The following article contains spoilers for Star Wars Outlaws.
I’m enjoying the postgame content of Star Wars Outlaws more than I did much of the main narrative. I’m flying around the galaxy, a criminal-for-hire, doing contracts for the different syndicates, building my reputation. It’s the key premise of the game yet feels more like side content than the main event. No diametric goodies and baddies, no Jedi or Sith or a lightsaber in sight, just simple criminals trying to make their way in the universe. I can’t help but feel like the game was mis sold to a certain extent. Like with the brief campaign for Battlefront 2, which promised a narrative from an imperial perspective only to have the protagonists join the Rebellion early on, Outlaws is ultimately less a crime story and more a generic tale of rebels vs the empire.
The game is set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi so of course it would connect in some way to the ongoing galactic civil war. It fits well into its time period in general, referencing films, shows, comics, and novels in ways often unobtrusive and natural. In fact, I like the way the Rebel Alliance are used when they first appear. The characters of Dennion and Asara hire Kay for a job on false pretences, using her with little regard for her safety. It’s a much more negative portrayal of the ‘good guys’ than we’re used to seeing. Kay shuns them and it spurs her to move on with her life of crime. If this was the only significant appearance of the rebels in the game then I’d like it; they’re used well. But sadly, that’s far from the end.
A late game twist is that criminal syndicate Zerek Besh, the primary antagonist of the game, is actually a front for the Imperial Security Bureau. I say twist but it’s pretty obvious from the beginning. They have dealings with the empire and everything about their boss Sliro, a middle-aged white guy with a British accent and a white cloak, screams imperial. It’s another way the game tosses aside the premise of being about the criminal factions of the galaxy and more about the empire, like so many other Star Wars stories. There are concepts to the twist I enjoy: the ISB infiltrating the syndicates is a cool idea but can’t it be for the express purpose to control the gangs rather than just another ploy to try and catch rebels? And the obligatory Darth Vader cameo is done well. He’s threatening, controlling the shards of glass with the force is cool, but I wish he was just in that one scene and the hologram at the end was Partagaz (if he’s still alive) or someone else at the ISB.
Then the rebels re-enter the story and suddenly this grand heist the game has been building towards is recontextualised. Asara joins Kay’s crew and the heist is now a rebel-backed group taking on an imperial-backed group. It’s purely a proxy war between the two factions. Then the treasure turns out not to be fortune and glory but some codex with information vital to the war effort, which Kay hands over to Asara. What was billed as a crime story becomes just another generic Star Wars story of rebel agents infiltrating a base to steal technical information, Rogue One style.
The heist itself is supposed to be the biggest the galaxy has ever seen. Spoiler alert: it’s not. I didn’t even realise the mission I was playing was the actual heist until I found myself standing in front of the vault. It’s just another stealth mission, sneaking past some guards in a hanger. It’s the weakest heist in the game: the side missions where you have to steal keycards and sneak into a faction’s hidden vault are far more engaging. And, of course, the game ends in an infiltration of a Star Destroyer while wearing stormtrooper armour followed by a space battle where Kay is joined by X-Wings to take down the enemy ship, protected by TIE fighters. It’s as ‘rebels vs empire’ as it’s possible to get. The crime syndicate that Kay has the best relationship does also show up to help, which is a very small conciliation in a game that’s supposed to be a crime story. If I had known this before beginning the point-of-no-return endgame mission I would have made sure Crimson Dawn were my highest rated syndicate but instead the Hutts showed up, which makes less sense.
But I’m being a little unduly negative. The wider narrative may disappoint but the heart of the story is actually quite strong. I really like Kay. I think she’s the right level of competent as someone who knows small-level crime from a single planet now thrown into the larger galaxy and having to blag and find her place in it. Nix is appropriately adorable and the story with droid ND is great. Him building a relationship with Kay only to be forced to betray her because of his restraining bolt is good drama. The sequence at the end with ND as a reluctant terminator coming after Kay is probably the best in the game. The core group and their interpersonal conflict is good, I just wish they were inside a different story. A crime story. Kay can still have a heart and be a good person and not have to serve the rebellion in its fight against the empire.
I’m sad that I’m adding to the negativity surrounding Star Wars Outlaws. There’s already so much of that out there, with plenty of criticism in both good faith and bad, but I have to be honest that I was disappointed when the credits rolled. But I would say I’m enjoying the game overall. It doesn’t have the best gameplay or story but as far as being engrossed in the world, or galaxy, of Star Wars it’s wonderful. It really captures the feel of existing on these planets. I absolutely love walking around Kijimi, an underrated planet, exploring all the nooks and crannies, soaking up the atmosphere, slipping into a bar to play some Sabaac. Those moments are fantastic. It’s just a shame I have to come up with some story in my head for why Kay’s doing it rather than follow the weak narrative presented in the game.
