My expectations were high after seeing the trailers forStar Wars Outlaws. It was a game I’d longed for; a departure from Jedi and Sith and a focus on rogues and thieves, taking a Star Wars story to the streets. Well, as close to the streets as you can get in a sci-fi title. When the game finally arrived, I felt instantly deflated. It’s not a bad game, but it’s not what I’d built up in my mind either.
It has all the hallmarks of a great game, but it’s bogged down with Ubisoft trappings that made many sections feel like you’re playing on rails. The essence of choice feels entirely absent. The different criminal factions are lacklustre, the space travel is muted and closed-off, while the act of infiltrating enemy bases lacks any excitement once you realise the AI is dumb as a bag of rocks.
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This reliance on using the same old mechanics and skinning them with different locales just doesn’t work anymore. WhileAssassin’s Creed Shadowsstill excites me for surface reasons of the dual protagonists and the Japanese setting, am I setting myself up for disappointment considering I played half ofStar Wars Outlawsand felt burned out? Or are Ubisoft going to surprise me and deliver something that thinks outside the box?
I keep trying to remind myself of the details Ubisoft have given us up to now. Ideas like being able to stealth through sections with more success in the summer because of the leaves on the trees and bushes bring another dimension to the infiltration of enemy areas. While the two protagonists' fighting styles should keep combat fresh, but then, I thought that blasters and droids would benefitStar Wars Outlaws.
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Since playingStar Wars Outlaws, I’m trying to temper my expectations a lot more. At one point, I wanted nothing more than for Ubisoft to take their Assassin franchise into the future with technological tools and features, giving way to more intriguing features but having seen their template underneath a sci-fi epic, I don’t feel confident that there’s any magic left with the developer and publisher.
Topics:Star Wars,Star Wars Outlaws,Assassins Creed,Assassin’s Creed Shadows,Ubisoft
