The first-ever open world\u00a0Star Wars\u00a0video game,\u00a0the highly-anticipated Star Wars Outlaws, launches today.<\/p>\n
The third-person role play game (RPG) focuses on a Han Solo-inspired scoundrel, Kay Vess, and is set between the events of the 1980 hit The Empire Strikes Back and 1983\u2019s Return Of The Jedi.<\/p>\n
The game encourages fighting, stealing, and even gambling despite being set in a franchise widely perceived as being child-friendly.<\/p>\n
Disney<\/strong> will be anxious for a hit, following news last week that the House of Mouse had already cancelled its latest Star Wars<\/strong> live-action show, The Acolyte.<\/p>\n Despite a mostly positive reception from critics, The Acolyte fell to the dark side of review-bombing by angry fans who critiqued the re-writing of Star Wars lore and what they perceived as poor pacing, among other things.<\/p>\n The $180m (\u00a3137m) show was also met with accusations of being too \u201cwoke\u201d, and reportedly failed to attract enough consistent viewers to justify a second season.<\/p>\n The game\u2019s French developers, Ubisoft, have a track record of delivering massive open-world games, such as Assassin\u2019s Creed, Far Cry, and their troublesome recent release, Skull And Bones, which launched to mixed critical reception and gamers\u2019 exasperation at various reported bugs.<\/p>\n This year Outlaws was consistently mentioned in the company\u2019s full-year results as part of what they called a \u201cstrong pipeline\u201d of new titles coming in 2024\/25, alongside Assassin\u2019s Creed and Rainbow Six Seige.<\/p>\n Ubisoft reckons the \u201copen world adventure market represents \u20ac25bn (\u00a321bn) today, and is expected to grow over the coming years\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018Out of position on games\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Gareth Sutcliffe, from Enders Analysis, told Sky News the game \u201cultimately reflects a decision Disney took some years ago to get out of the games business, now the highest growth entertainment sector globally, and to rely exclusively on third parties such as Ubisoft to deliver titles with Disney\u2019s most valuable and treasured IP.<\/p>\n \u201cIn this case you end up with a highly-anticipated open world game, but no tie-in with the wider franchise, no series or film release, or remotely equivalent marketing push.<\/p>\n \u201cIt reinforces the view that Disney is out of position on games, and sees them as an afterthought, which doesn\u2019t build confidence for the pending Fortnite partnership with Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n What is it like to play?<\/strong><\/p>\n In the game, players will complete tasks for different criminal factions, gaining (or losing) favour with each, as well as progressing a main storyline.<\/p>\n Players can explore multiple planets on foot or via Kay\u2019s speeder, while upgrading gear, abilities and her spaceship.<\/p>\n Sky News played the game pre-release and first impressions were very positive.<\/p>\n When played on an AMD Radeon RX 7900 RE build PC, the worlds are colourful, vibrant, flaunting an obvious attention to detail.<\/p>\n The PlayStation 5 version gets similarly good results, though suffers from some non-playable characters (NPCs) and objects \u201cpopping\u201d into view at close range.<\/p>\n Those worlds feel like they\u2019re teaming with life as you witness NPCs discuss politics, life\u2019s everyday challenges, or approach the player at random to ask for help.<\/p>\n Hardcore fans will appreciate a respect for the Star Wars universe and lore, with plenty of references to prequel, original trilogy, and sequel-era films.<\/p>\n The typically epic soundtrack also makes a return to the franchise, as well as sound effects audiences know and love, and immersive sound design.<\/p>\n Fans aired concern on social media when it was announced that the game would be developed by Ubisoft, fearing it would be a re-skinned version of Assassin\u2019s Creed or Far Cry.<\/p>\n At first glance these fears have been assuaged as the game offers genuinely new gameplay mechanics and challenges that feel native to the Star Wars Universe.<\/p>\n Outlaws does the universe justice, which some feel Disney has played fast and loose with far too much in the recent past.<\/p>\n In a shareholder presentation this year, Disney disclosed that since purchasing Lucasfilm for $4bn (\u00a33bn) in 2012, the Star Wars franchise has generated over $12bn (\u00a39.1bn) in revenue.<\/p>\n One of Disney\u2019s biggest Star Wars TV hits, Andor, returns in 2025.<\/p>\n Whether Outlaws jumps to hyperspace, or crashes and burns with fans, only a Jedi can predict.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The first-ever open world\u00a0Star Wars\u00a0video game,\u00a0the highly-anticipated Star Wars Outlaws, launches today. 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