Star Wars is obviously one of the largest franchises out there. The universe and all of its lore has continued to expand over the years, making it one of the biggest and untapped sandboxes in so many ways.

An open-world adventure then where you play a space rogue, dodging imperial elites, playing crime bosses off one another, and surviving blaster fights in tight spaces, seems like a dream for any Star Wars fan.

After sinking a lot of hours into it, I can say that while it’s not perfect, Star Wars Outlaws is one of the most engaging open-world games I’ve played in a while.

The game manages to focus its lens on the smaller-scope mundane parts of its universe to deliver a stealth/exploration mix that hits just like Watch Dogs 2and I think it will become just as much of a cult hit in time.

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Developed by Ubisoft Massive, who developed The Division series, Star Wars Outlaws feels like a culmination of everything Ubisoft at large has learned about building engaging open worlds, without some of the more comical or tiresome pitfalls (yes, you can breathe easy, there are no Ubisoft towers here).

If you take a moment to just wander the map, from the towns in each planet to the wider open areas, it really does pass the vibe check.

It’s been a while since I’ve played a game like this that made us simply want to explore and breathe in the surroundings. From walking through the bustling markets of Akira to strolling around Toshara’s Grazing Fields at night – with shooting stars in the sky and planets’ reflections in the water – it all feels like a real, living place from the Star Wars universe.

Star Wars Outlaws kicks off with a more focused, personal story – one that definitely feels like it’s taken some inspiration from the Solo movie – with you playing as Kay Vess, a wise-cracking rogue doing her best to survive until crossing the wrong person forces her to leave her home planet with a huge bounty on her head.

After making things much worse, Kay is roped into a big heist – the biggest she’s ever known – in order to pay her debts and clear her bounty, leading you to explore the galaxy in search of a crew.

It’s not about powerful, world-ending villains – not a Darth in sight – and feels like a lower-stakes story to begin with, but as the current run of TV shows like Andor have proven, the people-on-the-ground stories can hold a lot more interesting experiences than you may first imagine.

As you explore the universe and toe the line with gangs in the criminal underworld, you’ll need to take on work to keep yourself afloat and find key information. Every job tends to give you the opportunity to double-cross one gang for a bigger payout, better rewards or simply to improve relations with an enemy clan.

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Crimson Dawn, the Pykes and the Hutts are your main potential allies. Keep them happy, you can wander their hideouts and enjoy access to special vendors and story beats, but aggravate them too much and you can be sure they’ll shoot on sight.

It’s nothing too complicated to understand, and the relationships are always in flux such that it’s never too difficult to get on a gang’s good side again, but you’ll be surprised how difficult the decisions become as you never know if upsetting one right now will make key missions later on that much more difficult to pull off.

As I mentioned before, there’s something about it that made us feel like Star Wars Outlaws has an air of Watch Dogs 2 in space. It’s fun, bouncy and makes us want to listen in on the interactions happening around us.

It’s not big and bombastic in the same way as other games in the same universe like Jedi: Survivor are. You’re not a powerful Jedi using the Force to perform massive feats in the heat of battle.

Every fight, whether it’s against two imperial guards or an entire base filled with Stormtroopers, feels like a fight to the death and can turn at a moment’s notice. That feeling of bumbling through situations and battles and fast-talking your enemies to get the drop on them feels authentically action-comedy. The Han Solo of it all rings through.

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Speaking of battle, one thing that seems to have surprised a lot of people is just how stealth-focused Star Wars Outlaws is. Sure, you can charge in with your blaster and pick up enemy weapons to even the odds a little. But you’re not invincible, and it’ll only take one or two decent hits to take you down – and a significant chunk of your credits with it.

If you do feel brave enough to take on the imperial fleet head on, know that they outnumber you and you can quickly find yourself surrounded. Plus, if the alarm is triggered and your wanted level rises, you’ll be greeted with plenty of reinforcements flying in on their speeders to double down on your demise.

So, stealth is the better option in most cases. Fortunately, Kay has her best friend Nix to hand, a merqaal who turns out to be the ultimate weapon for a thief. He can distract and attack guards, so Kay has an opening for a good takedown, as well as set traps and steal items. Anything you need, Nix usually has something to offer.

This is the core gameplay loop that ends up becoming so addictive – sneaking into an imperial base and waiting for the right moment to move from cover to cover, all while distracting guards, setting off explosions to distract them, and slipping out with the loot unnoticed .

Kay’s relationship with Nix is ​​a fun and well-thought-out part of the experience, too. You can equip gear for Nix to change his look, and then there are cute mini-games to experience that are fun little relationship builders. Play Star Wars Outlaws for a few hours, and you’ll soon realize you’d take out an entire space station if anything happened to your furry pal.

Outside of enemy bases and city walls, the rest of each map is free to explore by speeder, a hover bike that feels weighty. But you’ll feel like a badass hitting the boost and flying off a ramp to get away from bandits and Stormtroopers.

You can’t steal any vehicle you see unfortunately, but the ability to modify Kay’s speeder kind of makes up for it as you build on its performance and deck it out in trinkets to show off your successes (a Stormtrooper helmet hanging off the side sends a warning to others, I feel).

Now, the game is not perfect. This is a rough-around-the-edges experience in many ways. I found plenty of bugs during my playthrough, including one that saw Kay falling through the floor of an imperial base each time I tried to use my goggles. Some of the NPCs’ AI leads to some rather funny encounters, including at one point a line of Stormtroopers driving off a cliff one by one as I stood by and watched.

But overall, these issues didn’t really impact my time with the game, and I just couldn’t wait to spend more time exploring.

Outlaws is a Star Wars story worth experiencing. There’s a fun story with some engrossing world-building and stealth exploration to be had if you give it a chance, and I really hope the team at Ubisoft Massive gets a chance at fleshing things out even more with a sequel.

Platform reviewed on: PlayStation 5

Star Wars Outlaws is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.