A big gameplay leak for Star Wars Outlaws has done wonders for my Ubisoft showcase fatigue—it's actually given me a new hope

GamesActionStar Wars OutlawsA big gameplay leak for Star Wars Outlaws has done wonders for my Ubisoft showcase fatigue—it’s actually given me a new hopeWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Ubisoft)

Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws has, like alot of Ubisoft games nowadays, sprung a big leak—around 13 minutes of gameplay all told, with a few more clips out there showing off space combat.Ubisofthas naturally nuked the very bold YouTube upload into low orbit, but it remains pretty easy to find yourself if you’re interested.

While leaks are never exactly ideal—and sometimes come withpersonal informationattached, risking the safety of devs—this one isn’t exactly the end of the world for Ubisoft. If anything, it may well help.

Having sat down and watched the 13 minutes of gameplay, it at the very least doesn’t do anything to harm the hype, even if there’s not much to write home about. There’s a bunch of cutscenes, a little driving, some slow-walking around a city—the leaker in question will occasionally even emulate an “official showcase style” sometimes: the unnatural slow-walking and camera-panning no one ever does.

And yet, it’s duly met with my tempered expectations in a way official showcases don’t—especially since they are, naturally, trying to sell you something. There’s a competent open-world action adventure game where you shoot stuff, drive places, and shoot more stuff shown off here. At the very least, the population centres seem lively, colourful, and fun to jog between mission markers in.

Maybe it’s just the fact that it’s aleakwhich adds a bit of salt-of-the-earth mystique. The scripted vignettes of, say, an NPC hucking someone out of a building are actually more charming when I know it’s not just some brewed-in-a-lab, choreographed moment designed to ‘make the world feel more alive’ for prospective buyers. The official Outlaws presentations have been so chemically-engineered to not ruffle any feathers it’s been a hard game to get excited about.

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For my part, I’m cautiously optimistic. I think at the very least Star Wars Outlaws is going to be just fine, a bog standard Ubisoft game with a glossy open world and way too many little whatsits to collect and outposts to “press X to knockout” at. I fully expect to hack into a datapad at some point and be brought to a map screen to watch a dopamine-hit of icons pop up. Bare minimum, it’s nice to be getting more Star Wars games where you’re not swinging a lightsaber around. Now if only Ubisoft could stopfumbling the bag on pre-order nonsense.

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