Star Wars Outlaws is designed to fit seamlessly into the Star Wars universe with visuals reminiscent of the original trilogy.
Massive Entertainment went beyond just visual style; they wanted the game to look like it was filmed using the same lenses as those classic movies. To do this, they created a special digital camera lens within the Snowdrop Engine. This lens gives players an option for a cinematic view with black bars at the bottom, film grain from that era, and other neat touches.
“We developed a lens, a camera lens within Snowdrop, our game engine, that allows us to replicate the sort of, lenses of the ’70s and ’80s,” creative director Julian Gerighty said in a new GameSpot Insider documentary. “So you have barrel distortion, chromatic aberration, film grain, and vignetting all wrapped up in an ultra-widescreen presentation. All of these things you can turn on and off individually, but the whole impact is that it really pulls you into a cinematic presentation.”
Technical art director Stephen Hawes mentioned that even though creating this lens was tough, it was worth it because it made Star Wars Outlaws feel like the old movies. The team managed to add effects like lens breathing and film grain at 24fps no matter what frame rate you chose for the game. They also included small details like CRT screens and soft focus to make everything feel more real and cinematic.
Fans always appreciate when developers go the extra mile to capture that nostalgic feeling.
The game’s release date is August 30 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. But if you can’t wait and have Ubisoft Premium+, you can play a few days early. On Metacritic, the game has a “generally favorable” score of 77 from 59 reviews.
