Spoilers for Star Wars Outlaws

Last weekend, we had a snow day. I had nowhere to be and while I don’t always love snow this time of year, I like having relaxing days at home. It was the perfect time to sit and devote myself to finishing Star Wars Outlaws. I had been chipping away at the game for a month or so. I was distracted by all the side quests and other odds and ends. Star Wars Outlaws is an immensely fun game and while I have my grievances with the game, it’s worth playing.

Star Wars Outlaws takes place after The Battle of Hoth in Episode V. Kay Vess is trying to survive in Canto Bight after her mother abandoned her when she was little. Kay agrees to break into crime lord, Sliro Barsha’s, vault. Kay is unfortunately betrayed after she learns that the crew is a part of The Rebel Alliance. Kay escapes with her companion, Nix, but Sliro puts a death mark on her meaning assassins from several of the crime factions are trying to hunt her down. After recovering from the failed job, Kay gets another shot at breaking into Sliro’s vault and she can’t pass up the opportunity of robbing Sliro and getting revenge.

There were several things I loved about the game. The first is the nostalgia I felt while playing the game. One of the planets Kay visits is Tattoine and I liked being able to roam around the planet on her speeder. Mos Eisley was realistic and it gave me flashbacks to playing Star Wars: Battlefront II with friends on Xbox. Another interesting planet choice was Akiva. I read Chuck Wendig’s Aftermath book which takes place on Akiva. It was neat to see the planet brought into more Star Wars lore. One of Kay’s contacts is Temmin Wexley who appears in the books and eventually flies with Poe Dameron. As a Star Wars fan who reads the books and comics, it’s cool to see so many references throughout the game.

I can’t write a review of Star Wars Outlaws without talking about Nix. Nix is adorable! There was a moment when Nix was kidnapped and sold to Jabba The Hut and I was enraged. It was sweet karma when the individual responsible for this was killed in the story. Besides being a cute companion, Nix is helpful to Kay. Nix can steal items while Kay is in a firefight. I unlocked an ability where Nix can pull the pin on a grenade if a Stormtrooper has one on their person. I started doing this all the time. There was one Imperial base where I ended up killing five Stormtroopers this way, it was satisfying.

I was honest when I said there were things about the game I didn’t enjoy. The first would be the lockpicking piece. Kay has a device that she uses to pick the locks on doors or containers. How this works is Kay pulls out the device and as the player, you have to listen to the beeps of the lock. From there, you click the button on the beat of the beep. This was aggravating. I had to turn on a feature in the game that provided a visual cue which made this easier, but still annoying. Kay picks a lot of locks, so this kept coming up time and time again. There were several moments where Kay had to pick a lock fast before she was discovered. I would have to repeat this multiple times because I could not figure out the sequence. The lockpicking aspect of the game could have been designed better as that was the worst part by far.

I wouldn’t call this a grievance, but a gameplay preference. Star Wars Outlaws is a primarily stealthy game. I don’t have the patience for stealth. This comes from my love of first-person shooters. I want to go in, kick ass and take names. In Star Wars Outlaws, you can’t go into the Imperial base guns blazing. Kay will get a Wanted status and be hunted down by The Empire. One thing other players pointed out that I also agree with is how stealth could be better. For example, when Kay hides behind cover, she never is fully hidden. I was discovered once by a Stormtrooper when Kay was hidden behind a crate because her head was poking out. Additionally, when Kay is in a firefight, she gets shot at because she isn’t fully behind cover. An easy fix for this would be to have a button to press on the controller when Kay approaches and when players press the button, Kay would fully get behind the cover and be hidden. For a game that’s primarily stealth-based, I think this could be improved.

Is Star Wars Outlaws a perfect game? No, but does every video game need to be the best game ever? I don’t believe Star Wars Outlaws deserves some of the harsh criticism I have seen online. If there’s ever Nix merchandise that is released, I would buy it in a heartbeat.