The Force really is strong with this one
RIGHT now is a pivotal moment in Star Wars history. More than 40 years after it began, the original movie saga is about to come to an end with The Rise of Skywalker.
And, after more than a decade of waiting, a Star Wars game has arrived which finally does justice to the franchise.
Star Wars titles have had a rough few years. The Battlefront reboot in 2015, while a thing of absolute beauty to look at, was also slightly disappointing.
Its 2017 follow up was dogged by controversy about loot boxes, which gave players willing to pay real-world cash for items a substantial advantage over other gamers.
But it seems as if lessons have been learned, and new release, Fallen Order, instantly feels like a Star Wars game.
Set after Revenge of the Sith, the Empire has passed Order 66 and the Jedi are being purged.
Our hero is Cal Kestis (played by Cameron Monaghan, who Gotham fans might recognise as Mr J). A Padawan who never completed his training, Cal is eking out an existence on the junkyard planet Bracca.
Tracked down by Jedi hunters, Cal flees and in the game’s opening moments is rescued by Jedi Master Cere Junda.
Together with a ragbag group – a four-armed, gambling addicted pilot, and the world’s most adorable droid – BD-1, they set about trying to restore the Jedi Order.
If those characters sound a little familiar, it’s because
Fallen Order is basically a melting pot of all that’s gone before. And to freshen things up there are unmistakable elements from other popular games. Using the Force to push and pull objects was reminiscent of Dead Space, while the feel of lightsaber combat is heavily influenced by God of War.
Traversing vines and obstacles felt like the best bits of Uncharted, while the Meditation spots resemble, and act like, the campfires from Bloodborne. It’s an odd mix of styles, but it absolutely works. There is a myriad of different enemies to fight, from aliens, and humanoids, to Rancor-esque beasts. Each must be approached differently, and can be dispatched in different ways – which leads to fights feeling a little stilted. I wish developer Respawn Entertainment had maybe looked to the Arkham Knight series for fight-mechanic inspiration, the beautiful flowing style in those games would have worked perfectly in lightsaber combat.
Retracing your steps, while annoying, can pay dividends, and revisiting an old planet often rewards you with ‘stims’ which can double your health, something you’ll be very grateful of when it comes to some of the feistier Boss battles.
Progressing through the game you unlock shortcuts, which are a nice addition but sadly make no overall difference to travel time when re-visiting planets. In the end travel becomes a bit of a slog, especially when the novelty of an environment has worn off.
Re-spawning becomes a similar drudge. To begin with, death in combat is fairly frequent and you are left with a black loading screen for nearly 30 seconds before you are thrown back into the fight. That sounds picky, but 30 seconds is a long time to disrupt the flow of the game.
Respawn Entertainment has done a lovely job here, and you can see just how closely it has worked with Lucasfilm to ensure Fallen Order stays true to the Star Wars series.
The problem with that is it has left hardly room for itself to try something new – and amidst the tried and trusted Star Wars tropes, and borrowed bits from other titles, the new character, BD-1 was the absolute stand-out of the game.
But what it has created is a solid, faithful and incredibly fun game which will go down a treat with Star Wars.