Performance issues and a lackluster gameplay loop hamper Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars game

The premise of Star Wars Outlaws is simple: Who needs Jedis when you have a blaster pistol, an adorable alien sidekick and a thief’s sense of morality? For the most part, it’s a winning combination — until it isn’t. Because while there’s charm to be found in this open-world Star Wars game, unfortunately, most of it is hidden under a Jabba-size mountain of rote gameplay loops, excessively punishing stealth sequences and technical issues so immersion- and game-breaking you wonder if the payoff could ever be worth the effort.

In Outlaws, developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, you play as Kay Vess, a thief from the gambling mecca of Canto Bight whose luck seems to be running out. After one job too many goes wrong, she and her pet-size partner Nix (the most adorable thief ever known) are left in a precariously dangerous situation. One stolen ship and crash-landing later, the game’s real story kicks off. 

It’s nothing we haven’t played or seen before — one last job, and then Kay’s home free — but it’s a cynically entertaining departure from the typical “Star Wars” fare, especially in the way Kay operates. Yes, she’s basically a female Han Solo — roguish, adventurous and never quite dependable enough — but her sense of morality and how it affects the world around her makes for an interesting, if somewhat callous, experience. 

Read the full review at seattletimes.com.

Two “I wish I were far, far away” stars out of five.