Star Wars Outlaws Timeline is Set Between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

With some gameplay of Star Wars Outlaws revealed during the Ubisoft Forward 2023 Livestream, we have more details regarding the timeline, open-world experience, space exploration, and additional gameplay.

About Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is developed as a game that offers players an original story which focuses the lives of outlaws, and features the first open-world base in the franchise. Creative Director Julian Gerighty explains that the development of Star Wars Outlaws involves the collaboration with studios from various regions; the most important of which is Lucasfilm Games that gave them the opportunity to mix Star Wars games on a massive scale that fans have never experienced.

The game will introduce new characters, locations, and many other original content on top of bringing in familiar characters and areas. In Star Wars Outlaws, player will step into the shoes of outlaw Kay Vess and her partner Nix in an effort to start a new life, all while avoiding the dangers of the biggest crime syndicates in the entire galaxy.

The First Open-World Experience in the Star Wars Universe

At its core, Star Wars Outlaws is a single-player action-adventure game that let players journey across a vast open-world map. In order to build a world that is evocative to dive into, the game takes place between the events of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. As the Imperial rule becomes more dominant, it becomes a golden opportunity for the criminal underground to strengthen its syndicate.

When crafting open-world map for the game, the development team stuck to the three most important design guidelines to provide the best experiences. The first was to build a densely populated active city filled with both criminal syndicates and Imperials. The second is a map for large open areas that are charming, mysterious and immersive. The last being, there are special places for outlaw activities that are full of risks, but at the same time provide a more rewarding sensation to dive into while providing beautiful scenery.

The open-world map that will be the main stopover for players in Star Wars Outlaws is the month of Toshara. Designed by developer Massive Entertainment in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games, Toshira is described as a place with an atmosphere so different from anything ever seen in the Star Wars series. As you might surmise, it’s a place of hardened criminals who teach Kay and Nix that respect can only be earned by those with influence, reputation and contribution.

Players will also be able to explore cities under the absolute control of the Empire, where players will see stormtroopers patrolling for security. That’s why conducting business in these areas can only be done in a few specific places, such as dark alleys that are far from the Empire’s grasp. These areas range in size from residential neighbourhoods like Jaunta’s Hope to large cities like Mirogna, which is arguably the most striking sight in all of Toshara.

Planet and Space Exploration

As an open-world game, it’s only natural for players to be given supportive transportation options to speed up travel between areas. When outside of settlements of cities, players can ride a Speeder, which is very useful in reaching areas that  are difficult to reach on foot. There are more uses that players can explore, with the Speeder even being used in combat.

Additionally, players can explore the galaxy with their own airship called the Trailblazer. Unlike when exploring the land which is commonplace in your usual open-world games, exploring various mysterious areas to engaging in intense battles between spaceships.

Gameplay with Wide Range of Options and Consequences

Throughout Star Wars Outlaws, players can resolve situations in all sorts of different ways. For an example, when trying to occupy an area, players have the option to either sneak around or face the enemy head-on with their arsenal of gadgets. Since Kay is a thief, she has special skills in stealthy infiltration missions; but when there are special situations that are difficult to overcome, Nix will be the support figure that can make up for her shortcomings.

There comes certain instances when attempts to sneak around fail and the enemy manages to track you down, there’s no choice but to fight head-on, and for this Kay has been equipped with a Blaster weapon that has a variety of modes to suit the type of enemy the players come across. As for Nix, she can assist Kay by using stronger fire power, which also can be used to distract enemies and give Kay more space to attack.

It’s also important to emphasize that not all missions can be carried out without consequences. There seems to be a “reputation” system in the game as Kay’s reputation towards certain groups may increase or decrease depending on the action the player chooses to take. An example being when Kay refuses to give some of her hard-earned money to the corrupt Imperial officers, she’ll be made a fugitive.

Star Wars Outlaws will be launching for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC sometime in 2024.

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