Highlights
- Star Wars Outlaws looks to offer a different experience from Star Wars Jedi, with protagonist Kay Vess as a scoundrel surviving under the rule of the Galactic Empire.
- While Kay relies on her blaster pistol, it would be exciting if she could wield a lightsaber temporarily for a unique gameplay experience.
- The inclusion of a lightsaber in Star Wars Outlaws could be a thrilling and valuable element, whether it's obtained through a black market merchant or discovered and used in self-defense before it is discarded.
Star Wars games have been hitting all the right notes lately as they accurately land on gaming trends and manage to exceed the expectations of the IP nowadays. Indeed, any excitement regarding Star Wars before Andor was looking fairly dim, and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi franchise was able to pull the franchise free from that perilous sarlacc. Fallen Order offered an intriguing narrative for refugee Padawan Cal Kestis while Survivor expands that story to encompass the High Republic. Now, Ubisoft’s open-world Star Wars Outlaws looks to carry the torch for Star Wars games.
Based on the surprising amount of gameplay shown, Star Wars Outlaws looks to offer a polar-opposite experience from Star Wars Jedi. Kay Vess is no Jedi herself and is instead a scoundrel hoping to survive the Galactic Empire’s rule like any other creature in the galaxy, and in her efforts it looks like players will encounter many criminal syndicates and possibly be forced to make some egregious decisions in order to scrape by. Kay will likely rely on her blaster pistol, but similar to how Cal could wield a blaster in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, it would be neat if Kay could wield a lightsaber in Star Wars Outlaws.
Star Wars Outlaws Should Let Kay Wield a Lightsaber, if Only Momentarily
Ever since Fallen Order it was clear that Cal would not be a traditional Jedi. His need to flee as a youngling and grow up on his own meant his only goal was survival, and with a tarnished connection to the Force it is surprising that he was able to recount any of his abilities or lightsaber training when he needed to go toe-to-toe with the Second Sister on Bracca.
Then, in Survivor, Cal is much more in-tune with himself and picks up some new lightsaber stances along the way. One of these stances allows Cal to wield a single-bladed lightsaber in one hand and a blaster pistol in the other, giving him a swashbuckler’s finesse as he mixes pistol whips and lightsaber thrusts with long-ranged shots. This stance was easily the most unique of the five available in Survivor, and was also the one that most succinctly portrayed Cal as an atypical Jedi.
There is a theme in Survivor that lends a bounty hunter or scoundrel aesthetic to Cal, whether players don certain cosmetic outfits or wield the blaster itself, and that helped to make him more dynamic. Still, while Cal is able to wield lightsabers and Force abilities in the Star Wars Jedi franchise, Kay will be taking on the role of a full-blown scoundrel in Star Wars Outlaws. There is no need for Cal to assume this kind of aesthetic as a result, but it would be exciting if Outlaws had a spin on Survivor by letting Kay use a lightsaber, if only temporarily.
It would be fun to have a lightsaber available at a black market merchant, for example, or found on a corpse somewhere. Outlaws takes place between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, meaning a lightsaber could be a hot commodity and sell for a lot of credits if fans wished to pawn it as well.
Finding and wielding a lightsaber could also be a scripted sequence where it is used for self-defense before Kay discards it or it is lost, which would let its inclusion be thrilling while also not overstaying its welcome. On the other hand, Outlaws could leave lightsabers to the Jedi who wield them and stick to Kay's blaster and fragmentation grenades instead.
Star Wars Outlaws releases in 2024 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
