Open-world action game Star Wars Outlaws is coming out next month, and developer Massive Entertainment has already shown off some of the speed bumps and laser trading in various trailers. But recently they talked a little more about the player’s dirty journeys across the galaxy, including how big some of the explorable planets will be and what happens when you piss off the Hutts. In short, you will have a price on your head. Makes sense.
“Your reputation moving in a positive direction unlocks a lot of things for you,” says Mathias Karlson, Massive’s game director, telling IGN all about the different factions in the game. Cozying up to the Hutts, Pykes, Ashiga Clan, and Crimson Dawn will allow you to enter certain zones without treating them as enemies, for example, or it could unlock landing pads in new locations. It can also get you discounts from more rogue traders, leading to some “exotic rewards”.
“But if you really get on their bad side, that’s another thing you’ll feel dynamically in the game, because they’re actually sending out strike forces for you in the open world to try and get you out.”
It sounds like some new game I’ve heard so much about. But it also works the other way around, with a good reputation sometimes making temporary allies during a fight, says Karlson.
“If for whatever reason you ended up wanted and being chased by the Empire and you cross paths with a syndicate that you have a really good reputation with at the moment, they might come in and help you out. ,” he says.
That sounds familiar. The Division series (Massive’s previous work) often sees different factions engage in small-scale skirmishes with each other, and Far Cry’s combative freedom fighters often come into conflict with the enemy when you’re nearby. But neither is fully tied to the reputation system. Strikers also sound interesting, but again, it might remind some people of the mercenaries that would chase you in, say, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Don’t get me wrong, open world Star Wars sounds great. But this is a Ubisoft game after all, and they’re not one to deviate from formula.
Elsewhere in the IGN video, the developers talk about the range of planets you’ll be traveling on. They compare the size of some of the planets to two or three zones in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and say that you can cross the playable surface of one of these planets, Toshara, in about five minutes on a speeder bike.
“[It] it doesn’t sound like a lot,” says Julian Gerighty, creative director at Massive, “but once you’re involved, it’s quite a lot and you’re always distracted.”
Some of that distraction can come in the form of geographic Easter eggs, scenery and places that fans are likely to enjoy visiting.
“We can rely on the virtual tourism aspect of, ‘Hey, what’s the distance between the moisture farms and Mos Eisley and the canteen? Gerighty says. “There is a linear roller coaster story, a golden path if you will. And of course there is an open world around it.
“There’s a very structured intro that takes you to the crash landing on Toshara, which is the moon we created with LucasFilm Games,” he says. “And once you finish the linear story of Toshara, other planets open up and it becomes completely non-linear and you can choose to deal with them [worlds] in any order.”
Everything I see about Star Wars Outlaws reminds me how much I enjoy the visuals of Lucas’ interstellar opera. But I’m also under no illusions about the iconic safari that Ubisoft’s open worlds usually offer. So consider my eye pleased, but expectations unmoved. The IGN video, on the other hand, is pretty exhaustive and contains an impressive amount of tidbits, so it’s worth checking out if you’re rubbing your Mon Calamari mitts in anticipation.