2 months ago
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The first-ever open world Star Wars video game, the highly-anticipated Star Wars Outlaws, launches today.
The third-person role play game (RPG) focuses on a Han Solo-inspired scoundrel, Kay Vess, and is set between the events of the 1980 hit The Empire Strikes Back and 1983's Return Of The Jedi.
The game encourages fighting, stealing, and even gambling despite being set in a franchise widely perceived as being child-friendly.
Disney will be anxious for a hit, following news last week that the House of Mouse had already cancelled its latest Star Wars live-action show, The Acolyte.
Despite a mostly positive reception from critics, The Acolyte fell to the dark side of review-bombing by angry fans who critiqued the re-writing of Star Wars lore and what they perceived as poor pacing, among other things.
The $180m (£137m) show was also met with accusations of being too "woke", and reportedly failed to attract enough consistent viewers to justify a second season.
The game's French developers, Ubisoft, have a track record of delivering massive open-world games, such as Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and their troublesome recent release, Skull And Bones, which launched to mixed critical reception and gamers' exasperation at various reported bugs.
This year Outlaws was consistently mentioned in the company's full-year results as part of what they called a "strong pipeline" of new titles coming in 2024/25, alongside Assassin's Creed and Rainbow Six Seige.
Ubisoft reckons the "open world adventure market represents €25bn (£21bn) today, and is expected to grow over the coming years".
'Out of position on games'
Gareth Sutcliffe, from Enders Analysis, told Sky News the game "ultimately reflects a decision Disney took some years ago to get out of the games business, now the highest growth entertainment sector globally, and to rely exclusively on third parties such as Ubisoft to deliver titles with Disney's most valuable and treasured IP.
"In this case you end up with a highly-anticipated open world game, but no tie-in with the wider franchise, no series or film release, or remotely equivalent marketing push.
"It reinforces the view that Disney is out of position on games, and sees them as an afterthought, which doesn't build confidence for the pending Fortnite partnership with Epic."
What is it like to play?
In the game, players will complete tasks for different criminal factions, gaining (or losing) favour with each, as well as progressing a main storyline.
Players can explore multiple planets on foot or via Kay's speeder, while upgrading gear, abilities and her spaceship.
Sky News played the game pre-release and first impressions were very positive.
When played on an AMD Radeon RX 7900 RE build PC, the worlds are colourful, vibrant, flaunting an obvious attention to detail.
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The PlayStation 5 version gets similarly good results, though suffers from some non-playable characters (NPCs) and objects "popping" into view at close range.
Those worlds feel like they're teaming with life as you witness NPCs discuss politics, life's everyday challenges, or approach the player at random to ask for help.
Hardcore fans will appreciate a respect for the Star Wars universe and lore, with plenty of references to prequel, original trilogy, and sequel-era films.
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The typically epic soundtrack also makes a return to the franchise, as well as sound effects audiences know and love, and immersive sound design.
Fans aired concern on social media when it was announced that the game would be developed by Ubisoft, fearing it would be a re-skinned version of Assassin's Creed or Far Cry.
At first glance these fears have been assuaged as the game offers genuinely new gameplay mechanics and challenges that feel native to the Star Wars Universe.
Outlaws does the universe justice, which some feel Disney has played fast and loose with far too much in the recent past.
In a shareholder presentation this year, Disney disclosed that since purchasing Lucasfilm for $4bn (£3bn) in 2012, the Star Wars franchise has generated over $12bn (£9.1bn) in revenue.
One of Disney's biggest Star Wars TV hits, Andor, returns in 2025.
Whether Outlaws jumps to hyperspace, or crashes and burns with fans, only a Jedi can predict.
English (US)