Star Wars Outlaws Review

ign.com:

As far as Star Wars video games go, we’ve taken countless turns at twirling lightsabers and unleashing flashy Force powers, but Star Wars Outlaws swaggers into the cantina, slinks down into a booth with its holster clip unbuttoned, and argues that those are no match for a good blaster at your side. This open-world – or rather, open-worlds – action game features a level of gunbattles and broken promises befitting the legend that is Chewbacca’s best mate. However, Star Wars Outlaws essentially delivers a Han Solo-like experience in both good and bad ways; it has some handsome looks and a strong sense of adventure, but it’s also somewhat scruffy around the edges and is liable to let you down from time to time.

Of course, given that its rollicking, space western story takes place in between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – the height of Imperial power – the actual Han Solo is literally on ice for the duration of Outlaws. Instead, we step into the battered space boots of Kay Vass, a cunning thief raised amidst the hives of scum and villainy in the gambling capital of Canto Bight. She’s quickly shown to be handy with a hairpin lockpick and has an insatiable appetite for five-finger discounts, though like Dash Rendar and pre-Jedi Kyle Katarn before her, she never really steps out of Han’s shadow and becomes more than a stand-in smuggler with a heart of gold.

What follows is a 20-hour string of reckless rescue missions and shady underworld dealings, as Kay and Nix criss-cross their way around four main planets and the pirate-riddled spaces between, attempting to unite a squad of like-minded criminals with the aim of returning to Canto Bight to settle the failed score and erase the bounty placed on Kay’s head by the crime boss, Sliro. This callous casino owner serves as Outlaws’ primary antagonist and is intimidating enough, but is neither as outright evil as Emperor Palpatine nor as quietly menacing as Grand Admiral Thrawn, and is kept at a distance for the