Playing as Kay Vess, the main character in Star Wars Outlaws, you must work in the thriving underworld to accomplish your goals. Because Kay's adventures take place between The empire counterattacks And Return of the Jedi, the underground world is growing strongly. The Empire is focusing its efforts on finishing off the retreating Rebel Alliance. While many moons and planets were under Imperial occupation, its main focus was finding the Rebels. Kay must take advantage of the criminal underworld, which led developer Massive Entertainment to create a Reputation System, which reflects her standing with the criminal organizations she interacts with.
Reputation
After Zerek Besh's Sliro places a bounty on her, Kay must work toward her goal of pulling off the ultimate heist that will bring freedom to her and her companion Nix. Navigating the underworld of Star Wars, Kay interacts with four corporations, each with its own leader. Jabba the Hutt is the most iconic leader of the Hutt Cartel, but Kay is also on par with Lady Qi'ra (whom many people know from Emilia Clarke's role in Solo: A Star Wars Story) of Crimson Dawn, Queen Ashiga of the Ashiga Clan (a new organization formed in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games), and Gorak of Pyke Syndicate.
Massive Entertainment wanted to create a game in which you must navigate an underworld where, as a scoundrel, you live and die by your reputation. You can improve your standing with the cartels by taking on jobs, performing missions, and making choices that benefit various criminal organizations. If you have a good relationship with an organization, your life will be easier when interacting with them or when you are in their territory.
“We knew from very early on that we wanted to create a story about scoundrels, and we knew that we wanted the game to be about choices and consequences,” said lead systems designer Matthieu Delisle said. “Naturally, reputation becomes the means by which players interact with the game. That's the foundation of the game, and then we build the game around that. So all the features in Games, one way or another, are all connected.” to fame.”
Through having a good relationship with an organization, you will have access to more jobs to take on, better deals and special stocks at stores, high-stakes Sabacc boards, information, rumors and more access to that organization's territory. Not only that, if you get into trouble with another organization and find yourself being chased, an organization you have a good relationship with can jump in and help you escape. But it's never that simple; Massive assured me that as a scoundrel, you will get into trouble.
Although I didn't understand how difficult the balancing act was, an example emerged. in my practice demo has proven that sometimes your choices will force you to choose sides. During my demo, I found a sensitive video file showing a member of the Pyke Syndicate seeking to overthrow Gorak. Kay's original plan is to take it to the Pyke Syndicate leader to get a pretty penny and increase her standing, but when she switches gears when she discovers the evidence, the client is revealed. is a member of Crimson Dawn. Kay thinks they might be very interested in that sensitive data, so the player is given a choice of who they want to entrust the video file to, with Kay's reputation with that organization being affected by Crimson Dawn. Since the newcomer was standing with the Crimson Dawn, my next mission was a bit easier as the Crimson Dawn guardians allowed me to step directly into their territory.
“It's really a matter of choosing whichever organization benefits her at the moment,” says senior systems designer Alice Rendell. “Players really have the power to decide how they want to balance their reputation throughout the game. You can go all in on an organization, but obviously there's a risk of offending the others or you have maybe try playing the overworld a bit more and try to find something a bit more balanced.”
But reputation is designed for ups and downs. Your reputation with an organization can be affected by making decisions against that organization or through your actions. For example, if I entered an area of an organization's territory that I wasn't authorized to be in and was discovered, Kay's reputation would suffer. Likewise, if you are detected by a security camera or you raise an alarm, your reputation will suffer. In one order, I alerted the Pyke Syndicate to my presence and began piling up bodies; I haven't tested my reputation with Pyke Syndicate too much, but I think I'll have to do some work to mend that relationship.
However, even if there are transgressions against the Pyke Syndicate on their territory, you will never be completely cut off from any faction. After all, you are dealing with criminal organizations who are primarily interested in how you can benefit them. If they think you are the right person for the job, they will still let you work for them.
“How people around the world react to Kay will vary depending on reputation, but it is very transactional,” Rendell said. “This isn't a friendship, so it's still 'Okay, can Kay help you right now?'”
Want
But Kay doesn't just have to manage his reputation with the Hutt Cartel, Pyke Syndicate, Crimson Dawn and Ashiga Clan. Although they are both key figures in the criminal underworld, during this time period between The empire counterattacks And Return of the Jedi, the Galactic Empire is said to be at the peak of its power. Although they are largely distracted in their relentless hunt for Rebel Alliance members, if you get in their way or violate their rules, they won't ignore you for long.
Because the Empire holds such power, you have no measure of reputation with them. Instead, the Empire will react to you based on your wanted level. If you violate enough rules, your wanted level will increase. The more wanted you are, the worse the Empire makes your life.
More imperial troops join your hunt as your wanted level increases, with the maximum level summoning elite enemies to hunt you down. You can try to hide to lower your wanted level, but the higher your wanted level, the longer it will take the Empire to stop looking. You may also encounter corrupt Imperial officers who can accept bribes or in the worst case scenario, participate in a challenging event in the world at maximum bounty to make the Empire turn back to you.
I didn't get a chance to test the Wanted System at all, nor did I get a chance to really push the Reputation System beyond the standard interactions and failed stealth sequences in my demo, but I felt it working. I was excited to see how the system responded to player choices, especially when I asked creative director Julian Gerighty if there was a way to maximize the reputation meters of all players. organization or not, he said, “Not that I haven't been able to find.”
The Reputation system feels like an essential piece of the rogue video game puzzle, and if it can deliver in every way Massive touts it, then it's the element of Star Wars Outlaws I'm most excited to play together. Really, if it can provide the level of player and system flexibility for an adventure like this but required, then we're in for an incredible adventure when Star Wars Outlaws comes out. out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on August 30.
