PlayStation 5 Critic Reviews

Outlaws feels like a proper Star Wars game, but isn’t tied down to the Skywalker saga. The world feels suitably massive, with plenty of places to explore, skills to learn and dodgy dealings to get involved in. Developers have cherry-picked the best moments from groundbreaking titles such as Uncharted, Tomb Raider and The Witcher to create a unique, cohesive Star Wars title.

Massive Entertainment created breathtaking environments across the galaxy, delivered a fast-paced combat system true to the scoundrel style, and crafted a story that rivals the modern movies. Star Wars Outlaws is, simply put, the Star Wars game of a generation.

Star Wars Outlaws may not be the most original game, but virtually everything about it is well-executed and a joy to experience. With an excellent story, interesting characters, great voice acting, and seemingly never-ending amounts of missions, this is my favorite Star Wars game in years. Fans will find plenty of reasons to once again get lost in this faraway galaxy.

Outlaws is a fantastic adventure worthy of the Star Wars universe. Competent in several areas and shaking up Ubisoft's open-world formula for its games, Kay Vess's adventure is fun and interesting from start to finish, filled with unique details from an incredible universe.

Star Wars Outlaws perfectly captures the essence of the much-loved franchise, making you believe you've actually stepped into its world. Locations are densely packed with things to do, and whether you're sneaking around or engaging in an all-out firefight, it's always a blast. Add in the Syndicate system which means your actions have consequences, and you have one of the best Star Wars games yet.

Star Wars Outlaws will continue to occupy my time over the next days, fortunately with the advantage of becoming an experience shared with many other people. Personally, it's one of the good surprises of the year, it takes different styles of gameplay and stitches them together into a very well-tuned amalgam, without exaggeration and with protagonists that it's impossible not to like. All this, in the Star Wars universe, is an excellent example of how Lucasfilm's world has much more to offer than lightsabers and Jedi.

In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo says the iconic line, “Never tell me the odds.” In a year where we’ve all been waiting for a standout game to rise up, I feel like – at least for now, and without anyone saying it out loud – Star Wars Outlaws has beaten the odds.

As disenchanted as I was with both the source material and general output of publisher Ubisoft, Developer Massive has convinced me that there is still magic to be found in a galaxy far, far away. By unleashing itself from the restrictive canon and need to reference the core trilogy at every turn, Outlaws is afforded the freedom to tell a story at a more relatable scale. Combat pulls its weight thanks to the solid feel of your main blaster, and each additional layer you add on top opens up more ways to turn each encounter into a sandbox. You may just have to suffer through a few early stealth sections before you get there.

Star Wars Outlaws is definitely the kind of treasure that would be coveted by the seedy underbelly of the most notorious in a galaxy far, far away. By placing its narrative in a familiar timeline but making it distinct from much of the tired Skywalker saga, Massive Entertainment has created a rich Star Wars property with plenty of room to build off of. Vibrant worlds full of opportunity, choice-based story beats, and key action setpieces will keep players engaged throughout and hopefully find a new scoundrel to admire with Kay Vess.

Star Wars Outlaws is the open world Star Wars game we didn’t know we needed. Yes, the music is a little lukewarm and the combat isn’t massively overcomplicated, but nor does it need to be. There is no match for a good blaster as is aptly demonstrated here, neither do you need fancy laser swords twirling around. The stealth elements are fun with takedowns being a nice silent way to infiltrate places you shouldn’t be in. Given this is in effect, a game by massive committee, it is remarkable that it’s as good as it is. The fanservice is light and not massively in your face, but we’d not begrudge it if a bit more showed up, even if just as a musical cue.