The third and final DLC for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope arrives this month, and for developer Ubisoft Milan it involves the return of an old friend.
26.07.2023 - 16:07 / gamesradar.com / Julian Gerighty / Be An
Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty says the upcoming open-world game won't follow in the footsteps of modern Assassin's Creed titles as a "200 or 300-hour epic unfinishable RPG."
Speaking with our friends at Edge Magazine earlier this month, Gerighty said that a "crude analogy" would put the average Star Wars Outlaws planet at around the size of "two to three zones" in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. He added that Outlaws is not taking the "epic 'the whole of England recreated' approach" we saw in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and that the game will be "manageable in size for both the player and developer at Ubisoft Massive."
While those quotes suggest Outlaws will be reasonable in size, the comparisons to recent Assassin's Creed games - along with publisher Ubisoft's other recent titles being downright exhausting in scope - have had fans concerned that it still might be too big.
Gerighty tells IGN that fans shouldn't be worried. "Our objective is to really get people into a very dense, rich, open-world adventure that they can explore at their own rhythm," Gerighty says. "So it is absolutely not a 200 or 300-hour epic unfinishable RPG. This is a very focused action-adventure RPG that will take people on a ride and is very manageable."
Ubisoft has become synonymous with open-world games over the years, and that unfortunately that includes the genre's tendency toward being bloated with checklists full of dull, menial tasks. Just do a quick search for Assassin's Creed on HowLongToBeat for an example. The beloved Assassin's Creed 2 takes around 26 hours to beat, even with some side content. In the most recent game, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, that estimate is 96 hours. I could watch 20% of One Piece in that time!
The Outlaws devs recently noted that the game's open world is built to offer players "full freedom of approach," which is certainly a more promising line than 'more content than you could ever possibly hope to see.' They've also explained their decision not to include free-flying above the game's planets, and revealed that you're going to be able to betray Jabba the Hutt if you want. Look, Jabba didn't kill Han, right?
Of all the reasons to be excited, maybe the most promising bit about Star Wars Outlaws is not being a Jedi.
The third and final DLC for Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope arrives this month, and for developer Ubisoft Milan it involves the return of an old friend.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor publisher Electronic Arts has announced that Respawn is working on a port for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One during an earnings call that took place earlier today. The game launched back in April earlier this year exclusive to the PS5 and Xbox Series X as Respawn wanted to make the title a "true new-gen experience", but it now looks like the developer is making a port for those that don't own current-gen hardware just yet.
If you were worried that Star Wars Outlaws was going to end up being an infinite Ubisoft timesink ala Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, the developers at Massive Entertainment want to put you at ease, noting that the experience will be «very manageable».
Ubisoft knows its way around compelling open worlds, but Star Wars Outlaws is shaping up to be one of its biggest and most densely detailed yet. As previously announced, each planet in the release will be fully explorable, with enough open space to give you a meaningful sense of adventure. And the French publisher is handcrafting every one: there’s no procedural generation.
Ever wondered what kind of nightmarish, extraterrestrial smoothy you could whip up with the disgusting liquids that barbarian Luke Skywalker was always chugging down? It might not actually taste that bad; as dedicated fans well know, George Lucas had a bad habit of making things sound worse than they actually are (see "Jizz" as an example of this, the specific kind of space-jazz employed by the Max Rebo band).
In some circles of videogameland it's common wisdom that more is better—I remember a quaint time when 30 hours was a «long» game, but today's big budget releases have been pushing that boundary well into the triple digits. In a recent interview with IGN, though, two Star Wars Outlaws devs promise to buck that trend with a «dense» and «rich» game that doesn't wear out its welcome.
In a recent interview, developers at Massive outlined the size and scope of Star Wars Outlaws stating that the title is «not a 200 or 300-hour epic unfinishable RPG.»
While Ubisoft’s last few releases have been more miss than hit, the future is slightly better, thanks to titles like Star Wars Outlaws. Developed by Ubisoft Massive of The Division fame, it’s an open-world third-person shooter starring Kay Vess, who pursues the scoundrel lifestyle across numerous planets.
Despite its open world, Star Wars Outlaws won't be a «300 hour epic unfinishable RPG». Phew.
If you haven’t noticed, Ubisoft has been doing quite a bit recently to showcase how well it can do and how far its reach is. Right now alone, it’s working with some of the biggest IPs in the world to create games set in their worlds and universes. The one that many are the most excited about is Star Wars Outlaws. The game will take place during the original trilogy but focus on the seedy underbelly of the galaxy far, far away. Adding to its fleshed-out premise is the fact that you’ll be able to do things both on the ground, in vehicles, and up in space.
If you’re a fan of the Star Wars franchise, then you might understand that there is a dark underbelly in the galaxy. Most might instantly think of the Jedi and Sith as being the focal point. But those that are not Force-sensitive have other areas to worry about. We know that there are a few criminal syndicates that thrive in this galaxy, with the Hutt Clan being one of the more notoriously known. However, if you dig deeper into the franchise, you might come across other notable crime syndicates citizens are fighting back against or aligning with. You’ll find that these criminal syndicates will play a big role in Star Wars Outlaws.
One of the reasons that Star Wars Outlaws intrigued gamers from the moment it was revealed was that, on the surface, it looked like no other game set in the galaxy far, far away that we had seen before. Primarily, games from this galaxy focus on the Jedi/Sith or are based on the movies that have come out. Oh, or are LEGO versions of those films. Just saying. This game from Ubisoft is in a much different position because it focuses on the smuggler Kay Vess, who is trying to obtain her freedom and start a new life for herself.