As Weiss, the protagonist of Star Wars Outlaws, you must operate within a thriving underworld to accomplish your goals. Because Kay’s adventure takes place in between. The Empire Strikes Back And Return of the Jedi., the underworld is flourishing. The Empire is focusing its efforts on eliminating the retreating rebel alliance. Although many moons and planets are occupied by the Imperials, his main focus is to find the Rebels. Kay must exploit the criminal underworld, which led developer Massive Entertainment to create a reputation system, which reflects her standing with the criminal organizations she interacts with.
fame
After Xerek Besh’s Silero turns him on, Kay must work towards the goal of pulling off the ultimate heist to gain freedom for herself and her partner Nix. Navigating the Star Wars Underworld, Kay interacts with four syndicates, each with their own leader. Jabba the Hutt is most famous as the leader of the Hutt cartel, but Kay also crossed paths with Lady Kira (known to many as Emilia Clarke). Solo: A Star Wars Story) of Crimson Dawn, Queen Ishiga of the Ishiga Clan (a new syndicate created in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games), and Gorak of the Pike Syndicate.
Massive Entertainment wanted to create a game in which you must navigate an underworld where, as a gangster, you live and die by your reputation. You can improve your standing with the syndicates by taking jobs, performing tasks, and choosing to favor different criminal organizations. If you have a good relationship with one of the syndicates, your life will be easier when interacting with them or being in their area.
“Very early on, we knew we wanted to do a gritty story and we knew we wanted the game to be about choices and consequences,” says lead system designer Matthew Delisle. “So naturally, credibility came as a means for the player to interact with the game. That’s the basis of the game and then we built the game around that. So, all the features of the game, any Not in any way, connected to fame.”
By having a good relationship with a syndicate, you get access to more jobs to pick up, better deals on shops and special stock, high-stakes sub tables, intel, rumors and more access to that syndicate’s territory. Not only that, but if you get into trouble with another syndicate and find yourself being chased, a syndicate you’re on good terms with can jump in and help you escape. . But it’s never that simple. Mass assures me that as a bully, you will be in trouble.
While I don’t realize how challenging balancing is, an example that came up during my hands-on demo showed that sometimes your choices force you to take sides. During my demo, I came across a sensitive video file showing a member of the Pike Syndicate trying to overthrow Gorak. Kay’s original plan was to take her to the Pyke Syndicate leader to improve her status with a handsome sum of money, but when she turns into what she was doing when she uncovers the evidence, The client is revealed as a member of Crimson Dawn. Kay believes they may have a vested interest in this sensitive data, so the player is given the choice of who they want to hand over the video file to, with the syndicate pitting Kay’s reputation against Crimson Dawn. has gone Because of this new standing with Crimson Dawn, my next mission is a bit easier as the Crimson Dawn guards let me straight into their territory.
“It’s really about choosing whatever syndicate makes the most of it,” says Alice Randall, senior system designer. “It’s really up to the player to decide how they want to balance their reputation throughout the game. You can go all out with a syndicate, but obviously there’s the risk of offending others, or you Can try and find the underworld a bit more balanced.”
But fame is designed to ebb and flow. Your reputation with the Syndicate may be affected by a judgment against the Syndicate or by your actions. For example, if I go into a part of Syndicate territory where I shouldn’t be and am seen, Kay’s reputation will suffer. Likewise, if you’re seen on a security camera or you raise an alarm, your reputation takes a hit. In an impulse, I alerted the Pike Syndicate to my presence and began piling up the corpses. I haven’t had much experience with my reputation with the Pyke Syndicate, but I imagine I’ll have some work to do to mend that relationship.
Still, even with this defiance against the Pike Syndicate in their own territory, you’re never completely cut off from either faction. After all, you are dealing with criminal organizations that are primarily concerned with how you can benefit them. If they think you are the right person for the job, they will still let you work for them.
“The way people in the world react to Kay will vary depending on the reputation, but it’s very transactional,” Randall says. “These aren’t friendships, so it’s still very much, ‘OK, can I help you at this moment?'”
Was wanted.
But Ki doesn’t just have to manage his reputation with the Hit Cartel, the Pike Syndicate, Crimson Dawn, and the Ashiga Clan. While they are all key players in the criminal underworld, the period in between The Empire Strikes Back And Return of the Jedi.The Galactic Empire is at the height of its power. While they are largely preoccupied with their constant pursuit of members of the Rebel Alliance, if you get in the way or break their rules, they won’t ignore you for long.
Because the Empire has so much power, you don’t have the reputation meter they have. Instead, the empire reacts to you based on your desired level. If you break enough rules, your desired level increases. The more wanted you are, the worse the empire makes your life.
More Imperial troops join your quest as your wanted level goes up, with more and more elite enemies being summoned to hunt you down. You can try hiding to lower your required level, but the higher your required level, the longer it takes for the Empire to finish the quest. You may also encounter corrupt Imperial officers who may accept bribes or, in the worst case scenario, participate in a challenging in-world event at the maximum desired level to get the Empire off your back.
I didn’t get a chance to experiment with the intended system at all, nor did I get a chance to go beyond the standard interactions and stealth sequences of my demo, but I got a feel for it in practice. . I’m excited to see how the system reacts to player choices, especially when I asked creative director Julian Garrity if there was a way to maximize the reputation of all syndicates. “Not that I’ve been able to find,” he says.
The reputation system feels like an integral piece of the roguelike video game puzzle, and if it can deliver in all the ways that Massive touts, it’s an element of Star Wars Outlaws that I’m excited to play with. If it can truly provide the level of player agency and flexibility the systems require but such adventures, we should be in for an incredible adventure when Star Wars Outlaws hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. But will arrive in August. 30.