Ubisoft recently dropped the official story trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, and it’s fair to say I’m pumped for the upcoming action-adventure game. Even so, there’s another title set in a galaxy far, far away I’m hanging out for even more: Star Wars 1313.
Related: When Does Star Wars Outlaws Come Out?
And that’s a problem, because 1313 isn’t coming out any time soon – or, in fact, ever. Lucasfilm effectively canceled 1313 after Disney bought the studio in 2012. In the years since then, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy has expressed admiration for 1313‘s concept art and hinted that future Star Wars projects would leverage it. However, there’s no zero indication that Lucasfilm plans to resurrect the game itself.
If anything, Star Wars Outlaws suggests Lucasfilm has moved on entirely. Despite its many fundamental differences from 1313, Outlaws is also an action-adventure outing set in the Star Wars underworld. Its existence is yet another nail in 1313‘s carbonite slab – and as great as Outlaws looks, I still wish we got 1313, instead.
Star Wars Outlaws Outshines 1313 in Many, Many Ways
Now, I’ll be the first to admit this sounds pretty ungrateful – entitled, even. After all, with Star Wars Outlaws, developer Massive Entertainment and publisher Ubisoft are giving us the first-ever fully open-world Star Wars game. What’s more, early indications are that they’ve packed the game full of finely tuned combat, stealth, and vehicle-based gameplay mechanics. Outlaws‘ story doesn’t look too shabby, either. It’s a fun, Solo-esque caper that balances fresh characters and locations with legacy cameos and familiar locales. So, why fixate on a 12-year-old game that never even happened?
Especially since said 12-year-old game was a bit of a mess when Lucasfilm shut it down. Sure, the concept art was slick as hell and the vertical slice gameplay footage promised big things. Yet 1313‘s development was anything but smooth. Funnily enough, this was apparently at least partly George Lucas’ fault. The Star Wars creator would periodically request major changes to 1313‘s story and mechanics to better tie it into the (also axed) Star Wars Underworld TV show. Notably, Lucas famously replaced 1313‘s original protagonist with the young Boba Fett, not comprehending the knock-on effect this would have on development.
And even if Star Wars 1313 had enjoyed a breezy development cycle, its scope would’ve been far less ambitious than that of Star Wars Outlaws. Gameplay was confined entirely to Coruscant’s underground Level 1313. It would’ve been a smaller game than Outlaws, plain and simple – and that’s what I love about it.
Related: Star Wars Outlaws: What Is the Upcoming Ubisoft Game About?
Star Wars 1313’s Coruscant Focus Is Its Selling Point
Star Wars 1313 has an edge over Star Wars Outlaws precisely because it’s so curated. Planet-hopping is a key part of almost all Star Wars media – so much so that it’s become stale. But digging deeper and deeper into the same setting? By the franchise’s standards, that’s downright revolutionary. This is especially true given 1313‘s preoccupation with the underworld. We already know what crime was like in the galaxy’s Outer Rim between the original and prequel trilogies, but in the capital? Not so much (not on screen, anyway).
Yes, we get glimpses of Coruscant’s nightlife and seedy underbelly in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, both set slightly earlier. However, we’re never fully immersed in that world. 1313 would’ve provided that immersion, giving us a detailed, first-hand understanding of what unsavory types – not dashing smugglers – get up to in one specific corner of a galaxy far, far away. Better still, this grimier setting was meant to facilitate a grittier brand of Star Wars story, in a similar vein to 2022’s Andor. Again, this feels more compelling than the lovingly crafted yet hyper-traditional yarn at Outlaws‘ core.
Related: Is Star Wars Outlaws Coming to Xbox One and PlayStation 4?
1313 Is Only Better Than Outlaws in Our Imaginations
Of course, there’s another big reason I’m still so obsessed with Star Wars 1313: it doesn’t exist. As with all promising-looking, unreleased projects, 1313 is easy to mythologize. And because it will never see the light of day, that myth goes unchallenged. So, with each passing year, 1313 lodges itself ever deeper in our imaginations, growing ever more perfect. The reality, however, is that had 1313 actually hit shelves, it would’ve had some flaws. All games do – even the best ones. It would’ve been a product of its time too, complete with mechanics that eventually dated.
So, deep down, I know I should be more hyped for Star Wars Outlaws than Star Wars 1313. But I just don’t care: I still want 1313 more.
Star Wars Outlaws arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on August 30, 2024.
Published: Apr 18, 2024 09:00 am