Star Wars Outlaws has been a pleasant surprise so far, not only did it manage to win over our staff writer Morgan Park in a lengthy hands-on demo, but it even seems like players already have a favourite character, and the game isn't even out yet.
ND-5 is a BX-series droid commando built by the Confederacy of Independent Systems, and a current associate of Kay Vess, Outlaws' scoundrel protagonist, but most fans will probably just know him by his nickname, hot droid. ND-5 always seems to make some pretty spectacular waves every time he appears in anything new for Star Wars Outlaws, but apparently, that wasn't at all intentional and came as a bit of a surprise to the devs.
"Anyone who tells you this was anticipated is lying," narrative director Navid Khavari says in an interview with GamesHub. "I feel very confident in saying that. I still remember, on announce, the tweets started to pop up and I texted [Jay Rincon, ND-5's voice actor] like 'Jay, get ready'."
The tweets are about as down bad as you'd expect, with most people just taking in the sights. "Okay hear me out… the Droid is HOT," one fan tweets. "A commando droid in a trench coat, I know this guy fucks," someone else adds. Honestly, there's so much more floating around, including an absurd number of thirst trap edits, but I'll let you find those on your own time, because I'm not sure my search history can take much more.
"The word sexy, or anything like that, it was never used," Rincon says. "The artwork was brilliant. I was blown away when I first saw it, and obviously, that helped lead and guide what we ultimately have come up with… But there's nothing sexy about sitting in the skintight suit with all the markers on, and that crazy fishnet."
Despite ND-5 not having any facial expressions, Rincon still acted out scenes in a mocap suit. In fact, the "fishnet" that he mentioned refers to what they used instead of a duster to mimic the coat's movements around the droid. When GamesHub pointed out that fishnets can have a bit of a reputation, Rincon seemed pretty surprised all over again: "How did we not know?! We'll take it though, I mean, why not? We wanted a positive response, and if that's the one we're getting, okay!"