Criminally Intelligent Fun in Star Wars Outlaws

Some games are remembered not by their big moments but their moment-to-monents. In Outlaws, it’s not the Uncharted territory of wall climbing, gun fighting and grabbing from the back, it’s the smaller in-betweens: lockpicking, hacking, and gambling.

As much as there’s to love in the gold standards of lockpicking, the Elder Scrolls and Splinter Cell series, all of them eventually dry up, becoming too easy and time-wasting. Lockpicking in Outlaws is not about twitching sticks: it’s a rhythm game, not at all simple, often requiring precision in following its simpler 2-beat signals up to more complicated and broken 4-beat patterns. And it never feels old, especially when I know that guard is coming in 10 seconds and I must unlock the door by then.

Hacking is less about skill and more about luck, so it’s made more forgiving, similarly to virtual horse races that often have quests telling you the winning bet almost directly. So it falls onto the Sabacc card game to carry the proper skill-and-luck ratio, and it’s extremely effective. The rules are simple and not convoluted, modifiers keep it fresh and add strategic depth, but I can still win by just hoping that I eventually score a hand with two 1s. And most importantly, I can send my pet monster to check on other hands if I’m unsure. In a game where just pressing a button once often feels too effective, this move still stands out.