Star Wars Desperadoes Understand the Importance of Weird Little People and Glup Shittos

The bustling taverns and shady alleyways of Star Wars Outlaws feel refreshingly immersive, with cities, towns, and hamlets rich in detail (but never overwhelming). Is that because they’re highly interactive? No, not at all. In fact, they’re pretty static, as far as possible interactions go. The secret is that they really feel like they’re there, like they came from a galaxy far, far away.

Massive Entertainment’s latest open-world game is not That Once you get past the graphical demo, the game feels very premium. Its overall world design is actually a restrained version of what Ubisoft has been applying to Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, and even Avatar: Pandora’s Frontier for more than a decade. However, it is a well-designed window into the Star Wars universe, and it all comes together because its makers really understand that Star Wars needs more cool background characters and creatures all crammed into one setting.

Many other Star Wars games (most, in fact) have captured the superficial atmosphere, sights, and sounds of the vast galaxy in George Lucas’ mind decades ago, and these games have continued to grow in size, age, and scope as new artists have come in. However, not everyone understands the little details that make Star Wars… Star Wars, and not just another sci-fi/fantasy story pretending to be Star Wars.

Last year’s Jedi: Survivor certainly understood that mission. The second in a planned trilogy, Respawn Entertainment’s Jedi-centric epic was full of heart and soul, and featured the core themes that made Star Wars resonate with so many people across generations. Beyond that, it took some extra time (which Star Wars: Fallen Order didn’t) to flesh out most of its settings and expand the ground floor of the Star Wars galaxy. As the forces of light and dark continue to battle, the average person is just trying to survive, which is a constant in just about any sci-fi or fantasy setting you can think of. There may not have been as much time to deal with these issues when the movies focused on the Jedi and the Sith, the Rebels and the Empire, etc. But video games have more room to paint a richer picture of the Star Wars galaxy than novels and comic books ever could. Not only that, they’re the perfect medium for fans to engage with a world they’ve only seen for so long.

When you’re rushing through a massive open-world game because you’re trying to meet a deadline, it’s easy to overlook (or at least underestimate) the amount of work that goes into making a massive game world come to life. If something isn’t directly tied to the gameplay experience, it may not get the attention it deserves. Yet, these little details are as key to creating the illusion as mechanics and systems or moment-to-moment gameplay. In Star Wars Outlaws, I found it difficult to keep moving forward without stopping every few minutes to take in the scenery and photograph a new critter or weird creature I encountered. This can quickly become a “problem” when there are so many of them scattered around the map.

Outlaws is a Star Wars story that makes the most of the colorful and zany Star Wars universe. Like the (underrated) spinoff Solo: A Star Wars Story, the lower stakes allow us to get closer to characters that usually appear in the background of the Skywalker saga. TV shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Andor also understand that scaling back the scale can broaden the appeal of the Star Wars galaxy (at least until the plot starts to connect to something bigger). After so many video games have gleefully recreated the battle between good and evil, devoting so many resources and time to crafting a true villain experience seems like a logical step to keep the Star Wars IP fresh in the gaming realm.

Sure, Outlaws’ subsequent storylines can’t escape the appeal of Star Wars’ core themes (nor should they), but by and large, you’re just a goofball outside of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s radar. You just want to get paid, live your life, and maybe pet some banthas in the process. Any time Kai Weiss is exposed to something or someone she feels is beyond her capabilities, she refuses. I hope this remains the case in future DLC stories. I’d rather continue playing Sabacc with Lando than actually join the Rebels. We’ve seen too much Star Wars space opera and too little up close of the underworld.

Outlaw’s main story takes a while to unfold but it gradually picks up, however, and I’d be lying if I said that the big heist by Wes and friends was more memorable than the hunt for the Sarlacc’s teeth inside the Sarlacc. If you rush to complete the game’s main story, you might miss this kind of content entirely. Don’t miss the “specialist missions” and the little excursions they lead to. Much of Outlaw’s appeal is hidden in plain sight, which may explain why some reviews feel so oddly harsh, or is more representative of Ubisoft’s open-world games, which are more straightforward and predictable than Outlaw. Its planets require you to explore at your own pace, picking up bits of information and piecing together hidden stories and treasure hunts.

I mean, in Desperado, I often had more fun talking to the lone Rodian leaning over a table than I did desperately digging into the reputation system or completing the quest lines laid out before me. Mostly it’s good content, but Desperado rewards the Star Wars fanatics who read the Wookieepedia article like it’s real data and the casual player who checks for hidden treasure chests behind every waterfall. Take the time to pet that faceless creature. Sit down and try to glean some gossip. Steal that data card from the careless guard. Take a picture of the new cantina band. You won’t find it anywhere else, at least not in such a textured way.

My favorite Outlaws character besides ND-5 is the Galusian whose name I can’t remember who works for the Imperials in a small fish tank. When he shows up, I know Massive has really hit the jackpot with this game. I roll my eyes every time a regular human shows up, and cheer every time some weird alien becomes a major player or has something interesting to share. The smaller, the better. Maybe that’s why Nix is ​​the best little Star Wars sidekick since BD-1 came out in 2019 (sorry, Grogu).