The Ultimate Star Wars Fantasy Is Now On Game Pass
Outlaws to the end.
One of the most iconic scenes in the Star Wars saga is the moment Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker meet famed smuggler Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina. We learn everything we need to know about this slimy rogue within minutes of his first appearance. He’s seated in the corner of the dank watering hole, hiding from the law and waiting for an opportunity to make some quick credits. He smugly celebrates our heroes overpaying for his services. And before he leaves the bar, he murders an old rival looking to collect the bounty on his head.
In the first film, Han is the viewer's window into the ruthless, gritty side of Star Wars. The festering criminal underbelly that thrives on the outskirts of the galaxy and just under the nose of the Empire. And in 2024, Massive Entertainment made a game that turns a woefully underrepresented part of the Star Wars universe into a fun open-world crime game. And this week, it joins Xbox Game Pass at long last.
Star Wars Outlaws is essentially the Han Solo simulator we didn’t know we needed. You play as petty thief and aspiring career criminal Kay Vess, a young girl looking to climb the ranks of infamy and make some cash along the way. When a heist on an Imperial leader’s home goes wrong, her big break makes her a wanted criminal. To stay ahead of the Empire, she works odd jobs for the warring criminal syndicates to ensure her survival.
Kay Vess is a pretty good pilot who knows her way around speeders and ships.
Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Outlaws is a game about slipping through the cracks of oppression. The Palpatine’s grip is strong across the galaxy, and you must do everything in your power to weasel your way out of sticky situations.
Outlaws does a great job showing you the glamorous and bumbling idiot sides of this lifestyle. One minute you’re smuggling contraband across the galaxy, assassinating high-profile targets, and infiltrating Imperial bases. The next, you’re blowing your cover in front of a legion of Stormtroopers with no other options but to flee with your tail between your legs. It feels doggedly faithful to Star Wars in a way that would make Han Solo proud.
You aren’t just using your slippery tactics against the empire either. Kay must manage her working relationship with the three biggest criminal organizations, Crimson Dawn, Hutt Cartel, and Pyke Syndicate. Working for one means working against the interests of the other two, and it's often on the player to decide how the chips fall. Will you be a cordial freelancer who honors the parameters of the job at hand? A gun for hire who always acquiesces to the highest bidder, even if that means breaking a promise in the most inopportune moment? Or a vengeful desperado who holds grudges against those who’ve screwed you over?
These decisions have consequences, too. Screw over one of the syndicates too many times? They’ll shoot you on site when you show up to any of their bases of operations. This will work against you when a client asks you to nab an item from them. Inversely, if you have good standing with them, they’d probably do you a solid and simply hand it over if you ask, saving you time and bullets.
Outlaws manages to be more than just Grand Theft Auto in space in one major way. It’s also one of the coolest ways to experience the Star Wars universe. In typical Ubisoft fashion, Outlaws’ open worlds are stunning. From the snowy mountainous peaks of Kijimi, to the wet tundras of Akiva, and the barren deserts of Tatooine, this game is the closest thing to a Star Wars theme park short of visiting Galaxy’s Edge in Orlando.
You may come across a few familiar faces in your journey through the criminal underworld.
There are plenty of fantastic Star Wars games, but few of them give you a sense of immersion the way Outlaws does. As Kay, you’re leaning against bars ordering drinks, playing high-stakes games of Sabacc, or enjoying the local cuisine with your adorable furry companion Nix. Best of all? You get to sit in the back of cantinas, listening to conversations for job leads, hoping that an old mark and his doe-eyed teen company will be willing to overpay you for a simple transport job.
Star Wars Outlaws lets you fulfill the fantasy of being the lowest of the low in galactic society. You get to stick it to the fascists, betray powerful mobsters at a whim, and get one over on those who’ve screwed you over. It’s why this underrated open-world adventure is the most compelling addition to Xbox Game Pass this month, one that we wholeheartedly recommend to all Star Wars fans subscribed to the service.
