Star Wars Outlaws director says Uncharted wasn't a "reference point," but "if you're going to be compared to somebody, it might as well be the best"
Let offbrand Han Solo and Indiana Jones fight
Star Wars Outlaws director has acknowledged all the Uncharted comparisons are "wonderful," though Naughty Dog's series wasn't a direct source of inspiration for the Ubisoft team.
Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws - the upcoming open-worlder featuring explosive chase scenes, firefights framed like a Hollywood blockbuster, and a smart-mouthed Han Solo-type - has courted plenty of comparisons to the Uncharted series because, you know, it also stars all those things plus an Indiana Jones-type (two sides of the same Harrison Ford coin.)
In an interview with Video Game Chronicle, Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty said Uncharted is "such a wonderful game to be compared to, if you're going to be compared to somebody, it might as well be the best in the industry," before calling developer Naughty Dog and their work "absolutely brilliant."
Sticking the 'Star Wars Uncharted' label onto Outlaws is still a little hasty, however, despite the shared Harrison Fordish protags and 'cinematic' action. Gerighty says that Nathan Drake's tomb-raiding adventures weren't "necessarily our reference point... it wasn't the point of origin" for the Outlaws team.
Gamesradar+'s Star Wars Outlaws preview certainly makes it sound like a much more dynamic game than you'd expect from Naughty Dog's heavily curated stuff. Ubisoft's aiming to build a big scoundrel fantasy that lets you and your adorable alien-raccoon pet off the leash. The far, far away adventure also sets itself apart with different criminal factions that'll react to and remember all the player's choices in a Jabba will remember that way.
There's definitely tons that separates the two, though developer Massive Entertainment is going to great lengths to also make Star Wars Outlaws "one of the most cinematic games of all time." We'll need to wait until August 30 before we see Star Wars Outlaws and Uncharted wrestle for the 'I look more like a movie' crown.
Check out the various Star Wars Outlaws planets revealed so far.
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.