Over the weekend, Ubisoft announced that in 2024 it would release the world’s first open-world Star Wars game: Star Wars Outlaws. Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, it follows a scoundrel named Kay Vess, who has to pull off the heist of her life.
It won’t hit gaming consoles or PC until next year, so one might assume the trailer released with that announcement would be enough for now. Not so fast. Today, just a day after announcing the game exists with a teaser trailer, Ubisoft has released some gameplay footage, taking users through some of what they’ll experience come 2024.
The new footage follows Kay on the planet Toshara as she infiltrates, and hastily escapes from, a syndicate garage, delivering a mix of traditional stealth and shooter gameplay as well as some fun vehicular speeder bike chases. There’s some cute Star Wars flavor to it all, as Kay can change her blaster bolt type on the fly, or use her little furry companion Nix—voiced by Clone Wars and Bad Batch veteran Dee Bradley Baker—to distract and harass her foes.
There’s some interesting story threads shown off too, like Kay meeting her Battle Droid companion, ND-5, and a meeting with a Mon Calamari information broker that sets Kay across the paths of the Empire… and of course, as with any good smuggler, Kay’s attitude leads to her needing to flee the planet and the Empire’s interests.
It’s all very Star Wars—and the promise of being able to travel between worlds in your own starship and run jobs however you want is very compelling—and for once it’s interesting to see a modern Star Wars game that is seemingly eschewing a focus on anything that’s particularly Force or Jedi-related in the time of the Empire. Let’s hope the promise keeps up as we get closer to Star Wars: Outlaws’ release in 2024.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
