As fun as it is to sneak aboard an Imperial ship and torment a bunch of stormtroopers with your creature companion, Star Wars Outlaws is not without its frustrations. Some of the biggest come early in the game, as plucky hero Kay Vess is forced to spend her time hiding behind all manner of space crates in stealth sequences that can’t be skipped. Fortunately for anyone who’s yet to start the game, Star Wars Outlaws’ stealth gameplay is set to get a lot more manageable very soon.
Creative director Julian Gerighty recently called one of Star Wars Outlaws’ early missions “incredibly punishing,” telling GamesRadar+ that “that is a mistake, and this is something we’re going to work on improving.”
“We just don't want it to feel unfair,” Gerighty said. “And today, I think it feels unfair. And believe it or not, this wasn't our intention. This is more of something that crept in in the last week or so, and that we're correcting already for a patch that's coming out maybe in 10 days."
Gerighty didn’t say specifically what will be changed in the upcoming patch, but says it won’t be simply scrapping the stealth sections altogether. He hints that the developer could cut down the number of enemies in affected areas and explain the change through new dialogue.
“The context will change, just so that we can get people to enjoy those moments as much as possible," he said.
It’s definitely possible for developers to lean too hard into patching games to keep players happy. You can’t please everyone, after all, and particularly in popular multiplayer games, the number of players demanding their preferences are catered to can trap studios in a cycle of constant rebalancing that ends up pissing everyone off in the end. But with Star Wars Outlaws, the strategy makes a lot more sense. As a single player game, there’s no intricate character balance to maintain, and fans have been pretty united in the idea that something needs to be done about stealth.
Star Wars Outlaws is first and foremost about marinating in Star Wars vibes. Yes, it’s got space battles and blaster fights, massive expanses to glide your speeder through, and a boatload of minigames to keep you occupied. But most of that isn’t especially groundbreaking, nor would it feel out of place in any other Ubisoft game. The difference is that this time you’re doing it all in the world of Star Wars, a massively popular franchise that’s had people wishing they could live inside it since they were kids swinging broomsticks at each other and making lightsaber noises.
In that context, it makes a lot of sense to just listen to what players are saying and make changes without being too precious about the details. Does anyone’s Star Wars fantasy involve crouching behind crates until stormtroopers pass by so you can flip a switch behind them? Probably not, and at any rate, having to repeat the same action over and over because you keep getting caught just gets in the way of getting the experience they all signed up for.
It’s even easier to justify making big changes when it’s a stealth section that’s getting altered. I’m sure there are people out there who love having to interrupt their fun space battles to sneak around guards for a while. I mean, there have to be, right? Otherwise, why would these levels keep getting put into games? It makes some sense from a design perspective to get players used to stealth mechanics early on, since they’ll become useful in combat later, and making it mandatory to learn the ropes ensures that everyone has that skill before moving on. But for the vast majority of players, these sequences are just a speed bump on the road to their Star Wars adventure. So if you’ve been waiting to dive into Star Wars Outlaws and want to have an easy go-around with its first few hours, just hold off for a few more days and you may have a significantly better time.
