Tomb Raider: Catalyst vs Star Wars Outlaws

• Perspective: Third-Person
• Multiplayer: Single-Player Only
• Setting: Northern India (Post-Cataclysm)
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
• Release Window: 2027
• Unique Feature: The largest world map in the franchise's history, powered by Unreal Engine 5, featuring the experienced Lara Croft in the new Unified Timeline.

• Perspective: Third-Person
• Multiplayer: Single-Player Only
• Setting: Star Wars (Between Episodes V and VI)
• Platforms: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2
• Unique Feature: The first-ever seamless open-world Star Wars game, allowing for uninterrupted travel from planetside exploration to outer space dogfights.

• Ancient Artifacts: Revealed by the mythical cataclysm, these are the secrets Lara must protect from exploitation.
• Specialized Gadgets: Rumored to be discovered throughout the adventure, with some possibly infused with mythical powers.

• Sabacc Tokens: Won by playing the card game Sabacc in various cantinas across the galaxy. These can be collected and gambled.
• Expert Challenges: Specific gameplay challenges tied to nine different 'experts' in the galaxy. Completing them is the primary way to unlock new skills for Kay.

• Adventure
• Archaeology
• Unified Timeline
• Cataclysm
• Ancient Secrets
• Rivalry
• Next-Gen

• Sci-Fi
• Open World
• Star Wars
• Scoundrel
• Heist
• Action-Adventure
• Third-Person Shooter
• Space Exploration

• Customizable Blaster Pistol: Primary Weapon
  Kay's main weapon. It can be upgraded at workbenches to switch between different firing modes: standard (plasma), ion (for shields/droids), explosive (for groups), and stun.
• Dropped Heavy Weapons: Temporary Weapon
  Enemies can drop a variety of weapons like rifles, snipers, and miniguns. Post-launch updates allow Kay to permanently carry and holster these weapons.
• Adrenaline Rush: Special Ability
  A 'Dead Eye' style ability that charges during combat. When activated, it slows time, allowing Kay to mark and unleash a rapid series of shots on multiple targets.

• Gear Sets: Kay can equip three pieces of gear (chest, belt, pants) that provide passive stat boosts. Equipping a full set provides an additional buff. 'Superior' quality gear offers better hidden stats.

Progression is based on enhancing Lara's abilities and rich, customized adventure tech. Players will likely upgrade their traversal gear (wrist-mounted grappling tool) and combat skills as they delve into lost tombs and solve intricate puzzles.

Progression is not based on traditional XP. Instead, players unlock new skills by finding nine 'experts' across the galaxy and completing challenges for them. Skills cover areas like weapon handling, survival, health, and melee. Gear (chest, belt, pants) provides passive stat boosts, and Kay's blaster, speeder, and starship (the Trailblazer) are all fully upgradable.

The game promises the largest Tomb Raider world yet. Lara will traverse an expansive and interconnected landscape in Northern India, densely packed with secrets, tombs, and outlandish terrains. The environment is designed to reward exploration at an increasing scale.

The game features a seamless open-world experience across four main planets: the desert moon of Toshara, the icy city of Kijimi, the jungle planet of Akiva, and the iconic desert of Tatooine. Players can seamlessly travel from a planet's surface into orbit, engage in space combat, and jump to hyperspace without loading screens.

• Speeder Bike: Ground Vehicle
  Kay's primary mode of planetary traversal. It is customizable and can be upgraded for better speed, handling, and combat capabilities.
• The Trailblazer: Starship
  Kay's personal starship, which serves as her mobile base of operations. It can be flown seamlessly from a planet's surface into space, used for dogfighting, and upgraded with better shields, weapons, and hyperdrive.

• Lara Croft: Playable Protagonist
  An experienced, confident, and fierce adventurer set years after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld. Voiced by Alix Wilton Regan.
• Global Rivals: Antagonists
  Notorious treasure hunters from around the world who descend upon Northern India to exploit the ancient power unleashed by the cataclysm.

• Kay Vess: Playable Protagonist
  A young, cunning scoundrel and thief on a coming-of-age journey to pull off a massive heist and secure her freedom.
• Nix: Companion
  Kay's loyal and adorable merqaal companion. He is a crucial part of gameplay, used for stealth, combat, and puzzle-solving.
• ND-5: Ally / Crew Member
  An outlaw droid enforcer from the Clone Wars era who serves as a key member of Kay's heist crew.
• Jaylen Vrax: Antagonist / Crew Member
  A suave underworld fixer who initially rescues Kay and proposes the heist, but ultimately betrays her in pursuit of his own revenge.
• Sliro Barsha: Antagonist
  The ruthless leader of the Zerek Besh criminal syndicate, who places a death mark on Kay and is later revealed to be an ISB director.

• Main Campaign: Story
  A story-driven, potentially more linear adventure focused on preventing a global catastrophe and protecting an ancient secret in Northern India after a mythical cataclysm.
• Tomb Raiding: Puzzle
  Delving into lost tombs filled with intricate environmental puzzles, utilizing Lara's brilliance and customized tech.

• Main Story Quests
  A cinematic campaign that follows Kay Vess as she assembles a crew to pull off one of the galaxy's greatest heists to buy her freedom.
• Syndicate Jobs
  Optional quests and contracts offered by the various criminal syndicates. Completing these jobs is the primary way to increase your reputation with a specific faction.
• Space Contracts
  Optional missions found in space, such as defending freighters or attacking pirate outposts, which provide another avenue for earning credits and reputation.

A Season Pass includes two major story DLCs. 'Wild Card' features a Sabacc tournament and a team-up with Lando Calrissian. 'A Pirate's Fortune' involves a treasure hunt with Hondo Ohnaka. Ubisoft has also addressed initial criticisms through significant post-launch patches.

• Q: What is Tomb Raider: Catalyst?
  A: It is the next major, single-player action-adventure game in the Tomb Raider franchise, developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Amazon Games.
• Q: Which game engine does it use?
  A: The game is built entirely on Unreal Engine 5, allowing the developers to deliver the largest and most expansive adventure in the series' history.
• Q: When does it take place?
  A: It is set 'years after the events of Tomb Raider: Underworld' (2008). The reboot trilogy (2013-2018) is officially canonized as Lara's origin story.
• Q: What new gear does Lara have?
  A: Lara has her iconic dual pistols and a new wrist-mounted grappling tool for enhanced traversal and combat.

• Q: What is Star Wars Outlaws?
  A: It is the first-ever seamless open-world Star Wars game, a third-person action-adventure that follows the story of a scoundrel named Kay Vess as she navigates the criminal underworld.
• Q: When is the game set?
  A: It is set in the one-year gap between the events of 'The Empire Strikes Back' and 'Return of the Jedi'.
• Q: Is it a single-player game?
  A: Yes, Star Wars Outlaws is a strictly single-player experience with no multiplayer or co-op modes.
• Q: How does the Reputation system work?
  A: Your actions and choices affect your standing with four criminal syndicates and the Empire. Gaining favor with a syndicate unlocks perks and quests, while angering them will cause them to send bounty hunters after you.

• SPECULATIVE PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. Official hardware details have not been released, but the game is built entirely on Unreal Engine 5, requiring next-generation console capabilities.
• Laptop Performance Note: Laptop performance will be heavily reliant on the mobile GPU's TGP and the CPU's ability to handle asset streaming and rendering in an expansive UE5 environment.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: Maximum TGP for the laptop's GPU is essential to handle the advanced rendering features of UE5 and the promised 'largest world yet.'
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: The game's scope and use of UE5 will require a premium cooling solution to prevent thermal throttling.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: A powerful multi-core mobile CPU (e.g., i7/R7 equivalent) will be critical for handling asset streaming and physics in the expansive, interconnected environments.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is recommended for minimizing latency in action-adventure gameplay.
• Game Name: Tomb Raider: Catalyst

• OFFICIAL AND EXTRAPOLATED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for Star Wars Outlaws. This information is based on the official PC specifications from Ubisoft, adapted to the requested JSON structure. As a visually ambitious open-world title built on the Snowdrop Engine, the game is demanding, particularly on the CPU and for higher resolutions. Laptop and future-generation GPU listings are extrapolated based on performance benchmarks.
• Laptop Performance Note: Laptop versions of the listed desktop GPUs require comparable performance. For a seamless open-world experience in Star Wars Outlaws, maintaining a stable framerate is key. This makes a laptop with a powerful CPU, a well-cooled, high-TGP (Total Graphics Power) GPU, and fast storage essential.
• Laptop Consideration: G P U T G P: A high TGP is crucial for the GPU to sustain performance in graphically dense areas like detailed cities and lush alien planets, preventing throttling and ensuring fluid gameplay.
• Laptop Consideration: Cooling Thermals: The Snowdrop Engine can heavily tax both the CPU and GPU, especially when rendering large, detailed environments. A robust cooling system is necessary to prevent thermal throttling and maintain consistent performance during long play sessions.
• Laptop Consideration: C P U Power Limits: Strong multi-core CPU performance is critical for handling the game's open-world streaming, complex AI systems, and physics without creating a system bottleneck.
• Laptop Consideration: M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is highly recommended to minimize system latency. In a third-person shooter where timing dodges and shots is important, reducing input lag provides a more responsive experience.
• Optimization Detail: Upscaling Tech: The game officially supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using these upscaling technologies is highly recommended to achieve stable, high framerates, especially when enabling ray tracing or playing at 1440p and 4K resolutions.
• Optimization Detail: Key Settings Impact: Performance will be most affected by settings that tax the GPU heavily, such as Shadow Quality, Ray-Traced Reflections, Ray-Traced Global Illumination, and Volumetric Clouds. The game is expected to be very GPU-bound at higher settings.
• Game Name: Star Wars Outlaws

• Upscaling Tech: The game officially supports NVIDIA DLSS and AMD FSR. Using these upscaling technologies is highly recommended to achieve stable, high framerates, especially when enabling ray tracing or playing at 1440p and 4K resolutions.
• Key Settings Impact: Performance will be most affected by settings that tax the GPU heavily, such as Shadow Quality, Ray-Traced Reflections, Ray-Traced Global Illumination, and Volumetric Clouds. The game is expected to be very GPU-bound at higher settings.

• G P U T G P: Maximum TGP for the laptop's GPU is essential to handle the advanced rendering features of UE5 and the promised 'largest world yet.'
• Cooling Thermals: The game's scope and use of UE5 will require a premium cooling solution to prevent thermal throttling.
• C P U Power Limits: A powerful multi-core mobile CPU (e.g., i7/R7 equivalent) will be critical for handling asset streaming and physics in the expansive, interconnected environments.
• M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is recommended for minimizing latency in action-adventure gameplay.

• G P U T G P: A high TGP is crucial for the GPU to sustain performance in graphically dense areas like detailed cities and lush alien planets, preventing throttling and ensuring fluid gameplay.
• Cooling Thermals: The Snowdrop Engine can heavily tax both the CPU and GPU, especially when rendering large, detailed environments. A robust cooling system is necessary to prevent thermal throttling and maintain consistent performance during long play sessions.
• C P U Power Limits: Strong multi-core CPU performance is critical for handling the game's open-world streaming, complex AI systems, and physics without creating a system bottleneck.
• M U X Switch Optimus: A MUX switch or NVIDIA Advanced Optimus is highly recommended to minimize system latency. In a third-person shooter where timing dodges and shots is important, reducing input lag provides a more responsive experience.