How Star Wars Outlaws’ Handcrafted Planets Sets It Apart…

Summary

Handcrafted planets in Star Wars Outlaws allow for a more vibrant and immersive galaxy, emphasizing storytelling and gameplay over procedural generation.
While fewer, the size and attention to detail of each planet in Star Wars Outlaws may rival that of two regions in Assassin's Creed Odyssey, offering rich environments and opportunities for adventure.
The handcrafted worlds in Star Wars Outlaws facilitate more engaging missions that take advantage of each planet's unique geography and layout, avoiding repetitive quests and adding depth to the game's universe.

As more details have slowly become available about Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars Outlaws, one recent announcement that caught the attention of many players is that each of the game’s planets would be handcrafted. This decision to go with handcrafted worlds for Star Wars Outlaws stands in contrast to the procedurally generated planets populating Bethesda’s Starfield and should allow Ubisoft to create a more vibrant, lifelike, and lived-in galaxy than its fellow open-world sci-fi title. Star Wars Outlaws and Starfield are wildly different in terms of both scale and scope, but this key difference between the two titles’ in-game planets could prove to be a boon for Ubisoft.

As a result of handcrafting each planet for Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft will be able to tailor every location and encounter to emphasize storytelling and gameplay rather than relying on procedural generation to hopefully create encounters that feel engaging. This extra attention to detail should pair particularly well with the game’s universe, allowing for unique worlds and missions that feel true to the franchise’s roots and ensuring that scoundrel Kay Vess’ adventures are as thrilling as those of her silver-screen Star Wars counterparts.

Predestined Planets Could Make Star Wars Outlaws’ Galaxy Feel More Alive

Although Star Wars Outlaws may not have as many planets for players to explore as Bethesda’s sprawling Starfield, what it lacks in quantity could be made up for in quality. According to Ubisoft, the size of each planet in Star Wars Outlaws is roughly equivalent to two of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s regions or zones, giving the developer plenty of room to pack in environmental storytelling and opportunities for adventure. Moreover, since each planet is handcrafted, everything the player sees during their journey can be carefully designed to create the most immersive experience possible.

Not only should the extra attention to detail on the planets Kay Vess visits throughout Star Wars Outlaws lead to far more detailed environments for players to explore, but also a more lifelike galaxy overall. Whereas most of the planets Vess travels to are likely to be inhabited by NPCs looking to help or hinder her on her quest, Bethesda’s Todd Howard recently explained that only 10% of Starfield’s planets will be inhabited. While this markedly more barren galaxy may be more scientifically accurate than its Star Wars Outlaws counterpart, it could also leave Starfield players feeling like they’re alone in the cosmos.

Star Wars Outlaws’ Handcrafted Planets Can Allow for More Engaging Missions

Similarly to Starfield’s 1000+ procedurally generated planets, many of the non-story missions players encounter in Bethesda’s sci-fi RPG will be assembled on the fly. While this system for procedurally generating quests is undeniably impressive, it could lead to side quests quickly becoming repetitive. With Star Wars Outlaws, on the other hand, Massive Entertainment will be able to design missions that take advantage of each planet’s unique geography and layout. This opens the door to quests that not only move the narrative forward but also let players learn more about the planets they take place on.

Focusing on somewhat smaller, handcrafted worlds could also benefit Star Wars Outlaws in an unexpected way. By creating a more tightly focused universe for the game, Massive Entertainment may actually help Star Wars Outlaws avoid the worst tropes of Ubisoft’s many open-world titles. Populating planets with carefully crafted areas to discover and missions that make use of environmental storytelling could let Star Wars Outlaws switch up the Ubisoft open-world formula.

Gamers will have to wait until 2024 to get their hands on Star Wars Outlaws, but even at this early stage, it’s clear that Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment are determined to make the game’s universe feel purposeful. And while it may lack the sheer number of explorable planets found in Bethesda’s massive Starfield, the handcrafted feel of each locale should set Star Wars Outlaws apart from the competition and help make the franchise’s open-world debut a memorable one.