Rebel Galaxy Outlaw Review – Successor to Wing Commander: Privateer

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is a space flight simulator developed and published by Double Damage Games and first released on the Epic Games Store on August 13, 2019, followed by a Steam release in September 2020. The game is the prequel to 2015’s Rebel Galaxy, but it swaps the slow capital ship combat of the original for the high-octane, twitch-response dogfighting of the 90s golden era. After a long drought of arcade space sims, Double Damage Games has finally delivered the spiritual successor to Wing Commander: Privateer and Freelancer that I had been craving for decades.

The game puts you in the boots of Juno Markev, a gritty outlaw hunting her husband’s killer. You start with the Platypus, a fastest hunk of junk style freighter and a universe of possibilities. Whether you’re following the main story or ignoring it to build up credits through side-hustles, the sense of progression is top-tier. The cherry on top is sheer volume of customisation and gameplay options. Between the seven radio stations (boasting 21 hours of music) and a robust ship painting tool that lets you import your own textures, you can truly make your ship your own.

The cockpit-heavy focus may feel restrictive at first, however the immersive instrument panels and ability to customise your dash with postcards and figurines makes it feel like home. For the purists space flight sim pilots, the Veteran and Old School difficulties strip away the handholding, forcing you to rely on your skill and radar upgrades. Normal difficulty gives you a decent radar, afterburners and heat seeking missiles. Veteran, which I chose, doesn’t give you any of that. You will need to earn money to get the tractor beam, afterburners and missiles. Both these options give you third person view or cockpit view.

What makes Rebel Galaxy Outlaw special is the space cowboy atmosphere. When you are not dodging laser fire or taking out a group of pirates, you are on the nearest base hitting the local space station bars with a few options to change the hectic pace of space combat. Talking to the bartender can give you some notes in your datapad of locations to scan as well as notes on current rumours, in-system bounties and any commodities that might be selling cheaply. In the bars you will find story characters, and you can also play a number of games to make some extra credits on the side.

• Play Minigames: 8-Ball pool, Dice Poker, and slot machines are great for extra credits (Tip: Play pool on Nacogdoches to score a free Tracer weapon!).
• Gather Intel: Chat with bartenders to find bounties or cheap commodities.
• Join Guilds: Sign up with the Mercenaries or Merchants to unlock lucrative specialised missions.

The flight model is sublime, even on mouse and keyboard. The auto-pursuit feature is a lifesaver at times, allowing you to focus on leading your shots and dodging wreckage rather than spinning in circles. Sim and old school difficulty settings keep you locked into the cockpit with sim having aim assist turned off, and old school is for the complete twitch-flying experience with both aim assist and autopursuit turned off.

I love the lens flares from the sun, scanning the system for friends and allies, how your cockpit windscreen cracks under damage, to Juno shaking her fist and hurling verbal blows at the enemy when they land a heavy hit. My only minor gripes with the entire game is around the balance of audio levels which remained quite loud even after adjustment. To add more options to your job log, you can join the Mercenaries or Merchants guilds and do missions for them which will provide more lucrative rewards. Later on, you can own your own station which opens up more ship options to purchase.

Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is a fantastic space flight sim that hits all the nostalgic feels of Wing Commander Privateer whilst creating its own wild ride in a wonderful universe to freely explore. This game has got it all from smuggling runs, epic space battles with frigates and plenty of ships and upgrades to save for, to an outstanding ship painting system that allows players to use their full imagination to live out their space cowboy fantasies.

This review utilised a key provided by Double Damage Games and Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is available on Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.

#roundtablecoop