Star Wars Outlaws is not only in a world Ubisoft has never visited before, but it is also a Star Wars experience unlike any that has come before it. Set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Outlaws sees the Galactic Empire with its crosshairs on the Rebel Alliance, coincidentally resulting in a thriving criminal underworld. The story follows Kay Vess, an outlaw scoundrel whose only allies are a creature companion named Nix and a droid called ND-5, as she and her friends attempt one of the biggest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen. Although Star Wars Outlaws may be different from anything before it, however, its gritty tone and absence of Jedi and lightsabers are reminiscent of the now 10-year-old canceled Star Wars title Star Wars 1313.
Star Wars 1313 is a canceled third-person action-adventure game set on the 1313th level of the metropolitan world of Coruscant in which the player would take control of a bounty hunter who would eventually be defeated by Boba Fett. At that point, the player would assume control of a young adult Boba Fett for the remainder of the game, navigating the criminal underworld of Coruscant’s Level 1313 in order to uncover a criminal conspiracy. Unfortunately, on April 3, 2013, not six months after Disney had acquired Star Wars, they scrapped all LucasArts projects, and that included Star Wars 1313. Now, Star Wars Outlaws looks poised to take up the mantle of 1313 and deliver a somewhat similar experience.
Perhaps one of the most significant features of Star Wars Outlaws is that there are no Jedi and no lightsabers, as it stands currently. The core of Outlaws’ combat and progression mechanics seems to lie in Kay’s blaster and her tools. She may have special abilities that she can perform, but she is probably not a Force-user, so these abilities will probably be limited to more practical skills like setting traps and the ability to command her creature companion Nix.
As Star Wars 1313 was about Boba Fett, it would have also foregone the stereotype of Star Wars games being all about Jedi and the Force. In fact, it was confirmed that 1313’s combat would largely involve Boba’s use of his blaster and tools to fend off his foes, so it would have likely included some sort of progression system that centered around upgrading his blaster and gadgets. In the same way, Outlaws has decided to leave the Jedi behind and pursue a path similar to the one that 1313 began paving over 10 years ago.
