The coolest feature in Star Wars and Ubisoft's open-world formula, best exemplified by its Assassin's Creed releases in recent years. It brings people, places, and lore concepts from the wider Star Wars franchise to bear on common mechanics employed in many a Ubisoft title, like enemy outposts, quick takedowns, and cover-based stealth.
But it's more than just Assassin's Creed with a Star Wars coat of paint: Star Wars Outlaws includes a set of unique features all its own. These serve to make its world more immersive, or to give players extra options for completing its toughest stealth challenges. Not all of them, however, realize their full potential. One new mechanic (while not unique to Star Wars Outlaws, certainly not common in Ubisoft's overall output) has enormous untapped potential, but is ultimately wasted by the end of the game.
Star Wars Outlaws' Reputation System Could've Been So Much Cooler
Siding With The Pykes, Crimson Dawn, Hutts, Or Ashiga Clan
Star Wars Outlaws' reputation system could've had a much bigger impact on the game than it ended up having. As it stands, there are four major factions in Star Wars Outlaws: the Pyke Syndicate, the Crimson Dawn, the Hutt Cartel, and the Ashiga Clan (although only the former three are available at the beginning of the game). Kay starts out with a "poor" reputation with each of them, but, with various acts throughout the game, can eventually level all the way down to "terrible" or all the way up to "excellent".
Incredible Star Wars Outlaws Mod Makes The Game More Immersive Than Ever Before
Star Wars Outlaws fans who want even more immersion in the story of Kay Vess and Nix are in luck because this excellent mod does the job perfectly.
The reputation system is first revealed during the Star Wars Outlaws quest "Underworld," during which Kay can decide to give a key piece of intel to either the Pyke Syndicate or their rivals on Toshara, the Crimson Dawn. She quickly learns that completing tasks for a faction curries their favor, and if she completes enough, she'll be able to level up to the next reputation rank. Each rank-up comes with both material rewards, like equipment, and new privileges, like mission unlocks and access to restricted areas.
The Pyke Syndicate has the best max reputation reward by far: an Imperial Disguise that lets Kay sneak into Empire-controlled territory.
At several points in Star Wars Outlaws, Kay is given an opportunity to choose: should she steal an important blaster part from the Pykes or the Crimson Dawn, or share information with the Hutts or the Ashigas? It might be easier for her to sabotage a faction she's already friendly with, since she won't have to sneak into their territory, but if she's caught doing anything suspicious, she may end up sacrificing an already-good reputation to improve a bad one.
This can create a complex network of inter-syndicate interactions, and is, as reputation systems go, a pretty rich and rewarding one. However, Star Wars Outlaws' reputation system misses every possible opportunity to impact the story, which holds it back in of immersion. Ultimately, all the reputation system changes is what areas the player can access without sneaking, and what rewards they get. Although it's generally easier to damage Kay's reputation than it is to improve it, it's all too easy to meet maximum reputation with all four factions by the end of the game with a little careful stealth, which cheapens the system.
What Happens To Kay Vess In Star Wars Outlaws (& How It Related To Canon)
Star Wars Outlaws features an original story starring Kay Vess, the galaxy’s newest scoundrel. Here’s everything that happens to her during the story.
The factional reputation system does approach actual story impact in a couple of places, which makes the absence of it all the more tantalizing. If Kay gets her reputation high enough with one of the syndicates, they may offer her a high-priority job; if she gets it low enough, they may demand she complete a contract by way of apology, under threat of death.
These are some of the more interesting and worthwhile side quests in Star Wars Outlaws, but at the end of the day, they're just that - side quests. They don't have any meaningful impact on the way Kay's saga develops, or her options for building herself up in the underworld.
[Warning: The following section contains minor spoilers for the ending of Star Wars Outlaws.]
Star Wars Outlaws' Reputation System Could've Affected The Ending More
A Missed Opportunity
Star Wars Outlaws' reputation system doesn't have much of an impact on its story, but does play into its ending. However, the way in which it does is just as unimpactful, and could've been significantly more so. Without giving too much away, at the very end of the game, Kay finds herself in a difficult position. Deep behind enemy lines, she needs help, and it comes in the form of an armada sent by the faction with which she has the best reputation.
The message is clear: it's good to have friends in high places, and the player's actions, surprise, have had consequences. But this twist is unearned, given how unimportant the faction choices consistently feel throughout the plot. And frankly, all that really changes in this ending is the livery of the ships that swoop into Kay's aid, and the person in the pilot's seat. So much more could've been done here.
Every Weapon In Star Wars Outlaws, Ranked
Star Wars Outlaws has a handful of weapons that Kay can pick up temporarily in the heat of battle, although some are worth using over others.
Imagine an ending in which Kay's overall factional reputation determines her future as a scoundrel. One in which she's able to take over an authority position in the syndicate she was closest with, or overthrow the leader of the one she upset most. The game's final boss (or final stealth challenge, as it were) could even be determined by Kay's reputation, forcing her to infiltrate the faction she's in the worst standing with and destroy her permanent record - or even more juicily, infiltrate her best allies without getting caught.
Any of these fine details would represent a massive change to Kay Vess' story, and ultimately make the game's coolest new feature feel like they actually matter. While there's potential for more meaningful faction choices in Star Wars Outlaws' DLC, for now, it'll remain a missed opportunity.
Star Wars Outlaws
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- Top Critic Avg: 75/100 Critics Rec: 67%
- Released
- August 30, 2024
- ESRB
- T For Teen // Violence, Simulated Gambling, Mild Language
- Developer(s)
- Massive Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Ubisoft, Lucasfilm Games
- Engine
- Snowdrop
- Franchise
- Star Wars
- Nintendo Switch 2 Release Date
- September 4, 2025
Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world action-adventure game where players hop into the scoundrel boots of Kay Vess, a woman who travels the galaxy Looking for a better life. Together with her furry partner Nix and new allies she meets along the way, Kay will navigate the various landscapes, towns, and planets across the galaxy while outsmarting both Crime Syndicates and the Empire.
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
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