Scathing Star Wars Outlaws PS5 Previews Unfavourably Compare Gunplay to PS Vita's Uncharted: Golden Abyss 1

We absolutely loved 2011’s launch game Uncharted: Golden Abyss on PS Vita, but it’s not necessarily a release you’d want your tentpole AAA title to be compared to. In the aftermath of last night’s Ubisoft Forward livestream, where Star Wars Outlaws looked largely outstanding in our opinion, media has been publishing impressions – and they’re pretty scathing.

Look, you all know the drill by now: previews, by and large, usually have a positive spin. Even we’re guilty of falling for the clichés, like “it’s early days, but Massive Entertainment still has a few months to polish things up”. There’s none of that in this round of previews: Eurogamer.net’s describing the release as “worryingly dated”.

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“Outlaws' early gameplay feels positively ancient – not only mechanically but in execution, in its near total lack of character, flair, invention, detail, or style,” the report reads. “In trying to describe it, the closest comparison I can draw is with Uncharted: Golden Abyss, which launched in 2011 on the PS Vita.”

It does go on to explain that demo was limited in scope, and “there’s every chance things are far better when positioned among the full thing”. But it criticises the simplicity of the gameplay, and while it concedes there’s nothing necessarily wrong with titles that have a “mechanical light touch”, it concludes the release feels like a “clear step beyond approachable and into something potentially bland”.

Other outlets have been similarly critical with PC Gamer arguing it’s a little “too safe” and “basic”. Of course, this is all based on a very short, unfinished slice of gameplay, so it’d be unfair to read too much into things. Still, we hope this project comes together, because we personally like what we’ve seen on various streams; we’ll have a full hands on report from Los Angeles imminently.

[source eurogamer.net]