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Star Wars Outlaws Review: Does It Deliver the Scoundrel Fantasy?

Star Wars Outlaws brings syndicate jobs, Nix-assisted improvisation, speeder rides and cantina diversions together in a familiar open-world structure. Here’s how well its scoundrel fantasy lands—and what Switch 2 players should know.
Length5 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Star Wars Outlaws is at its best as a tour through the life of a resourceful Outer Rim outlaw: take risky jobs, cultivate or burn criminal connections, explore unfamiliar places with Nix, and slip away on a speeder or the Trailblazer. Its strongest asset is the way those systems and diversions evoke a lived-in Star Wars underworld. The trade-off is that the open-world structure can feel familiar rather than revolutionary, and the cited performance evidence applies only to the Nintendo Switch 2 version.

What kind of Star Wars game is it?

Star Wars Outlaws is an open-world action-adventure starring Kay Vess and her companion Nix. Ubisoft places its story between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi: Kay is trying to secure her freedom and a new life while navigating the criminal syndicates of the Outer Rim. The game was developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft; Ubisoft lists its original release date as August 30, 2024. Ubisoft’s game page describes its mix of exploration, high-risk missions, stealth, gadgets, blaster combat, speeder travel and ship dogfights.

Those features are a design promise, not proof that every mission feels like a daring outlaw caper. The useful question is whether they work together to make Kay’s life feel improvised and precarious, rather than like a set of unrelated activities.

Does it make you feel like a scoundrel?

Reputation gives jobs a criminal context

Kay takes work from syndicates, and reputation can change as she deals with them. That premise makes the fantasy more specific than simply being a rebel with a blaster: jobs have consequences for her standing among competing criminal groups. Creative Director Julian Gerighty described Kay’s story as “a survival story” in a June 10, 2024 StarWars.com interview. He also said, “The real outlaw gameplay comes when you look at it as a whole and you experience all of these things.” That is the intended connective tissue—contracts, piloting, smuggling and relationships—not a claim that each system alone is novel.

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#1 Best Overall
Star Wars Outlaws - Limited Edition (Amazon Exclusive), PlayStation 5
  • Only at Amazon Limited Edition Content - The Rogue Infiltrator Character Pack includes cosmetics for Kay and Nix.
  • Discover a galaxy of opportunity. Explore distinct locations with bustling cities and cantinas. Race across sprawling outdoor landscapes on your speeder. Each location brings new adventures, unique challenges, and enticing rewards if you’re willing to take the risk.
  • Experience an original scoundrel story. Live the high-stakes lifestyle of an outlaw. Turn any situation to your advantage with Nix by your side: fight with your blaster, overcome enemies with stealth and gadgets, or find the right moments to distract enemies and gain the upper hand.
  • Embark on high-stakes missions. Take on high-risk, high-reward missions from the galaxy’s crime syndicates. Steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy’s most wanted. Every choice you make influences your ever-changing reputation.
  • Jump into the pilot seat. Pilot your ship, the Trailblazer, as you engage in thrilling dogfights with the Empire and other foes. Find the right opportunities to chase, evade, and attack to get the upper hand.

Stealth and improvisation are part of the pitch

The official feature list pairs stealth with blaster combat, gadgets and Nix’s ability to help create distractions. That combination suits a protagonist who is meant to survive by using the situation around her, not by overpowering every opponent. The practical appeal depends on how much room a given encounter leaves to choose between sneaking, using a gadget, directing Nix or fighting openly; the available independent review evidence here does not establish how consistently missions support those approaches.

Travel and diversions make the setting feel inhabited

Kay’s speeder connects ground exploration with the wider world, while ship travel and dogfights aboard the Trailblazer extend the fantasy into space. Ubisoft’s launch guidance encourages players to look for points of interest in space as well as on the ground. The result is a broader outlaw itinerary than a string of shootouts: find work, listen for leads, travel, and follow opportunities beyond the main mission.

Rank #2
Star Wars Outlaws /PS5
  • LIMITED EDITION CONTENT* The Rogue Infiltrator Character Pack includes cosmetics for Kay and Nix.
  • Explore distinct locations with bustling cities and cantinas. Race across sprawling outdoor landscapes on your speeder. Each location brings new adventures, unique challenges, and enticing rewards if you’re willing to take the risk.
  • Live the high-stakes lifestyle of an outlaw. Turn any situation to your advantage with Nix by your side: fight with your blaster, overcome enemies with stealth and gadgets, or find the right moments to distract enemies and gain the upper hand.
  • Take on high-risk, high-reward missions from the galaxy’s crime syndicates. Steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy’s most wanted. Every choice you make influences your ever-changing reputation.

Small activities help sell that rhythm. Ubisoft highlights Kessel Sabacc, Fathier races and arcade machines, while Gerighty said it was important to include “a lot of different types of experiences for the players to discover.” These diversions reinforce the sense of stopping in a cantina or taking a chance on a local game. They do not, by themselves, make the main missions more open-ended.

How does exploration work?

Ubisoft’s August 2024 launch article recommends visiting cantinas for rumors and characters, listening in on conversations for story clues and stash locations, and seeking out experts who teach skills. That guidance points to a world where observation and curiosity can pay off alongside following marked objectives. The official page also emphasizes exploring varied locations, so the appeal is as much in moving through the setting as in completing contracts.

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Rank #3
Sale
Star Wars Outlaws Gold Edition (PS5)
  • PRE-ORDER BONUS* Pre-order to get the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack including a Trailblazer spaceship cosmetic and a speeder cosmetic.
  • GOLD EDITION CONTENT* Play up to three days early with the Gold Edition, which includes the base game and the season pass.**
  • Explore distinct locations with bustling cities and cantinas. Race across sprawling outdoor landscapes on your speeder. Each location brings new adventures, unique challenges, and enticing rewards if you’re willing to take the risk.
  • Live the high-stakes lifestyle of an outlaw. Turn any situation to your advantage with Nix by your side: fight with your blaster, overcome enemies with stealth and gadgets, or find the right moments to distract enemies and gain the upper hand.
  • Take on high-risk, high-reward missions from the galaxy’s crime syndicates. Steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy’s most wanted. Every choice you make influences your ever-changing reputation.

For players who enjoy being nudged toward discoveries rather than receiving every answer upfront, rumors and overheard conversations give exploration a fitting outlaw logic: information is something to acquire. For players who want a radically different open-world structure, one independent assessment offers a useful caution. Dashiell Wood’s Nintendo Switch 2 review for TechRadar says the game is appealing to Star Wars fans seeking a large open world, but does not reinvent the Ubisoft open-world formula. That is Wood’s assessment of the game, not a measured consensus across reviewers.

How does Star Wars Outlaws run on Switch 2?

TechRadar’s Dashiell Wood reviewed the Nintendo Switch 2 Gold Edition, with the review marked first reviewed in January 2026. He reports a 30 fps target, generally stable performance and rare stutters in particularly busy action. Those are observations of the Switch 2 build in that review; they should not be taken as a benchmark for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, other versions, or later patches.

Rank #4
Star Wars Outlaws Limited Edition (Exclusive to Amazon.co.uk) (PS5)
  • PRE-ORDER BONUS* Pre-order to get the Kessel Runner Bonus Pack including a Trailblazer spaceship cosmetic and a speeder cosmetic.
  • LIMITED EDITION CONTENT* The Rogue Infiltrator Character Pack includes cosmetics for Kay and Nix.
  • Explore distinct locations with bustling cities and cantinas. Race across sprawling outdoor landscapes on your speeder. Each location brings new adventures, unique challenges, and enticing rewards if you’re willing to take the risk.
  • Live the high-stakes lifestyle of an outlaw. Turn any situation to your advantage with Nix by your side: fight with your blaster, overcome enemies with stealth and gadgets, or find the right moments to distract enemies and gain the upper hand.
  • Take on high-risk, high-reward missions from the galaxy’s crime syndicates. Steal valuable goods, infiltrate secret locations, and outwit enemies as one of the galaxy’s most wanted. Every choice you make influences your ever-changing reputation.

Wood found that handheld play disguises some visual cutbacks more effectively than docked play. In docked mode, he used a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller; the review does not establish that one is required. Ubisoft lists PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 digital platforms, but storefront availability can vary by region, so check the store for the platform you intend to use.

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Which edition and access option should you consider?

Edition contents and availability can change, so check the live store listing for your region before buying. Ubisoft’s official page describes Gold and Ultimate upgrades with Season Pass content including Wild Card, A Pirate’s Fortune, Jabba’s Gambit and cosmetic bundles. The TechRadar review says the Switch 2 Gold Edition includes the major post-launch DLC. The included content may differ across platforms and editions; compare the exact listing rather than assuming the Gold label means the same bundle everywhere.

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Ubisoft’s page also describes a free three-hour gameplay demo. Treat that as the stated duration of the demo, not an estimate of how much of the full game it covers. It is a sensible way to assess whether the stealth, exploration and open-world rhythm suit you before committing to a purchase.

What accessibility options are available?

Ubisoft’s May 15, 2025 accessibility spotlight documents options across gameplay, audio, visuals and interface. The publisher notes that exploration, stealth, combat, ship flight and speeder systems use different controls. Presentation Director Damien Belleville said, “Star Wars is for everyone, so we tried to design the game in a way that as many people as possible can enjoy.” Ubisoft says it incorporated workshops, external specialists and user research in developing accessibility features.

For Switch 2 specifically, Wood reports a dedicated accessibility menu, a handheld HUD scaled to 150% by default with large text, and settings or presets addressing gameplay, cognitive, color, vision and hearing needs. Those details are from his review of that version; menus and defaults should not be assumed identical across platforms.

Verdict: a convincing outlaw setting, a familiar open-world frame

Star Wars Outlaws gives its scoundrel fantasy a coherent set of ingredients: syndicate jobs and reputation, stealth and Nix-assisted distractions, speeder and ship travel, and diversions such as Sabacc and Fathier betting. Its appeal is strongest for players who want to spend time in a broad Star Wars underworld and enjoy discovering its people, rumors and side activities. Its central qualification is the familiar open-world structure: the setting and outlaw premise may be the draw even when the formula is not new. On Switch 2, TechRadar’s review offers a favorable recommendation while reporting a 30 fps target and occasional stutters in intense scenes; that view is specific to the reviewed build.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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