Let the Merqaal Win
A review of “Star Wars: Outlaws”
Star Wars: Outlaws has its fair share of flaws: an underdeveloped protagonist, a shaggy and seemingly aimless narrative, and enjoyable but under-utilized gameplay mechanics. But the game is too much fun in general and too charming in the right ways to pass up. It’s still very much worth playing, especially for Star Wars fans—whether casual or die-hard.
Outlaws gives players an opportunity to explore the seedier side of the Star Wars mythos as Kay Vess, the likeable if not-quite-fully developed player character who begins the game as a relatively small-time scoundrel scratching out a meager existence on the casino world of Canto Bight. A job goes wrong, forcing Kay and her endearing animal companion, Nix, on the run across the galaxy, dodging ruthless crime syndicates and the Galactic Empire while assembling a new crew for a big score that will cancel the contract put out on Kay. That could be the beginning of a compelling story, but Outlaws doesn’t quite deliver—it keeps the stakes fairly low and the narrative mostly light-hearted throughout.
The best way to describe Kay herself is Han Solo if he never met Luke Skywalker back on Tatooine in the original movie. Her motives for a life of crime are fuzzy; she was raised in an outlaw milieu and it’s always what she’s been. She has mommy issues that are quite reasonable and as a result not terribly compelling: her mother left her to fend for herself at a young age for the sin of befriending Nix during a botched job. Kay’s hostile attitude toward her mother when she appears in the narrative makes perfect sense, and though they’re back on speaking terms by the end of the game she desires no real reconciliation with her mother.
Kay does clearly have a code and sense of compassion, however. She’s no mere criminal, and voice actor Humberly González deserves praise for bringing that aspect of the character to life. It’s something that comes through in Kay’s relationships with her crew and most of all with the true star of Outlaws: Nix.
A loyal, resourceful, and adorable merqaal—a new and welcome addition to the already-extensive Star Wars bestiary—Nix and his relationship with Kay elevate Outlaws above and beyond its otherwise pedestrian story. A cross between a faithful canine companion, a fine feathered friend, and an axolotl, Nix serves as Chewbacca to Kay’s Han Solo: the cuter and scruffier half of an inseparable duo. Nix and his relationship with Kay stand at the heart of the game, lending needed emotional heft to Kay’s own otherwise lackluster character narrative.
When it comes to gameplay, moreover, Nix occupies an essential niche. His small size and agility mean he can reach places Kay can’t, while his fierceness and ability to scamper about allows him to distract and attack enemies when directed. More than that, though, Nix is at the center of the best—and most criminally underused—mechanic in the game: sharing meals with Kay on each of the four available worlds the player can visit throughout the game. It’s a quiet, delightful moment that bonds the player and Nix while also granting Nix new skills to use during combat. Though these skills don’t really add much to combat gameplay, they’re acquired in a fun and clever way.
No wonder, then, that I was ready to go full John Wick on Jabba the Hutt after his syndicate kidnapped Nix on Tatooine. Not to worry, though: Kay rescues him before Jabba can get his slimy hands on him—just not in the blasters-blazing manner I would have found eminently satisfying.
Beyond this core relationship, however, Outlaws also provides a refreshing and unintentionally subversive take on the conflict between the Empire and the Rebellion that defines the Star Wars mythos. Where virtually every other bit of Star Wars media set in the time period of the original cinematic trilogy has its protagonist eventually seeing the light and joining up with the Rebels, Kay remains resolutely indifferent to the great galactic struggle throughout Outlaws. She’s willing to work with the Rebellion, but otherwise has no real interest in getting involved with their fight—and she and the game itself stand out for that very reason. Ultimately, Kay is just too busy trying to make her way through the galaxy, scraping by with the help of her companion Nix and her new shipmate ND-5, a reprogrammed prequel-era battle droid.
And though Outlaws remains largely unencumbered by big, nostalgic cameos by characters from either the original or prequel trilogies, it does throw the original film into interesting relief. Luke Skywalker may have been a whiny farmboy when we first encounter him in A New Hope, but he nonetheless manages to bring out the best in Han Solo by the end of the movie. There’s no Luke to pose a similar moral challenge to Kay in Outlaws, so she just keeps moving down her current path of galactic banditry—albeit with a code and a conscience.
All the same, it’s a path I’m eager to pick up again as downloadable content for Outlaws releases over the next several months. It’ll be a fine way to distract ourselves from the chaos that’s already setting into our national politics—just expect a fun time when you play Outlaws and you’ll be amply rewarded.