In four short weeks, Star Wars Outlaw drops on console and PC, and we recently had the chance to spend four hours with the game. It wasn't a completely unfettered preview, but it was more in-depth than the small slices we saw back in early June. This time around, I got three hours to explore Toshara, a planet that includes the city of Mirogana and its surrounding settlements, and an hour on the world of Kijimi, home of the Ashiga clan. Both were familiar from the earlier preview, but this time around, I got more of a feel for the overall game as opposed to pieces of individual missions.

My time with Outlaws started with Kay crash-landing on Toshara and an awkward first meeting with Waka, a character who becomes your mechanic. The introduction was brief but direct, and it did a good job of setting up the rough outlines of Kay's situation. She's in over her head, but she's willing to do what it takes to survive and make the best of it.

After the intro, I hopped on to Kay's speeder and did some exploring. I didn't push the limits of the playable area, but what was there certainly felt open. I had the option of following the suggested path into Mirogana or roaming around. If Outlaws can carry this initial illusion of openness throughout the game, it'll be a major plus. That said, I also quickly hit an initial frustration.

I was sidetracked (of course) on my way into town and ended up taking out some bandits. One of them had a cool-looking speeder bike, but Kay couldn't get on it. She couldn't ride it. She couldn't steal it. She couldn't strip it for parts. I understand that games have technical limits, but this little hiccup briefly broke the illusion of a personal Star Wars adventure. Thankfully, things got a lot more interesting once I got into town.

As a city, Mirogana isn't huge, but it is dense and detailed. Wandering around, I found myself gawking at the little things. I wanted to see the shops, look at the graffiti, and listen in on random conversations. Yes, there was a main quest line to follow, but the initial entry into town was absolutely scratching that Star Wars itch. As a fan of the franchise, I'm already looking forward to the deep dives into all of the details that are going to happen once players get their hands on the game.

Speaking of games, I quickly found a local Sabacc game, but alas, Kay was new to town and had no credits, so I wasn't able to actually play. Still, mental note made to return when I had some money in the bank.

Waka's intel led me to a bar with the goal of meeting Gorak, one of the local crime lords. Kay had no reputation at this point, so the challenge was figuring out how to make my way up into his suite without an invitation. It was the first real puzzle I faced, so that meant exploring.

While looking for a way in, I found an outdoor deck area that made for a great vista point. It seems like the developers felt the same way, as there was a "lean" option on the railing that allows you to just enjoy the view.

Poking around, it seemed like there may have been more than one solution (including bribing my way in), but I eventually decided to sneak into a storage closet and then climb up to Gorak's suite via an elevator shaft. Meeting with Gorak was another story point that emphasized how much Kay still has to learn about building a reputation.

The reputation system is one element of Outlaws that really has me excited because it has the potential to provide a different experience across multiple playthroughs. I tried to game one of the early decisions by providing info to two separate parties (hey, I wanted to have a good rep with them both), but the game wouldn't let me do it. I had to make a decision. Some of these decisions are merely choosing who to help, while others involve betrayal, which can lower your reputation with a syndicate.

A good reputation means access. A bad reputation means you'll be attacked on the spot. This can also mean having to sneak into certain areas of the game. For example, in Mirogana, there is an area controlled by the Crimson Dawn and another controlled by the Pyke. Both have items and side missions in them. How easy (or difficult) it is to get in and get to those areas can depend on your reputation with the respective groups.

One question that is still unknown is if you have a choice for all major decisions, or if there are some that simply have to be made. For example, on Kijimi, I stole from the Crimson Dawn to get in the good graces of the Ashiga clan. It wasn't clear if this was a fixed plot point or if there is an alternate path that allows me to choose to be loyal to the Crimson Dawn and screw over the Ashiga. Choice is always a plus when it comes to gaming, but it is often an illusion. If Outlaws provides some real choices with real consequences, that would make the game stand out.

In the previous demo I saw Nix's abilities, but this time around, I was able to experiment more and see what he can do. There are certain puzzles that require Nix to do things like hold a lever, but he's also very useful as a distraction when enemies are about. Sure, you can have Nix take the direct route and jump on someone's head, but it is oddly satisfying to distract them while Kay sneaks up behind them and takes them out.

Nix can also be handy when trying to get into small spaces. After I found the parts that Waka needed to repair Kay's ship, we went into orbit around Toshara and docked with an Imperial space station. At one point, Kay was trapped behind a force field and couldn't progress, but Nix was able to sneak into an air vent to go around the force field and then disable it. Droids are cool and all, but Nix is an integral part of Kay's ability to survive.

Speaking of abilities, you'll be able to upgrade Kay's weapons and abilities over time. This can give you more options in a firefight, but it can also lead to more puzzle-solving opportunities, such as using an ion blaster to charge up a dead battery so a broken door mechanism will start working again. I didn't get too much of a chance to explore Kay's abilities in the demo, so this is another point I'm looking forward to checking out in the final game.

Because we're talking about Star Wars, it doesn't make sense to have the entire story happen on a single planet, so that means space flight. Early impressions are mixed, mostly due to the default control scheme. I was focused on exploring the area, so I didn't dive into options (and it's quite possible that I could've improved things with a custom control setup), but dogfighting in space didn't feel as smooth as it has felt in prior Star Wars games. Instead of feeling like I was moving around in dynamic combat, it felt more like I was just looking for the targeting cursor and hoping for the best. It's also possible that the remote play session (we were streaming from remote computers for the demo) may have introduced some minor lag and made things feel less responsive than they would've been had I been playing locally.

After landing on Kijimi, I once again found myself wandering around and taking it all in. The main city was different from Mirogana and the smaller settlements on Toshara in terms of architecture and style, but it still had the Star Wars design DNA running through it. Kudos to the art team for nailing this part of the game. If the rest of the locations are as detailed, Star Wars fans are going to have a blast simply exploring. It might sound weird, but I kind of want a non-combat Discovery Tour-style option for Outlaws. It doesn't need the educational aspects that Discovery Tour implemented in the Assassin's Creed games, but it would be very cool to wander around these environments and take it all in without having to worry about fighting, shooting, or one's reputation. It would also be a fantastic way for casual fans to learn more about the Star Wars universe.

Now, I know my time with the game was intentionally limited, but an element that I hope carries over to the full game is the lack of known characters. Part of what helps sell the overall Outlaws experience is that you are a low-level outlaw in this very large universe. Kay doesn't need to run up against Darth Vader or get help from Luke Skywalker. Experiencing Kay's adventure and making it my own personalizes the story in a way that couldn't happen if established characters were involved.

After spending four hours with Star Wars Outlaws, I walked away wanting more. There were some rough edges, but the game really seems to nail the environmental feel of wandering around in the Star Wars universe, and that's what I anticipate the most: the immersion, being able to choose songs on a jukebox, playing random arcade games, looking for clues in the Aurebesh background text, going on a speeder bike race because I can, and getting distracted by a random side mission as Kay explores a planet. Give me a chance to feel like I'm experiencing the day-to-day of the Star Wars universe, and I'm sold.