5 Things to Know Before You Begin Star Wars Outlaws

I'm wandering around a seedy bar, thinking over my life decisions after a stranger just called me "desperate, but cute." That itself wouldn't make it a unique experience, except that stranger was a Mon Calamari, one of the iconic fishy-looking aliens in a galaxy far, far away. This is Star Wars Outlaws, the new Ubisoft video game that my colleagues demoed last week at Gamescom and I got a chance to play ahead of its release on Aug. 30.

In Outlaws, you play as Kay Vess, a young heart-of-gold grifter, along with her cuddly thieving companion, the scampering alien Nix. Star Wars canon-wise, the game takes place during the Imperial Era, i.e., after Luke meets Yoda but before the Ewoks make a Stormtrooper drum set. Early flashbacks reveal Kay spent her childhood running small scams around the slums of Canto Bight with her currently MIA mom Riko, who teaches her the all-important lesson of "You can't always expect someone to be there." (Not ominous and indicative of a future-found family at all.) 

Down on her luck and out of a home after an unwitting run-in with some Rebels, Kay is on the hunt for what many a scoundrel wishes for: one last big job. And of course, that means she'll have to take care of a hundred little missions and make half a dozen frenemies before we get off-world. This is a look at the grimier side of the Star Wars universe, but there's still plenty of adventure and fun characters to meet. 

The demos at Gamescom were limited to three short mid-game missions, but here are my thoughts and a few tips after a few days of playing the game on PlayStation 5.

You like minigames? You're gonna get minigames.

Lockpicking tests your rhythm while slicing (hacking) is like Wordle in space. Out in the world, there are many Sabacc tables to win and lose credits, along with sports betting. In-game arcade cabinets can be found in mechanic shops and hidden alcoves. Within my fifth hour playing, I even got a strange but charming food minigame where Kay and Nix eat space corn. Much like with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, the plethora of minigames give you a break from the action and tell you a bit about the story, most of which are optional.

No need to keep an eye on your speeder bike.

Your speeder bike won't always show up on your map, but if you're in an open area you can call it to your side by holding right on the D-pad. I didn't realize this until after a handful of frustrating stealth missions on foot in the grass plains of Toshara. I'd unmount to go shoot some bandits, only to realize I'd completely lost my bike somewhere in the tall grass. Occasionally the map will let you fast travel directly to your bike, but it's inconsistent. Again, I'm still only on the second planet, so maybe I'll get to call a Bantha in the future too.

You can pet the dog and so much more.

Nix, Kay's merqaal buddy – who is like if Disney's Stitch was part axolotl – is available for cuddles 24/7, when he's not stealing things and opening far away doors. You can give many free-roaming critters a good scritch behind the ears as well. Unless they're naturally aggressive, in which case: run. You can also collect cute accessories for Nix such as a tiny Chewbacca-style bandolier.

Go ahead and just choose a side early on.

There are many crime factions in Outlaws, the main gangs being Crimson Dawn, the Pyke Syndicate (the catfish guys from The Clone Wars, most recently seen in The Book of Boba Fett), and of course, the notorious Hutt Cartel. As you can imagine, while you can perform jobs for multiple crime families, building affinity with one over another will have their advantages and drawbacks. 

I chose to start with Crimson Dawn (mostly because Han Solo's ex-girlfriend Qi'Ra is mentioned in a lore paragraph. Will we get to meet her? I hope so!) but it made stealing from the Pykes in another mission more difficult. I could have stolen the part from the Crimson Dawn, but getting caught meant my reputation with them lowered each time. (And I got caught a lot.) We'll see how well you can play factions against each other as your crew grows. 

Take advantage of the gameplay accessibility options

While writing this review I tried my best to play on the Normal mode but went back to my regular default of Story mode as I am just not great at stealth missions. I did appreciate High Contrast mode to make it easier to find interactive objects, though it's disappointing that in many non-cutscene interactions, the NPCs and Kay remain blue creatures like the kids in the '90s Capri-Sun commercials. 

However, High Contrast mode is worth it to be able to find usable footholds, as the physics of what Kay can and can't climb makes no sense. Furthermore, with so many options for blaster settings, extra tools, and all the actions Nix can perform, having guides up is crucial for remembering every last controller move.

That's all for the tips as you look forward to playing the game, which comes out in mere days. Even though I have personally built a Lightsaber at Savi's Workshop in Disneyland and have a cat named after the rebel droid Chopper, this is my first time playing a Star Wars game. I can't give a fair comparison to games like Jedi Survivor or even Knights of the Old Republic. However, in the grand scheme of "run around, punch people, and steal things" games, Outlaws reminds me most of Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Outer Worlds, but with much less romance and fly fishing (so far, anyway). There's plenty of exploration to do on and off-worlds, morally gray decisions to make, fascinating bits of background dialogue to hear, lots of laser guns and ship blasters to shoot, and of course enough Star Wars lore to excite even the most scruffy-looking nerfherders.

Nine hours in and I've still only made 28% in-game progress, so there's still plenty more to discover. May this list give you an idea of where to start on your journey and may the Force be with you, always. 

Star Wars: Outlaws comes out for PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC on Aug. 30.