Lessons From Star Wars Outlaws

[Pelican Press 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

Lessons From Star Wars Outlaws

Like many Ubisoft titles, Star Wars Outlaws trusts a familiar stealth system with an open world formula that eagerly braves the horizons of a lived-in Star Wars universe. In doing so, it asks players to sneak around multiple factions, steal things and take down different kinds of enemies.

This gameplay loop may feel a tad bit similar to Watch Dogs, but your trusty companion this time around isn’t a smartphone. Rather, he’s an adorable merqaal called Nix. He’s sharp, cute, funny and a victim of Star Wars Outlaw’s saturated stealth mechanics that often take its beautifully crafted world for granted.

The World Isn’t Fond of You, but It Shouldn’t Be Your ******

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Stealth can often feel one-dimensional in Star Wars Outlaws. Image Credit: Ubisoft

Sneak in, hide, steal. That’s pretty much the course of objectives you’ll be following in most of the forced-stealth scenarios in Star Wars Outlaws. Fortunately, all of this can feel much more interesting when these environments become a playground for you to use Nix’s sly skills.

But, this is also where the game struggles a bit. Not everything is climbable. You can’t use every object or tool against that soldier who, for some reason, stands in the corner of nowhere despite having nothing to protect (except the promise of a career in security and surveillance).

In an ideal scenario, even small spaces would feel like tiny open worlds when the possibilities were endless. Instead of repeating the age-old, “let’s press this button to check who’s around” gameplay loop and hiding behind walls, Kay could instead find non-linear ways of getting things done.

If you’ve been a fan of the Hitman games, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Poisoning someone’s food, placing a trap, disguising as someone else, and breaking into a trigger-happy rampage are all viable options in the game are part of that experience.

Star Wars Outlaws does some of it, but also restricts it by adding punishing gameplay mechanics. Which brings us to the next big pain point in the game’s design philosophy.

You’re the Disturbance in the Force, but They Don’t Care Much

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

Even though there are heavy consequences in the game, it doesn’t matter much in the long-run. Image Credit: Ubisoft

You’ve been sneaking in a restricted area, unlocking vaults and stealing resources. Nix is right by your side, and no one knows about it! Even though the little guy has run past seven different individuals, and even stolen items from some of them. All of that is forgiven, but if they catch a glimpse of you, even for a second, it’s game over.

Out of sight, out of mind. And then, no one will ever remember you, so you can restart things all over again. In all honesty, that’s lazy. That’s a saturated gameplay loop. It’s one thing to restart a mission all over again, but it’s another to have it as a “punishing” mechanic for ******* stealth tactics.

Detections can lead to alarms and shootouts, inducing feelings of anxiety and panic within the player. That’s alright! Because Kay is allegedly smart enough to find another way of doing things.

If there is, indeed, a need to ask players to be perfect with their silence, then make it feel more rewarding. More ways of taking out a player. Better ways to gather intel.

Hey, maybe we could do the entire interrogation thing from Splinter Cell, where enemies become human shields as you as they give out important information. After all, stealth and intel-gathering are a major focus in Star Wars Outlaws, so it’ll make sense to have something like this.

AI Can Be Flawed, but Not Utterly Ignorant

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==

When will they ever learn? Image Credit: Ubisoft

You know what makes a stealth system rewarding? When you can outsmart AI. In Star Wars Outlaws, that’s hardly ever the case, because most of the ****** types you encounter have the attention span of a Gonk droid.

A realistic AI system ensures that it learns from the player’s movements and stays cautious of noises and disturbances. Keeping aside the fact that Kay can slap Stormtroopers with her bare hands despite them wearing helmets, enemies can eventually start being more careful as the game progresses.

This was a big deal in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, where guards would eventually start wearing helmets because the player had an obsession for ******** enemies with headshots. Similarly, Star Wars Outlaws’ enemies can take cautionary steps keeping Kay and Nix in mind.

Overall, there could have been many aspects of Star Wars Outlaws’ stealth systems that made it more rewarding, believable and fun. Despite these flaws, the game is still enjoyable and Ubisoft can perhaps take these lessons seriously rather than using done and dusted gameplay loops that keep stealth mechanics so stale.

What are your thoughts on the game’s stealth system? What are certain improvements you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments below.

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

#Lessons #Star #Wars #Outlaws

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up