Star Wars Outlaws’ road to redemption has hit a major milestone today with the release of its first story pack, fourth major update, and long-awaited arrival on Steam. There will be a lot to unpack about the state of Ubisoft’s open-world stealth adventure in the days and weeks ahead but the most important thing to know right now is that the game is ditching its most annoying feature.
At launch there were many missions in Star Wars Outlaws, especially early on, where getting spotted by guards instantly resulted in failure. The word “caught” would flash in giant letters onscreen and you’d be started at the last checkpoint, which was sometimes surprisingly far back. No more. The latest developer diary explaining the game’s post-launch journey details why the developers nixed this feature and replaced it with the option to shoot your way out whenever the need arises.
“Our first step in expanding player choice is removing forced stealth from almost all quest objectives,” recently appointed creative director Drew Rechner wrote over on the game’s website. “This doesn’t mean that sneaking is no longer a viable or even preferable option in some cases. Rather, if you’re caught while sneaking, the objective won’t fail and reset you to the last checkpoint. Instead, you’ll seamlessly transition into combat.”
There are three other important changes that build on this more Deus Ex-style immersive sim gameplay. First, players can now shoot their way through unfriendly syndicate districts instead of being required to sneak through them. Second, weapons picked up and used in the field will remain accessible for a longer period of time. Third, headshots now do additional damage, and players will be able to target specific body parts for bonus damage on other weak points.
Combined, it should all help to grease the wheels for Star Wars Outlaws to feel a bit more natural and free-flowing than it did with its more punishing, stealth-centric framework from a few months ago. The changes are also coming alongside the new Wild Card story DLC that sees protagonist Kay Vess team up with Lando Calrissian to bluff her way through a sabacc tournament on the casino cruiser Morenia.
The new 1.4 title update, out November 21, also improves enemy AI behavior, facial expressions, animations, and more. It’s all part of Ubisoft’s attempt to salvage the game’s poor initial sales and turn it into a long-tail success. The game is currently 25 percent off on consoles through Black Friday as well. You can check out the full patch notes below:
General Gameplay
UI, HUD and Settings
Audio
Cinematics
Camera
Worlds, Fauna and Flora
Photo Mode
Accessibility
Miscellaneous
MAIN & SIDE QUESTS (beware of spoilers)
Toshara
Tatooine
Akiva