Star Wars Outlaws was far from a perfect game. It suffered from some major technical issues at launch, its overreliance on mandatory stealth sequences got old very quickly, and its combat mechanics needed some tweaks. But there was still plenty to like about Star Wars Outlaws, especially for die-hard Star Wars fans. On paper, Star Wars Outlaws should have been the dream game for many Star Wars fans, with it offering a sprawling adventure set across multiple open-world planets that finally let fans live out their dreams of being a smuggler in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. After plenty of patches and updates, Star Wars Outlaws is much closer to delivering that ultimate Star Wars fantasy fulfillment, and it lays some strong blueprints for another type of Star Wars scoundrel simulator.

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Star Wars Outlaws Should Pave The Way for a Star Wars Bounty Hunter Game

Star Wars Outlaws Lays Some Strong Foundations for a Bounty Hunter Game

The opening of Star Wars Outlaws saw players diving head-first into the Star Wars galaxy’s criminal underworld at the height of its power, between the events of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. As fresh-faced smuggler Kay Vess, players needed to sweet-talk their way into the various criminal syndicates of the galaxy’s underworld, including the Hutts, the Pykes, and the Darth Maul-founded Crimson Dawn. Once in each syndicate’s good books, players needed to slowly make their way up the underworld’s social ladder, earning higher payouts and catching the attention of the galaxy’s most hardened criminals and scoundrels. This narrative and gameplay structure formed the backbone of Star Wars Outlaws’ moment-to-moment gameplay, and it’s a blueprint that could translate well to a bounty hunter adventure. Much like a smuggler like Kay Vess, a bounty hunter would need to begin their career by meeting with various guild leaders and carrying out any dirty work they needed doing. To advance in their field of work, a bounty hunter would need to follow a similar trajectory to Kay Vess’, taking on jobs of increasing scope and severity until they were working for the most fearsome underworld leaders in the galaxy. These jobs would see them heading to a new planet, questioning local sources, and hunting down their bounty before the competition beats them to the punch. Generally speaking, Star Wars Outlaws’ gameplay formula would work well with a bounty hunter protagonist.
The Desire for a Star Wars Bounty Hunter Game Is There

Bounty hunters have been some of the most popular Star Wars characters since their mainstream introduction all the way back in 1980’s Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. That shot of Boba Fett, Bossk, 4-LOM, Zuckuss, Dengar, and IG-88 on the Executor’s bridge is still one of the franchise’s most iconic, sparking imaginations by showing not only that bounty hunting is a prevalent profession in the Star Wars universe, but that it’s a profession that’s home to some storied characters. Thanks to Jango Fett and The Mandalorian, bounty hunters have remained some of the most popular characters in Star Wars media. But despite being so popular, only a handful of games have attempted to capture the gnarly profession. 2002’s Star Wars: Bounty Hunter is probably the most well-known example, and while its capturing mechanics were fun, they took a bit of a backseat to the game’s run-and-gun action. Many Star Wars fans are still longing for a proper, fully-fledged Star Wars bounty hunter game that puts tracking and capturing targets at the forefront of its gameplay loop and narrative.

Star Wars Outlaws

7/10

Released

August 30, 2024

ESRB

T For Teen // Violence, Simulated Gambling, Mild Language

Publisher(s)

Ubisoft, Lucasfilm Games

Engine

Snowdrop