As someone who doesn’t care much for open-world games (stay with me) and a proud Star Wars hater (please stay with me), I’ve felt pretty indifferent about Star Wars Outlaws. Other than thinking everyone’s crazy for acting like Kay Vess isn’t hot, the discourse around this game isn’t moving the needle for me. Even the microtransaction drama, which I’m typically happy to be on the front line for, hasn’t got me riled up. If you expect nothing, you can never be disappointed.

But then I read Game Informer’s interview about Outlaw’s space gameplay, and suddenly I’m ready to suit up and jump in the ring with the rest of Star Wars’ bravest warriors. I might be a hater, but I love space combat games - including Star Wars ones - and the way the developers described Outlaws’ outer-orbit gameplay has me feeling intrigued, apprehensive, and ready to get in online screaming matches with Star Wars super fans.

No one has actually played this part of the game yet, and there’s no footage to go off of, but art and world director Benedikt Podlesnigg and creative director Julian Gerighty described what it’s like to Game Informer. Outlaws’ planets and moons have explorable zones within their orbit where you’ll be able to fly around, explore, and complete side missions. Gerighty says “We wanted to have an orbit around it with lots of different points of interest, things to do, battles to get in, places to explore.” If you exit the orbit of one planet you’ll hyperdrive to the orbit of the next, so you’re never drifting out in empty space, but rather jumping from one hand-crafted zone to the next.

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Based on the descriptions, last year’s Everspace 2 feels like a good comparison for what Outlaws is going for. If so, that would be great news, because Everspace 2 is fantastic. When I reviewed it, I compared it to an expansive open-world RPG like The Witcher 3. Instead of focusing on dogfighting and acrobatic flying like a lot of space sims, Everspace 2 is full of puzzles, secrets, and small quest chains with interesting stories and characters. When Gerighty describes Outlaws’ spaceflight as “accessible, fun, and action-packed”, I immediately think of Everspace 2’s modernized ship controls that feel more like controlling a character in a third-person shooter than the usual, complicated flight controls in games like Elite Dangerous or Rebel Galaxy.

That type of gameplay might fit Outlaws the best, but Star Wars also has a long, rich history of space combat games that shouldn’t be entirely ignored. The ‘90s X-Wing games were some of the first PC games I ever played. I learned how to use a Joystick before I ever touched a mouse, and older Star Wars fans (and even anti-fans like myself) have a strong attachment to the more action-focused, demanding space combat. I’ve been obsessed with Star Wars Squadrons since it came out in 2020, and it’s still my favorite combat-focused space sim.

The point is, I’m expecting a lot from Outlaws’ space gameplay. A combination of Everspace 2’s approachable exploration and Squadrons’ combat is something I’ve been hoping to see for a long time now, and Outlaws could be the game that finally pulls it off. So far, I’ve managed to avoid joining the chorus of online gamers complaining about a new Star Wars game, but if Ubisofts doesn’t make the exact game I want exactly the way I want it, well, let’s just say the strongly-worded tweet is already in my drafts.

Next: Star Wars Outlaws Could Be The Cowboy Game I’ve Been Waiting For