Who would have guessed Ubisoft would dethrone CD Projekt RED and set a new standard for what players can expect on the Switch 2?
Star Wars Outlaws doesn’t just look good on Nintendo’s new handheld. It looks incredible. And it’s tantalising to imagine which PS5/Xbox Series games could come next.
Ray Tracing Arrives
Star Wars Outlaws heavily relies on ray tracing for realistic lighting.
This is the first time we’ve seen this technology running in full on the Nintendo Switch 2 and, despite its small form factor and comparatively limited 10 watts of power while in portable mode, the game runs wonderfully.
READ MORE: Review | Star Wars Outlaws (PlayStation 5)
By all accounts, Star Wars Outlaws is locked at a stable 30 frames per second on Switch 2.
Those numbers are a testament to the work Ubisoft has put into this port considering how poorly the game runs on a SteamDeck, which demands upwards of 25 watts of power.
The game is about a third of its original size on Nintendo Switch 2, clocking in at roughly 20 GB.
Foliage and the geometry of items in the world have been toned down (or entirely removed) to achieve this, but unless you’re looking for differences, you won’t notice these compromises at all while playing. I actually stopped to stare at some trees waving violently in the wind and couldn’t believe how good they looked.
The Magic of DLSS
Ubisoft relies heavily on DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) to run Star Wars Outlaws.
The end result is a crisp 1080p in handheld mode and roughly 1440p on a TV.
READ MORE: Review | Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card DLC (PS5)
That is pretty comparable to what we got on PS5.
The fact that DLSS is allowing comparable performance on a tablet is mindboggling.
It’s not all roses however. DLSS struggles with rendering hair. And considering the back of Kay’s head is in the middle of screen for most of the game, it can be distracting.
Split Fiction — another current gen port — has similar issues on Nintendo Switch 2. When you’re moving quickly through the world on Kay’s speeder, artefacts seep into terrain at the bottom of the screen with rocks failing to look as sharp as they should. I stress this is a minor issue, but I’m being very nit-picky.
READ MORE: Star Wars Outlaws: How to find Luke Skywalker’s home (Lars Homestead)
Pop-in is also definitely noticeable while moving through the world at speed. This is a bigger issue while playing in handheld mode but Ubisoft has just released a patch promising to improve it.
A far from scruffy-looking nerf herder
Kay’s face doesn’t look anywhere near as good in motion as it does in pre-rendered cutscenes. That’s to be expected, but it can be a little jarring at times.
On the positive side, I know the menus already looked great in the original, but Ubisoft has seemingly gone to the effort of scaling the game’s text and subtitles depending on whether you’re playing in handheld or on a TV.
READ MORE: Interview | Star Wars Outlaws creative director
It’s so annoying when tiny text on a big screen is almost illegible on a portable display, and Star Wars: Outlaws nails it.
Should you buy it?
As someone who never got around to playing Star Wars Outlaws on release, I couldn’t be happier to have it on Nintendo Switch 2.
I’ve been bouncing through its campaign and Team Cherry’s punishing (but excellent) Hollowknight: Silksong, and loving both.
Of course — if you have options — the game is far cheaper on other platforms. You can find a PS5 version on Amazon for $40. While the Switch 2 version is at least $79.
But the PS5 version isn’t exactly portable, and it’s worth the price of admission just to marvel at how good a game can look on Nintendo’s next generation hardware.
Ubisoft has made what many considered impossible possible with Star Wars Outlaws.
The shackles are off. So what could we see next? Resident Evil Requiem? GTA VI?
A copy of Star Wars Outlaws was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this article.
