In my experience with Star Wars games, I have always believed that Star Wars games work best with a more linear structure. While I found both Star Wars Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order enjoyable, the games shone best in the more linear sections than the large sandbox sections. Star Wars Outlaws dares to be the first major "open-world" game and it is quite a tall order. I am happy to report that Outlaws may have just pulled it off. Star Wars Outlaws knows exactly what it is right from the jump and spends the next 30 hours or so honing to near perfection that feeling of being a slick operator within the underworld. Star Wars Outlaws is a fantastic effort from Ubisoft Massive that showcases the kind of open-world magic Ubisoft was once lauded for in the age of Black Flag and AC II. 

Star Wars Outlaws gracefully and intelligently avoids the pitfalls of the standard Ubisoft open-world experience and delivers a much more manageable set of open-world maps that the player can sink their teeth into without being overwhelmed. It also helps that the game is packed with great writing that provides the character with something interesting to say at all times. Going into Star Wars Outlaws, I could not help but feel a little tentative, given I hadn't particularly enjoyed The Division games by Ubisoft Massive fearing a looter-shooter-type structure. All my fears were quelled mere minutes into the game when I was greeted with some of the most well-done cutscenes, dialogue and an open world that felt inviting. 

Star Wars Outlaws is a definite stone-cold hit in a game franchise that is often more miss than hit. Despite not attempting to reinvent the wheel, the game is packed with fresh ideas on well-worn-out concepts to build an experience that doesn't lose steam throughout its roughly 20-hour runtime. 

Star Wars Outlaws: Double Crossing Your Mates is Fun

Gameplay

For the first time in a very long time, a Ubisoft game finally felt like it benefited from an open-world structure. Kay Vess and Nix's adventures span beyond just the main questline and the best experiences are often found in the game's numerous side quests that come in the form of Faction quests or exploration (plundering) tasks. Ubisoft Massive's decision to implement smaller open-world planets rather than 1 giant map adds the kind of variety and freshness that has been hard to come by in recent years. The game takes place over 4 different planets - Toshara, Kijimi, Akiva, and Tatooine (yes, we're going to Tatooine in Star Wars Media - AGAIN). Each world feels and plays a lot different than the others. While the perenially dark Kijimi is a frosty, claustrophobic cityscape that has you scaling rooftops and navigating narrow streets, Toshara is a mountainous, arid playground that lets you make full use of your Speeder. 

Traversal in Star Wars Outlaws does not reinvent the wheel and neither does combat. Yet, they work flawlessly because they feed into the game's thematic elements to near perfection. Kay Vess is not a Jedi neither a soldier, armed with only her Blaster - your choice of tackling objectives will usually default to Stealth. While you can successfully charge into enemy bases and come out the other end scraped and bruised, it will always be better to sneak around and make away with your objective (usually stealing something or hacking something) without the enemy ever laying eyes on you. Speaking of enemies, ou get to pick yours. While, yes, Imperials are always the bad guys - the game has a total of 4 Syndicates - Pyke, Ashiga, Crimson Dawn, and the Hutt Cartel. Throughout the game, the player can choose to be partial to a Syndicate, which will affect their Reputation level with them.

All Syndicates can offer Kay contracts which she and the player can choose to honor or not. Breaking the Contract usually means picking one Syndicate over the other, resulting in not just a boost in Reputation but also Credits. This creates an exciting gameplay loop that feeds into the thematic elements of the game where Kay is a freelancing scoundrel who works the Syndicates to her benefit. However, pissing off somebody too much creates interesting situations. For most of your quests deal with infiltrating and stealing something - it helps if you're in the good graces of a Syndicate you're just about to steal from. Being good with a Syndicate allows Kay to enter and roam freely in their Districts except for the Restricted Areas. Getting caught in the Restricted Area does not immediately trigger a mission failure (most of the time), but a loss of reputation with the Syndicate that just caught you trying to steal a Datapad or some such.  This adds another level of complexity to the open world as the player can now strategically execute contracts for Syndicates to gain access to their areas that will help them with another quest. 

Combat works pretty standard and so does stealth. However, it is made a lot more interesting with the addition of your companion, Nix. The little Merqaal can complete several tasks, from distracting enemies to trapping alarms and detonating grenades at Kay's command. Stealth feels a lot more involved with Nix and the game makes sure to put Kay in situations that incentivize stealth instead of forcing it on the player. Although there is a lack of variety with enemy bases, having prior of the area you're about to stealth through significantly reduces the challenge. While lower difficulties will offer players a more breezy experience with a decent amount of challenge, the most ideal way to play, I found, was to crank up the difficulty to utilize Kay's entire inventory and Nix's many useful abilities.  While Traversal isn't anything to write home about, it serves its purpose of making going from Point A to Point B a relatively fun experience. The Speeder is fairly enjoyable albeit a little challenging especially when it comes to collisions. Space Combat leaves a little to be desired as the only way you can make the most out of it is by completing certain Expert requirements to add more functionality to your spacecraft. 

While the open world on the planets is where you'll find most of your quests and contracts-  a good chunk of the game unfolds in space. Where it's slightly riskier as enemies will most likely have you outgunned at nearly every turn. Picking a fight is a lot more calculated decision than on the ground and you're more liable to abandon a fight rather than die a slow death by a thousand torpedoes. Ultimately, Star Wars Outlaws is a welcome change of pace from the standard Ubisoft open-world and the most fun I've had playing Star Wars this side of Force Unleashed II. 

Story

Now, to the part that won the most brownie points with me. Star Wars Outlaws, thankfully, stays away from the Jedi and the Sith to tell a more personal story about a relatively lower-powered character. Kay Vess and Nix are two lowly thieves that happen to find themselves in the crosshairs of one of the most feared Syndicates in the galaxy and the only way out is to pull off the greatest heist the Galaxy has ever seen. This puts Kay and Nix on a trajectory to meet interesting crew mates, Syndicate bosses, and nasty Imperials. Like my favourite Star Wars media, Outlaws concerns itself more with the politics of the Galaxy - starting interesting conversations around the grey-ish moralities of the Rebel Alliance and who pays the cost for an uprising. 

Class warfare and politics form the backdrop of Kay's story while the Syndicates take centre stage. Through the course of the game, Kay builds a reputation that has Syndicates chomping at the bit to use her services, which she can then use to her advantage. Although it did feel like Kay came off more naive and blue than I would have liked in the start, I am happy to report that the game does have a solid arc for her as she comes into her own towards the end of the game. While the game touches on similar themes previously explored in other media (most notably in Guardians of the Galaxy), the game buys enough goodwill from the player to excuse some of its telegraphed twists and character betrayals. 

One of the only complaints I had with the story was the villain - Sliro. Even though the character was deeply underdeveloped, he always had something interesting to say, thanks to the game's fantastic writing. The same goes for some of the other grey characters like our "handler" - Jaylen Vrex. The game's standout characters included Kay, the BBX Unit Commando ND-5 and a/trigger-happy Hutt bombmaker Ank Each character is given a key backstory that adds a ton of depth that I wasn't quite expecting, which helped me invest in the crew a lot more than I had anticipated. 

The game's best story moments happen in your dealings with the 4 Syndicates and your choices will help shape tip the power balance in one's favour over the other. One of Star Wars Outlaw's best feats comes in the form of not overly relying on the member berries. While, yes, there is the odd cameo and reference that will get a dry chuckle out of you, they do not overstay their welcome. Star Wars Outlaws charts its legacy and leaves players with a Star Wars story that could be considered one of the best in the years to come. 

Presentation and Technical 

I played Star Wars Outlaws on a PS5, and for the most part, the game looked pretty serviceable on Performance mode. While cranking it up to Quality meant the lighting and textures were significantly improved, it didn't feel good enough to sacrifice 30 frames per second. The game also has a Performance RT mode capped at 40 frames per second, which is a sweet balance between the two modes. The game also lets you play in the CInematic 21:9 mode, which is a pretty neat addition. While it looks like the default way to play the game would be in 21:9, it just didn't feel like I was getting enough information to work with. While fidelity was an issue on the PS5, it helped the environment work was some of the best I have seen in Star Wars. Each area has been worked to near perfection, especially the nebula in the Kijimi orbit or the arid and stark Tatooine. 

Where the game does run into a bit of trouble is on the technical side of things. As the game stands, certain voice lines for characters are repeated at the weirdest moments possible. I had ND-5 ping me about a Sabacc game that I had already finished and won well after it had wrapped throughout the entire game. Thankfully, bugs and other technical glitches didn't get in the way of the overall experience. While it does feel a little rough around the edges, it's nothing that a Day 1 patch probably cannot fix. 

Final Word: Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws is a bright spot in Ubisoft's current game output and stands out as one of the publisher's finest achievements. The game perfectly encapsulates the Space Scoundrel experience that fans have been yearning for since the time Harrison Ford as Han Solo burst onto the scene. This has all the markings of a potentially massive franchise if Massive can capitalize and iterate on the already great Reputation system. It will be interesting to see what the fan response will be towards the game as it would be a travesty if this ends up as the next Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, another solid space sci-fi title that failed to meet publisher expectations in terms of sales.

Given that Star Wars has a massive fanbase, it stands to reason the game is bound to do well financially, considering the quality. Overall, Star Wars Outlaws is a fantastic open-world adventure that gives you pretty much everything you need from a game like this. 

Sega’s popular Virtua Fighter series is set to make a return, the publisher has confirmed, some 18 years after the launch of its most recent numbered installment, Virtua Fighter 5.

Since then, there’ve been numerous updated releases of Virtua Fighter 5 with 2021’s Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown, itself a remaster of the earlier Final Showdown, alongside mobile installments, and even an arcade update for Virtual Fighter 3. What’s missing from the series, though, is a brand-new game.

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What To Expect From Sega’s New Virtua Game

Sega’s new global head of transmedia, Justin Scarpone, has offered some hope in an interview with VGC. "So we have a suite of titles in development right now that fall into that legacy bucket," he explained, "which we announced last year at The Game Awards; Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi."

"And we have another Virtua Fighter being developed," Scrapone added, before covering over the revelation completely, "And then in certain instances, we're also doing animation series, or live-action films to augment that and be part of those roadmaps."

Despite announcing a plethora of legacy game revivals last year - including Crazy Taxi, Jet Set Radio, Streets of Rage, Shinobi, Golden Axe, “and more” - details remain limited. Sega has shared a little about its Crazy Taxi update -- calling it an open-world, massively multiplayer game that’s “AAA” in scope.

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Sega Teases Shadow The Hedgehog Design In New Sketches

One of the best parts of Sonic x Shadow Generations, released last week, is the wealth of music, stories, and art in the game’s Collection. Acquired hidden emblems throughout each stage can be used as keys to unlock treasure chests throughout the White Space central hub zone and, with a quick shift of location, Shadow can check out his history through some wonderful artwork.

Earlier, Hoshino worked as an artist and character designer on several games such as Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic Adventure, and Sonic Heroes. Shadow the Hedgehog as a character was first launched in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2 as the ‘Ultimate Lifeform,’ before appearing in his own standalone game in 2005 where he wields a gun. Hoshino worked as an art director on both projects. With further details provided by Hoshino, the sketches reveal early concepts for not only Shadow’s design, but the proposed weaponry, and bad guy Black Doom.

"I wanted to create a deep, mature story suited to backstory. Shadow was created with the idea of him being a lead character and not just part of a cast of characters," Hoshino tells Eurogamer of working on the Shadow the Hedgehog game, where that promise was fulfilled.

The recent Silent Hill 2 remake will be enhanced for PS5 Pro. Released for PS5 and PC in October, Silent Hill 2 sold over a million copies in its first three days, instantly becoming a huge hit. Soon, PS5 Pro users will be able to enjoy the new version of this classic title.

While some gamers were skeptical of Bloober Team’s ability to remake the classic Silent Hill 2, the game was praised for its combat and atmosphere. With Silent Hill 2 receiving mostly positive reviews from critics, it obtained an average score of 87 on the review aggregate site OpenCritic.

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Bloober Team and Konami Improving The Game

Now, the Silent Hill 2 remake has been tagged as “PS5 Pro Enhanced” on the PS Store, indicating that Bloober Team and Konami have decided to upgrade the game for the launch of Sony’s new console model. Sadly, there are currently no details on how exactly the upgraded version will work.

The current version of Silent Hill 2 for PS5 has both Performance Mode and Quality Mode, enabling gamers to run the game at 1440p with 30fps, or 1080p with 6-FPS, respectively.

Given the scenario, it’s likely that the PS5 Pro Update will make way for greater resolutions and frame rates at the same time. It’s also likely that the Bloober Team will unveil a new Silent Hill 2 update soon to implement these changes.

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When Is The Game Coming To PS5 Pro

What’s surprising about the PS5 Pro Enhanced version of Silent Hill 2 is that it was not properly announced before. Recently, Sony released a list of games confirmed to get PS5 upgrades. While the list included popular titles such as Alan Wake 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7, Rebirth, Horizon Forbidden West, and others, it did not include the remake of Konami’s classic horror game.

The PS5 Pro will break cover on November 7, and it has been a very controversial topic since its original announcement. The console is being released at a hefty price of $700 in the US, and it may be even more expensive in other countries.

Despite the new model offering a 45% faster GPU and advanced ray tracing, the high price prompted a discussion about whether the console was worth it, as a normal PS5 would still run the same games and be considerably less expensive.

Steam Game Recording is officially out of beta and available to all users, giving PC, Mac, and Steam Deck players a built-in way to record and share audio and video from their gaming sessions.

The console joins many other ways PC gamers have been able to record their highlights, including as a feature of tools like the Xbox Game bar, Nvidia GeForce, and AMD’s Adrenalin.

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Valve Updates Steam Game Recording

The version of the Steam client is also the first to drop support for Windows 7 and 8 machines, as well as Macs running macOS 10.13 and 10.14 after the company announced the move at the beginning of this year.

After an automatic update, players can start recording manually using a hotkey or set it to trigger automatically, with options to restrict the length, quality, and storage space that Steam can use. Valve says it works with any game, including now-Steam games that enable Steam Overlay to run. The recording is off by default -- users will find its settings in a new Game Recording tab in Steam’s settings.

The company has updated Steam Game Recording with a handful of new features that weren’t there when the beta period began in June, including adding “advanced” export options and the ability to configure game-specific settings. Valve also added Session View, which includes a “Recordings & Screenshots manager with game-specific tags and data.”

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Valve To Stop Releasing New Steam Deck Models Yearly

The Steam Deck will not be getting yearly updates. At least that’s what one of its designers has suggested. But a Steam Deck 2 will likely happen at some point. During an interview with Reviews.org (via The Verge), Steam Deck designer Lawrence Yang said, "We’re not going to do a bump every year. There’s no reason to do that."

He explained that he thought it wasn’t fair to users to provide only incremental improvements each year. He said, "...we do want to wait for a generational leap in computing without sacrificing battery life before we ship the real second generation of Steam Deck." This aligns with previous statements from Valve. On many occasions in 2023, Valve employees stated that a more powerful Steam Deck would be years away-- late 2025 at the earliest.

Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais explained that part of the Steam Deck brand is that every model can play the same games; Valve doesn’t want to change that until Steam Deck performance gets a significant jump without compromising on the battery life. During the interview, Yang did note that the company is working on a Steam Deck successor.

Users don’t have to take great pains to preserve their Switch to make sure they can still play their favorite games on it years and years from now. Nintendo has revealed in its earnings report that the upcoming successor to the Switch will have backward compatibility and will be able to run games made for the current console.

Moreover, Switch Online will also be available on the Switch 2, which means their saves stored on the cloud will be carried over and they will be able to play NES, SNES, and Game Boy games on the new console.

The company explained that it’s making Switch Online available on the upcoming console because it thinks it’s important for Nintendo’s future to "carry over the good relationship" it has built with its more than 100 million annual playing users to the new device.

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How Will Current Games Work On Nintendo Switch 2

The main way to do this is to make use of the Nintendo Account, which ties a user’s history to one account and allows the company to "maintain a continuous relationship" with them across console generations.

Before the Nintendo Account was introduced, Nintendo had no easy way to carry a user’s history and purchase the next console. "As a result, our relationship with the consumers was interrupted when a new system was purchased," it said.

The company assured to give out more information about the Switch 2 "at a later date," though it didn’t say when exactly. In a recent event where we thought the new console could be launched, Nintendo introduced an alarm clock instead.

Considering its earnings results, it looks like people could choose to wait for the new console instead of buying the current Switch. The company had to downgrade its sales forecast for the fiscal year due to a big decline in console sales compared to the same periods last year.

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Nintendo Switch 2 Launch “Very Unlikely” Before 2025

Nintendo is now “very unlikely” to launch its highly-anticipated Switch 2 hardware this year, a games industry analyst has told Eurogamer. The recent financial results from Nintendo revealed a larger-than-expected drop in hardware and software sales for the current Switch, as the console ages and its release calendar quietens.

The results also passed by without even talking about Switch 2 being shown - and perhaps with Nintendo’s new hardware not due to arrive until sometime in 2025 - for good reason.

During an interaction with Eurogamer, industry analyst Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese game industry consultancy Kantan Games, said any mention of the anticipated Switch 2 now would only further hamper Switch 1 sales during the console’s last holiday season.

Almost a year ago, Rockstar Games released the first trailer for GTA 6, which marks the franchise’s first sequel since Grand Theft Auto 5 in 2013. Fans had been hoping that today’s fiscal report for Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, would include a new GTA 6 trailer.

While that did not happen, Take-Two did confirm that the GTA sequel is still on track for a fall 2025 release. While speaking with CNBC, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick acknowledged that some of the company’s old games have slipped from their planned release dates.

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Rockstar Confident About GTA 6 Launch Timeline

However, Zelnick expressed his confidence that GTA 6 would make its release window. Zelnick also emphasized that the extended development of the game is more centered on enhancing the experience rather than removing out.

"In the case of an extraordinary title, for which there are extraordinary expectations, it's not really about bugs, it's about creating an experience that no one's seen before, and Rockstar Games seeks perfection in what they do," explained Zelnick. "And perfection is indeed hard to measure, it is more subjective than objective."

The company noted in this year’s fiscal statements that GTA 5 has sold 205 million copies to date across all platforms, while Red Dead Redemption 2 had 67 million copies to its name.

Take-Two also revealed that Borderlands 4 and Mafia: the Old Country is set to be released during the company’s fiscal 2026, which should fall between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026. The other upcoming games mentioned by name, CSR Racing 3 and Judas, have no specific release window yet.

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Former Developer Claims GTA 6 Will ‘Blow People Away’

Game designer Ben Hinchliffe has worked at Rockstar Games for over 10 years, and he contributed to games like Grand Theft Auto V, Read Dear Redemption II, and Grand Theft Auto VI before parting ways with the company in 2022. During a recent interview, Hinchliffe briefly discussed GTA VI, saying he believes the game will “blow people away” and be a smashing success when it comes to sales.

"It will sell an absolute ton, as it always does. People will be talking about it for ages afterward, just like they do with GTA 5," Hinchliffe told GTA VI O'clock. "I think they've raised the bar again. They always do, and they have done again with GTA 6."

When asked about what he’s most excited about GTA VI, Hinchliffe said he’s keen on seeing how the game has evolved since he left in 2022. He did not give out any information, as it is expected to be a secretive project. Hinchliffe now works at Sniper Elite VR studio Just Add Water.