of the opportunity for natural pathfinding.
Ubisoft’s Biggest Problem Has Nothing To Do With Gameplay
The Ubisoft Forward further highlighted a problem with recent game showcases, and it had nothing to do with the actual footage shown from the games.
Although it’s always been possible to turn off some of these elements, Ubisoft has often implemented the toggles in frustrating ways, sometimes baking essentially necessary elements into the settings that turn off fully extraneous options.I’ll sometimes forego the UI entirely, but when games are so deeply designed around the heavy use of one, that tends to come with its own points of frustration. Running around inThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildwith the minimalist Pro HUD is a delight, but attempting something comparable in a Ubisoft game comes with many more hangups.
Platforming Prompts Cover Up Awkward Game Design
Better Environmental Interaction Removes The Need For Prompts
I really do appreciatewhatStar Wars Outlawsgets righthere, and the suite of options is largely good.The setting to toggle yellow paint on key parts of the environment is genuinely fantastic, and I’ve been very happy turning that off and examining my surroundings a bit more carefully. The platforming button prompts just feel like the last dregs of a more restrictive system, and they tie in with some of the game’s worst design impulses. The concept feels like a Band-Aid for an awkward approach to verticality, where some jumps are the designated correct ones and others aren’t.
Should You Steal In Star Wars Outlaws
Stealing is an integral part of Star Wars: Outlaws, which all players should utilize with help from Nix in pickpocketing and distracting NPCs.
Other games have already tackled these challenges in better ways. Some open-world titles offer a lot of free-form versatility with height, making the world feel like a playground for discovery. When the mechanics are more guided, like in theUnchartedseries, the communication can still be more naturalistic.The way Nathan Drake leads the player’s movement through body language emphasizes the clarity of progressionthrough environments, something thatStar Wars Outlawscould do a better job of replicating.
I feel like Ubisoft is so close to taking those final steps and evolving their games into more immersive experiences, but I’m not so certain that they’ll actually take them. When the focus lies on making massive games with engaging, detailed worlds, a lot of the finer points of game design tend to atrophy somewhere around “good enough.” Feeling like I’m interacting naturally with an environment is what’s going to sell me on a video game world more than anything else, however, andStar Wars Outlawsdoesn’t trust players quite enough to get there.
Star Wars Outlaws
Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world action-adventure game where players hop into the scoundrel boots of Kay Vess, a woman who travels the galaxy Looking for a better life. Together with her furry partner Nix and new allies she meets along the way, Kay will navigate the various landscapes, towns, and planets across the galaxy while outsmarting both Crime Syndicates and the Empire.
