Star Wars Outlaws interview- Narrative director Navid Khavari breaks down Ubisoft's galaxy far, far away

Star Wars Outlaws is Ubisoft’s first venture into the galaxy far, far away, and after playing the game for a few hours as part of an exclusive preview it’s looking promising so far.

The game tells a new story about Kay Vess, a scoundrel living and surviving in the Outer Rim who, like many of its citizens, is trying to earn enough credits to live a long and peaceful life.

Check out our video preview for Star Wars Outlaws below

She’s joined on this new adventure by her adorable critter companion Nix, an oddly attractive battle droid called ND-5, and other colourful characters, some of which Star Wars fans will instantly recognise.

As part of my preview I got to speak to narrative director Navid Khavari to discuss what it was like putting together the story of Star Wars Outlaws, writing new and compelling characters, as well as fitting things into the existing canon.

Ubisoft reportedly worked closely with Lucasfilms when writing the story, which is set in-between the events of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi.

Navid described the experience of working with Lucasfilm as “amazing,” saying “it was them (Lucasfilms) who came to us to say, ‘do you want to play in the playground of Empire Strikes Back and Return to the Jedi?’. But I think what also was exciting is we were going on this journey together … being kind of the first open-world Star Wars game. Crafting characters like Kay, crafting characters like ND-5, Lucasfilm was very, very supportive of that, I think we were all excited to bring something new to the table.”

In Star Wars Outlaws it’s Kay Vess, Nix and ND-5 who are the player’s vessel into what’s new in the Star Wars universe, with the galaxy still under the grip of The Empire and the rebellion on the back-foot after the battle of Hoth.

Ubisoft

However the story of Star Wars Outlaws is disconnected from the galactic war. It’s going on in the background, but the focus is on Kay’s story and a way of life that hasn’t been fully-explored in a Star Wars game before, what the regular folk are doing while the heroes and villains fight it out.

Nadim summarised the story as Kay being a “a street thief who, after a job goes wrong, finds herself on the wrong side of a bounty and is sent off on this journey across the galaxy, to build a crew and pull off the greatest heist the galaxy has seen.”

He went on to explain how important it was to have characters who are “one of us … They're aspirational … you can relate to them, they have struggle, they have pain, they're not sitting on a fancy cruiser in the sky.”

This ties beautifully into Kay Vess, who unlike the majority of Star Wars protagonists is not a force-user, or a Jedi, she’s just a normal human.

Nadim said: “When you're working on something, you're always looking at what we are bringing that's new and that was it. She's (Kay’s) one of us, but also there's a vulnerability to her that in a lot of ways represents as well. Then you know, we see her talking to Nix and he brings out that softness in Kay that maybe you don't see as much with scoundrels. So absolutely. It was a strong consideration and a big theme from the beginning.”

But aside from the new faces, Star Wars Outlaws brings a variety of familiar faces back for fans to gawk at, with Jabba The Hutt and Lando Calrissian being the two featured in the game’s trailers.

Ubisoft

When asked what it was like to work with some of those characters, as well as the Star Wars IP as a whole, Navid said “I've been playing with Star Wars figures since I was six years old. To go from, making little stories there to actually working on a Star Wars IP, it’s unfathomable. When I got the news, I sort of gave myself a week to freak out.”

When it came time to start the creative process there was apparently “a lot of excitement” and “a lot of debate” as to where the story will go, who will appear, and how to “honour this period’ that’s so important in the Star Wars canon.

Navid said “it doesn't make sense to tell the story during this period, without meeting some of those folks that are so integral to the underworld. So, you know, then it became fun … and that comes from the perspective that folks like Kay and ND-5 bring to the table … Kay has never met Jabba the Hutt. Kay’s like ‘What is this giant slug?’ you know.

“I think what was super crucial was always, how is it moving the story forward? Does it feel earned? Are we giving something new to that character, as well, like a different shade? … It was thrilling, to be honest and we had a lot of freedom to explore that.”

However, what really sold me on Star Wars Outlaws, and I think this is going to be the case for a lot of players, is how alive the world felt. Every street, market and cantina felt lived in and it felt like there were so many other stories going on aside from Kay’s.

Ubisoft

When asked about the importance of this set dressing and background characters, Navid described it as “critical,” going on to say “the goal of this wasn't just to tell a linear story. The goal of this was to tell a Star Wars narrative.

“If I want to go play sabacc for an hour, the game is going to not only let me do that, but it's going to give me fun interactions with the people at the table. I'm one person, I have to give credit to our narrative team, our voice team, the thousands and thousands of lines of dialogue that are in this game … the animations and all of the work on the world the team has done.”

I only had a few hours with Star Wars Outlaws as part of my preview, but I can confidently say it’s the closest one of these games has ever brought me to feeling like I’m actually part of the galaxy.

Players will be able to experience the full story of Kay Vess, Nix, ND-5 and more when Star Wars Outlaws drops on 30 August for Xbox, PlayStation and PC platforms.