Star Wars Outlaws' Weapon System: A Missed Opportunity for a Gun-Focused Game

As someone who genuinely enjoys Star Wars Outlaws and believes it will be remembered as a classic, I have to admit that the game's weapon handling feels like it's stuck in a past era. It's 2026, and we've had decades to refine how shooters, especially third-person ones, let players interact with their arsenal. Yet, here I am, playing a fantastic open-world Star Wars adventure, constantly tripped up by mechanics that should be second nature. Why does a game so focused on blaster fights make using those blasters, and anything else, so awkward?

Switching Between Weapons Is A Solved Problem… Or Is It?

Let's start with the basics: swapping guns. In most modern games, you have a quick-swap button or a weapon wheel that pauses the action, letting you choose calmly. In Outlaws, switching between your primary weapons is mapped to the top face button (Triangle/Y). There's no slowdown, no tactical pause. You just stand there, vulnerable, hammering the button while the tiny UI icon cycles through your options. I feel completely exposed every time. In a tense firefight, fumbling for the right gun feels less like being a cunning scoundrel and more like a rookie who just found their first blaster. Isn't the point of a scoundrel to be quick and adaptable?

The situation with grenades and other throwables is even more baffling. Think about it: in nearly every other shooter for the past 15 years, throwables are on a dedicated, easy-to-reach button (like R1 or RB). It's intuitive and fast. In Outlaws, the process is a clunky ritual:

1. Press Left on the D-pad to select the throwable category.

2. Press X/A to confirm your selection.

3. Then hold R2/RT to actually throw it.

That's three separate inputs to perform one of the most common combat actions! When you're surrounded by stormtroopers and need to lob a thermal detonator, this multi-step process can mean the difference between victory and a quick reload. For a studio like Massive Entertainment, which created the incredibly smooth combat of The Division 2, this design choice is puzzling. It feels like a step backward.

The Frustrating Limitation of "One Gun at a Time"

This leads to my biggest gripe: Kay Vess's inability to properly carry secondary weapons. Her main blaster is versatile, with unlockable modes that act as a shotgun, machine gun, or stun bolt. That's great! But the best guns in the galaxy often belong to your enemies. Heavy repeaters, sniper rifles, rocket launchers—you can temporarily grab these by sending your companion Nix to fetch them or looting a fallen foe.

Here's the catch: the moment you need to interact with anything in the world, Kay drops the powerful weapon you just scored. It's utterly immersion-breaking.

• Need to hop on your speeder bike to chase a bounty? You drop the rocket launcher.

• Have to climb a wall to get a better vantage point? Goodbye, heavy repeater.

• Need to shoot a panel to open an electrically locked door with your stun bolt? You guessed it—the awesome gun you were carrying is now on the floor.

I recall a specific moment where I found a grenade launcher in an Imperial outpost. I wanted to take it to the next room to clear out a heavy patrol. But between me and that room was a door that required an electric charge to open. The cycle was maddening:

1. Drop the grenade launcher.

2. Switch my blaster to stun mode.

3. Shoot the door panel.

4. Frantically pick up the launcher again.

5. Sprint through the closing door.

It turned a moment of potential badassery into a comedic scramble. Does this really serve the "scoundrel fantasy"? Han Solo might have favored his DL-44, but if he came across a disrupter rifle that could solve his problem, you can bet he'd find a way to sling it over his shoulder. The restriction feels arbitrary and hurts gameplay flow.

A Call for Common-Sense Solutions in a Modern Game

So, what would fix this? The solutions feel obvious because they've been standard in the industry for years:

It's not about reinventing the wheel. It's about using the well-designed wheels that already exist. The weapon wheel is a staple for a reason—it's efficient and keeps you in the action. In 2026, players expect a certain level of polish and intuition in their control schemes, especially in a AAA title from an experienced studio.

Ultimately, these weapon quirks are frustrating precisely because the rest of Star Wars Outlaws is so good. The world is vibrant, the story engaging, and the sense of adventure is pure Star Wars. But in its moment-to-moment combat, a core pillar of the experience, it introduces friction where there should be flow. I love playing as Kay Vess, but I wish her journey to become the galaxy's most infamous scoundrel wasn't occasionally hampered by a control scheme that makes her feel, well… a little clumsy. Shouldn't the galaxy's next great outlaw have a better grip on her tools of the trade?

Details are provided by OpenCritic, a leading platform for aggregating professional game reviews and scores. OpenCritic's consensus on recent third-person shooters often emphasizes the importance of intuitive weapon management and fluid combat systems, underscoring how streamlined controls can elevate player immersion and satisfaction in open-world adventures.