With early access fast approaching for those who pre-ordered the Gold and Ultimate Editions, the hype forStar Wars Outlawsis at its peak as only days remain for those who have waited since it was first teased in 2021.Star Wars Outlawstakes the coveted title of being the first open-worldStar Warsgame, starring scoundrel Kay Vess and her adorable companion Nix. For those who dream of exploring the galaxy much like Han Solo was once known for doing,Outlawsis a dream come true while Jedi fans are left behind for once.
Indeed,the Jedi Order and the Force take a backseatfor once in thisStar Warsadventure, instead letting fans fight their way through with punches, a blaster, and careful player choices with all the freedom Massive Entertainment can allow. It might not be what some fans are expecting out of aStar Warsgame, though. However, Massive Entertainment told Game Rant in a recent interview that these choices were made for good reason, and serve to makeStar Wars Outlawsinto a great background event for an iconic part of the franchise’s timeline.
Star Wars Outlaws' Lack of Jedi is About the Timeline Rather Than Breaking the Mold
It’s no secret that the Jedi and the Force are iconic toStar Wars, as it’s almost impossible to find someone who doesn’t know what a lightsaber is or the phrase “May the Force be with you,” so the idea ofleaving them out of aStar Warsgamemight naturally sound surprising to those not intimately attuned to the franchise. Thus, using these for power fantasies in games is a thought that’s gone into many different video games for the series, butStar Wars Outlawshas a very important reason for leaving it out. According toOutlaws' narrative director Navid Khavari, it was more important to tell a different story that also kept the overarching timeline intact.
“It was really important to us to tell a story that is really focused on characters who not only aren’t part of this epic galactic unrest, but who especially would have no experience with the Force or the Jedi. It’s important to remember the time period as well, where the Jedi and Force users are all but eradicated in the galaxy, so it’s not really our story to tell.
For us, the journey of Kay, Nix, and ND-5 navigating the criminal underworld through cities bustling with scoundrels, an open world filled with exotic wildlife, or jumping into dogfights with the Trailblazer brings an immersion into the Star Wars galaxy that we feel players will have never experienced before.”
Outlawstakes place during the original trilogy of films, particularly betweenThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi. The choice of when the game takes place was suggested by Lucasfilm itself, and Khavari jumped at the chance to allow this important pocket of time toadd toStar Wars Outlaws' experience. Khavari mentioned using this particular time period made it easy to tell a new story as well as offer extra context to the story fans already knew.
The Literal Grounded Nature of Star Wars Outlaw’s Story
As the space opera is the main focus of the episodic movies for good reason, Massive Entertainment thought it was rather “liberating” to push that to the background andstill tell aStar Warsstory. Massive has the help of Lucasfilm behind it for this project after all, so the development team has room to deliver something new while not being disrespectful to what came before. Khavari enjoyed the idea of “being able to focus on characters on the ground, who have nothing to do with that conflict.”
The approach Massive Entertainment took with Lucasfilm’s blessing is most certainly unorthodox, but it sheds light on animportant aspect of theStar Warsuniversethat not every project under the franchise’s belt is brave enough to tackle, and that’s the sheer size of the planets and galaxy that there is to work with. With this in mind, there’s no better character to represent the story inOutlawsthan Kay Vess, whose future players get to shape as she does all she needs to earn a better life, regardless of what Luke Skywalker and other iconic legacy characters are up to at the time.
