Every video game developer has its own set of trademark features and fallbacks that it knows it can rely on, and uses to immediately tell audiences who created the game. Naughty Dog has its realistic visuals, weighty character animations, and focus on narrative, while Activision's Call of Duty studios have perfected the run-and-gun FPS formula. While some studios' trademark features are more subtle, some aren't, and Ubisoft definitely belongs in the latter camp, with even high-profile licensed games like Star Wars Outlaws probably not safe from the company's now-infamous open-world formula.
Ubisoft has been in the video game industry for almost four decades now, and in that time, the publisher/developer has put out countless titles. But in more recent times, Ubisoft has become mostly known for its library of open-world action-adventure games, encompassing popular franchises like Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, and Ghost Recon. But while each of these franchises has its own unique set of features, they all share the same general open-world formula, with a heavy reliance on crafting materials, gear, and watchtowers that unlock part of the map, and fill it with a slew of icons. And though this formula has its merits, Star Wars Outlaws needs to approach it very carefully.
Star Wars Outlaws Needs to Approach Ubisoft's Open-World Formula Carefully
The Ubisoft open-world formula has garnered a fairly divisive reception over the last decade. Though Ubisoft was adopting this same formula back in the late 2000s with titles like Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, it reached its final form with 2012's Far Cry 3. And while this formula broke new ground back in 2012, it's looking a little stale a decade later. Ubisoft has continued to use the same formula for almost all of its open-world action-adventure games since 2012, and with practically no significant innovations or additions to it in that time, many fans are sick of it.
Star Wars Outlaws is set to be the first truly expansive open-world Star Wars game, but with Ubisoft at the helm, things could easily get a little too formulaic. The Ubisoft open-world formula isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it should only act as a jumping-off point for Star Wars Outlaws, giving the game a basic structure to begin with, and allowing it to build its own unique identity from there. Star Wars Outlaws can use all of the usual Ubisoft open-world mechanics, but it needs to put its own spin on things to keep it all fresh.
A perfect example of this is the concept of watchtowers. Almost every open-world Ubisoft game of the last decade sees players climb some kind of tower, activate some kind of beacon at the top, and reveal a portion of the map, filling it with an onslaught of side activity icons at the same time. While this concept isn't bad in premise, with it being a rewarding way to encourage players to search the whole open-world, it's gotten very stale over the last 10 years, and Star Wars Outlaws needs to mix things up a lot if it plans on using a similar system.
A great way to do this is by having each watchtower in Star Wars Outlaws offer a unique gameplay experience, such as a stealth mission for one, a firefight for another, a space battle or speeder chase. These watchtowers can also be baked into the lore of the Star Wars Outlaws galaxy, being Imperial outposts that need to be broken into and their comms hacked. This same practice can be applied to a whole slew of common features found in Ubisoft's formula, such as crafting materials now being used for a range of genuinely worthwhile upgrades for Kay Vess' ship, gear, and weapons. All Star Wars Outlaws needs to do is take Ubisoft's open-world formula, and put a few twists and enhancements on it.
Star Wars Outlaws is coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2024.
