Star Wars Outlaws is rated 'Strong' after being reviewed by 54 critics, with an overall average score of 75. It's ranked in the top 40% of games and recommended by 74% of critics.
I noticed this. I was thinking in my head that critics means they usually be critical but a lot of the times it just feels like an ad with these big studios. I loved game informer tho, but unfortunately it got shut down this year and now I have no reliable site to check :(
Starfield was the same. Looked pretty meh, but almost all (initial) reviewers gave it high marks. It wasn't until people started playing that the truthful reviews surfaced. Guessing either paid reviews, or reviewers having a skewed view of what makes a game great.
A lot of people that played the previews were quite optimistic about the game, save for a few gripes that seem to reflect in most reviews now. But the online community has been rather toxic about a variety of things, ranging from valid concerns to pointless hate. There was one IGN preview that looked pretty bland and bad, but everything else looked alright.
It's not an innovating game, but frankly I never expected it to be. It looks like a fun immersive experience for SW fans (the actual fans, not the ones that hate literally everything about SW lol).
Didn't Ubisoft or Disney send people to Disneyland and pay for vacations or whatever in connection with them being invited to play the game? In a legal context, that could easily be seen as veiled bribery. It psychologically makes people more inclined to speak positively because it abuses their desire to be grateful and show gratitude. Basically, a company that wants honest feedback would not do that. Especially not the company with a direct financial incentive to gain from the most expensive marketing campaign they have ever done.
All the gameplay I have seen looks mid at best, and bad at worst. Especially when comparing it to previous Ubisoft games such as AC Black Flag. Comparing AC Black Flag to Star Wars Outlaws demonstrates modern Ubisofts profound lack of attention to detail. Facial animations, water interactions, stealth, all of the major mechanics of the game demonstrate significant degradation in Outlaws' gameplay footage.
These are criticisms purely based on the technical aspects of visible gameplay footage. This isn't even touching stuff like story or writing.