Star Wars Outlaws: Low Red Moon Review

Star Wars: Outlaws made quite the splash in the world of Star Wars gaming back in 2024. While not all players loved the mechanics of the Ubisoft title, the characters shone through beautifully as Kay Ves and Nix made their mark on the galaxy.

The pair’s adventures were filled with thrilling heroics, last-second escapes, and another fantastic dynamic duo…Jaylen Vrax and ND-5.

Jaylen and ND may have spent their time in Outlaws as side characters, but their story beats - particularly those of the former Separatist commando droid - were some of the most memorable in the entire game, and thanks to Mike Chen’s Low Red Moon, they’re finally getting their time in the spotlight.

What begins as a tale of shock and betrayal becomes an adventurous mystery that unfortunately lacks the thrilling finale some fans might hope. However, more time with these characters is never something to turn away from, and with a few special cameos added to the mix, there’s plenty for Outlaws fans to enjoy.

Plot

Low Red Moon begins by taking us into the lives of the Barshas, one of the most powerful families in the world of intergalactic shipbuilding. Jaylen Barsha lives a wildly privileged life thanks to the success of his parents’ corporation, but his half-brother is relegated to a life of shame as he wallows in dark corners of the family’s public image.

Early on in the story, the Barshas find themselves to be victims of unknown sabotage which leads to their temporary exile. Meanwhile, an old Separatist commando droid named ND-5 is given a horrific mission that brings him into the orbit of the family, and after an action sequence that is traumatic to say the least…a friendship is forged.

Random House Worlds

The rest of the novel takes Jaylen and ND-5 through a variety of adventures as the former attempts to uncover the mystery of who was behind the events that took down his family. For fans of Star Wars: Outlaws, the end result of this journey will hardly be surprising, and unfortunately, much of Jaylen’s inner dialogue is predicated on the fact that the audience won’t know what’s coming.

On the other hand, if readers don’t have a prior relationship with Outlaws, the pacing of the book can start out a bit oddly as an inherent understanding of the characters is somewhat assumed during the exposition. The result is a slightly incoherent reading experience on both ends of the spectrum with a story that is both too mysterious for some while not mysterious enough for others.

The later sections of the story, however, do ramp up the excitement quite a bit, and like many Star Wars novels, the journey is often more important than the destination. And luckily, this journey focuses on two of the most likeable and complex characters we’ve had in quite some time.

Characters

Jaylen Vrax and ND-5 are two characters cut from the same cloth. Both began their lives subjected to programming of sorts, and as they make their way across the galaxy, they attempt to write their own stories in opposition to the destructive forces that brought them into the world.

For Jaylen, this means turning away from the legacy of the Barsha Corporation.
For ND-5, this means pushing back against the murderous nature of a commando droid.

Both of them succeed and fail in these pursuits throughout the book, but their parallel stories of identity are easily the most compelling sections of Low Red Moon. You’ll never realize how similar parental trauma can be to a restraining bolt until you read it through the eyes of Mike Chen.

Knowing that the duo will end the novel on the “wrong side” of the law also makes this a rather unique story in Canon. Oftentimes, we assume that the heroes will always land on the side of good and just, but since Jaylen and ND-5 enter Outlaws as well…outlaws…the moral implications of their actions are much less certain. Chen uses this narrative freedom to insert another layer of complexity into each choice they make which lead to some of the most fun sections of the novel.

Random House Worlds

Aside from the main duo, Low Red Moon is filled with some richly developed side characters and even a few cameos that will elicit a healthy cheer from book readers and gamers alike. These characters are perfectly placed for maximum effect both for the plot and for the excitement factor (an undeniable part of Star Wars), and their inclusion helps make the entire galaxy feel beautifully connected.

Although the traditional antagonists of the book remain in the shadows for large swaths of the adventure, Jaylen’s parents occupy that role quite nicely during the first act, and despite their machinations being a bit heavy handed at times, their part in crafting Jaylen’s rebellious nature is undeniable. Parental trauma has been a core story element of Star Wars since the very beginning, and Chen’s examination of its effects upon Jaylen’s legacy are just as rich as any reader could hope for.

Every one of the elements combined with the relentlessly charming dynamic between Jaylen and ND-5 prove that even when the larger picture may be a bit murky, sometimes the worth of the individual moments can be more than enough.

Writing

When the central plot of a book revolves around the solving of a mystery, pacing is a writer’s most crucial tool. As the characters discover key pieces of information, the reader hopes to be on the edge of their seat as they watch the pieces fall into place right alongside the protagonist.

In Low Red Moon, the secret of what happened to the Barsha family should be the vehicle that drives that pace…but because the revelation is relatively obvious from the beginning, that sense of drive and discovery never fully materializes. While Mike Chen uses every trick in his extensive artistic toolbox to create a sense of wonder through the eyes of Jaylen and ND-5, the knowledge of readers who have already played Outlaws (which is likely the target demographic for this book) prevents a complete sense of immersion that is so crucial for Star Wars books.

Thankfully, the central mystery of Low Red Moon is not the only driving force throughout the novel, and it is through these other side adventures and action set pieces that Chen’s talent for writing in this universe really shines. He perfectly captures the vibes of the seedy underbelly of the galaxy, and there are moments where the action becomes downright cinematic as he describes the death-defying escapades of the former Barsha and his droid.

It is within these scenes that you can tell exactly why Chen was chosen for this project. His action scenes are snappy and dynamic, and his dialogue sounds like it came right off the screen in a saga film. Unfortunately, those highlights are too often muddied by cumbersome exposition to recommend his latest venture over his previous work in Star Wars: Brotherhood.

While Low Red Moon is by no means a pedestrian outing by a writer of Chen’s caliber, it’s hard not to think this chapter was a bit bogged down by the weight of an entirely separate narrative.

Entertainment

One of the best parts about playing Star Wars: Outlaws was simply having fun in the Star Wars galaxy. As simple as it sounds, being able to let go and enjoy the thrills of a galaxy far, far away is a massively important part of Star Wars games and books alike, and Mike Chen understands this completely.

Multiple times throughout Low Red Moon, you can’t help but be swept away by the excitement of what’s unfolding. Whether it be a particularly brutal action sequence in the early book or a later mission featuring some rather unlikely allies, there are plenty of times that this novel proves exactly why Star Wars remains one of the most entertaining franchises to this day.

There’s chaotic blasterfire.
Quippy one-liners.
Near death escapes.
Massive explosions.

And that barely covers three pages.

For all of the misfires that occur in the overall plot relating to pacing and lag, these sequences do enough to catapult Low Red Moon into the ranks of incredibly solid underworld tales, and there’s no doubt that we need many more of these in the coming years.

One of the final components of Low Red Moon comes in the form of the audiobook. While Marc Thompson has customarily handled most of the Star Wars audio adventures over the last few years, Outlaws voice actors Eric Johnson and Jay Rincon lend their talents to this project to voice their respective characters. Although there are a few questionable editing moments where a trained ear may sense there was a missed audio pickup, having Jaylen and ND-5’s original voices return to tell the story of their first adventure is quite the treat and hopefully a trend that continues with adaptations down the road.

Overall

Star Wars: Outlaws gave fans an entirely new appreciation for the underworld that lives below the world that George Lucas created. Through the eyes of Kay Vess, we learned even more about the tension between the Syndicates and what it takes to make a name for yourself in the galaxy.

While Low Red Moon may falter in its desire to create a compelling mystery at its core, it maintains that same level of intrigue and excitement that will enrich the experience of every gamer who left their first adventure wishing for a bit more time with this charming outlaw and a trenchcoat-sporting droid.

Rating: Good

Low Red Moon is available now wherever books are sold and as an audiobook narrated by Eric Johnson and Jay Rincon.