We recently got our first look at Star Wars Outlaws, and in the gameplay trailer we got a glimpse at what could be an especially intriguing aspect of the player experience.
After Kay Vess steals from the Pyke Syndicate and makes her escape on a speeder bike, there’s a pop-up on the screen alerting the player to the fact that their “Pyke Syndicate Reputation” had dropped. Then, later, after Kay gets on the wrong side of the Empire, a warning flashes on-screen that she’s now wanted. It all drives at how players will interact with different factions and will have differing experiences based on how these interactions go.
“When dealing with syndicates, you’re going to have choices, which will affect your reputation with them,” creative director Julian Gerighty told Game Informer, speaking of this mechanic. “[In the gameplay walkthrough], we saw that your reputation took a ding because you were recognized while infiltrating and stealing something from the Pykes. Your decisions will influence your reputation based on how you want to play the game. […] Good reputation leads to more access, access to the faction territories, better store prices, and exclusive missions and contracts. But if you get on [the faction’s] bad side, they’re going to send people after you.”
He also spoke to how players will get to choose responses, like we see Kay do in her conversation with the Imperial agent, that help shape these scores. But I’m a big fan of this concept, as it opens up tons of choices and decisions to be made that affect the gameplay experience. The choices that players make will have a direct impact on their reputation with various syndicates, which is very much what it would be like for a scoundrel in-universe.
Star Wars Outlaws will release in 2024 on next gen platforms and is developed by Ubisoft in partnership with Lucasfilm Games.
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