Kay Vess, lovable scoundrel and star of Ubisoft’s upcoming action adventure game Star Wars Outlaws , has a data spike shoved through her ponytail like a number 2 pencil. Alongside Kay at all times is her adorable companion Nix, a Merqaal that can help her snag hard-to-reach objects or distract enemies by running in front of them and playing dead. When repelling down ledges with Kay’s grappling hook, he’ll hop on her back and peer down with excitement while panting.
On crime-hub planet Mirogana, neon signs inject bright pops of color into dark, seedy alleyways, droids cook strange foods at little stalls, and citizens enjoy some back-alley gambling. As Kay walks through this bustling world, a Mon Calamari asks for some credits to feed his gambling problem. Throughout my nearly hour-long time with Outlaws, there’s so much lovely Star Wars texture like this that I frequently catch myself just staring at things rather than playing.
But there is a lot of playing to do here—Outlaws is a third-person open-world game that features gunplay, stealth mechanics, dogfights in space, platforming, and more. My hands-on demo was on rails and I was still somewhat astounded by how much Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment have packed into this game. I was able to play three missions during my Star Wars Outlaws hands-on, each of which had a 20-minute timer.
One required Kay to escape an Imperial ship and dogfight some TIE fighters, another saw her platforming her way around a derelict Hig.
