Star Wars Outlaws Is Ditching Its Most Annoying Feature

Star Wars Outlaws’ road to redemption has hit a major milestone today with the release of its first story pack, fourth major update, and long-awaited arrival on Steam. There will be a lot to unpack about the state of Ubisoft’s open-world stealth adventure in the days and weeks ahead but the most important thing to know right now is that the game is ditching its most annoying feature.

At launch there were many missions in Star Wars Outlaws, especially early on, where getting spotted by guards instantly resulted in failure. The word “caught” would flash in giant letters onscreen and you’d be started at the last checkpoint, which was sometimes surprisingly far back. No more. The latest developer diary explaining the game’s post-launch journey details why the developers nixed this feature and replaced it with the option to shoot your way out whenever the need arises.

“Our first step in expanding player choice is removing forced stealth from almost all quest objectives,” recently appointed creative director Drew Rechner wrote over on the game’s website. “This doesn’t mean that sneaking is no longer a viable or even preferable option in some cases. Rather, if you’re caught while sneaking, the objective won’t fail and reset you to the last checkpoint. Instead, you’ll seamlessly transition into combat.”

There are three other important changes that build on this more Deus Ex-style immersive sim gameplay. First, players can now shoot their way through unfriendly syndicate districts instead of being required to sneak through them. Second, weapons picked up and used in the field will remain accessible for a longer period of time. Third, headshots now do additional damage, and players will be able to target specific body parts for bonus damage on other weak points.

Combined, it should all help to grease the wheels for Star Wars Outlaws to feel a bit more natural and free-flowing than it did with its more punishing, stealth-centric framework from a few months ago. The changes are also coming alongside the new Wild Card story DLC that sees protagonist Kay Vess team up with Lando Calrissian to bluff her way through a sabacc tournament on the casino cruiser Morenia.

The new 1.4 title update, out November 21, also improves enemy AI behavior, facial expressions, animations, and more. It’s all part of Ubisoft’s attempt to salvage the game’s poor initial sales and turn it into a long-tail success. The game is currently 25 percent off on consoles through Black Friday as well. You can check out the full patch notes below:

General Gameplay

Fixed an issue where players could get stuck by not being able to take off using the Trailblazer after certain missions

Kay now holsters a two-handed weapon in more situations such as when climbing, grappling or using the speeder

Improved AI speeder usage

Improved enemy detection

Improved enemy tactical decision-making in combat to encourage more active management of their positioning

Decreased enemy damage per shot while increasing the damage cadence increase over time

Improved detection signs and feedback of cameras

Player state (crouched, standing) is now kept after traversal actions

Fixed an issue where only one NPC would be alerted when whistling

Fixed an issue where the player could remain undetected in high grass while performing aggressive actions

Enabled the use of combat in parts of syndicate districts

Added weak points to various enemies

Adjusted weapon aiming (spread, recoil, etc.) to allow for more precision and management

Updated weapon damage values for Kay for all weapons

Increased headshot damage when hitting enemies

Improved blaster module usage (Ion and Power)

Removed player blast damage from the Power module

Added enemy stagger to explosions

Added body part-specific death animations to improve combat satisfaction

Improved NPC cover usage during combat

Fixed an issue where Kay would put away the holotracker when crouching

Fixed an issue where hostile NPCs were sometimes marked as friendly and could not be damaged by blaster fire

Adjusted jumping to give more control in the air of where you will land

UI, HUD and Settings

Added visual indication of when an NPC starts detecting the player

Added text highlighting which blaster module should be used when aiming at heavy guards, droids and cameras

Prompt to ping the tracked objective is now more prominent and affected by HUD visibility settings

Added icons to environmental objects that require unlockable abilities

Improved Nix quick action icon by highlighting button when having an active target

Made it clearer whether a takedown could trigger combat

Added NPC tags above their heads (works with existing colorblindness settings)White – NeutralOrange – AwareRed – In Combat

Adjusted Adrenaline Rush cost based on difficultyStory mode – 100% (unchanged)Normal – 110%Challenging/Hard -150%

Improved wanted system messaging and display

Fixed an issue where some gear effect icons were not showing correctly

Audio

Improved enemy dialogue when they are going in and out of cover

Fixed an issue where sound wouldn’t play through the DualSense controller on PS5

Fixed an issue where arcade games would be missing music after starting a new game

Cinematics

Added facial animations to gameplay dialogue scenes and vendors

Improved animations and visuals of some dialogue scenes

Fixed an issue where ND-5 would be missing from the passenger seat when landing/taking off from Renpalli or Achra stations

Camera

Improved camera when shooting, aiming down sights, and moving aim

Improved cover camera, including the ability to manually shoulder swap when aiming

Improved the camera by showcasing a better view of each shop when interacting with a vendor

Worlds, Fauna and Flora

Fixed an issue with destructible flora

Fixed an issue where the visual effects created by waterfalls were broken

Increased the distance at which lights can be seen in the world

Improved the visuals of some grass textures and mud, especially at distance

Photo Mode

A new clean lens has been added

Accessibility

Added a Custom Controller Preset to allow remapping of individual buttons. You can choose separate sets of button swaps for Kay, the speeder, and the Trailblazer.

Added a new ‘strong’ aim assist setting

Added a new auto-transfer option for climbing, which lets you automatically hop between climbable objects by moving towards them instead of having to press a button

Added setting to change how large and clear the effect showing the security camera detection area is

Sound effects slider split into two separate sliders, for gameplay sounds and background sounds

Faster menu narration, settings now go up to 400% speed.

Menu narration now reads lockpicking and slicing minigames, objective hints, and which Sabacc card is currently highlighted in your hand and while drawing/discarding

Option added to toggle the Cinematic Lens (distortion, fringing, and vignetting effects) off for gameplay

‘Fill screen’ is now the default screen ratio, meaning larger text size for the initial menus before you reach the ratio setting screen

‘Remove all’ hold input for map markers added to ‘change holds to presses’ setting

Descriptions of accessibility settings reworded for improved clarity

Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue where destroying a ship by ramming it would not count towards the ‘Never tell me the odds’ trophy/achievement

Fixed an issue where the ‘Shoot First’ achievement/trophy and ‘The Better’ ability could not be unlocked at the same time

Fixed an issue where defeating Death Troopers during certain missions would not count towards the ‘Defying Death’ Ubisoft Connect Challenge

MAIN & SIDE QUESTS (beware of spoilers)

Toshara

RejectedFixed an issue where Kay can’t listen at the bar to progress the intel quest

Tatooine

The VeteranFixed an issue where the quest line would not start if travelling to Akiva before the dialogue finishes

PartnersFixed an issue where the cinematic would not trigger if using Adrenaline Rush as the Rancor hits the hangar doors

Akiva

RevelatorFixed an issue where ND-5 could spot Kay when going from crouched to standing while on a steam vent