Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order looks like a movie and plays like a dream (Pic: Electronic Arts)
Nearly two years after its somewhat controversial launch, Star Wars Battlefront II now enjoys a rock-solid fanbase with a steady flow of new content. However, if manic multiplayer dogfights and sprawling online skirmishes arent for you, then Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order might be exactly what youre looking.
After a pretty unceremonious announcement at last years E3 2018, the Star Wars fandom were split. One half salivating over the prospect of a current gen Jedi sim, the other half unsure of EA given its recent shift away from singleplayer games.
If there was one thing driving this new hope of stellar Star Wars game, it was confirmation that Respawn Entertainment (the creators of TItanfall and Apex Legends) were taking the reins.
For a studio that has built its short yet impressive legacy on the back of online first-person shooters, Fallen Order may sound like a strange project for Respawn to undertake.
Speaking with The Daily Star about its origins, producer Blair Brown explained that the team had been working on a very similar action adventure game. This would undergo a metamorphosis, Respawn later pitching it to EA as a Star Wars title that the publisher eagerly snapped up.
Fast forward to year after the Fallen Orders announcement and we were sat in a room getting an early hands-on demo.
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“This is a game you wont want to miss and one thats thankfully not far, far away from launch.”
Instead of dropping us straight onto one of the games planets, we were shown the ropes within the four, featureless walls of a purpose built dojo. A grey room populated by waves of Imperial troopers, droids, and other baddies stripped from the Star Wars universe.
Try as we might, its tough not to compare the combat here to that of a certain landmark series. Theres a heft and deliberateness to attacks which are also married to blocks, parries, and evades, turning each encounter into its own Star Wars set piece.
Something we found particularly interesting is how Respawn treats the deadliness of a lightsaber. In the films, one stroke or poke with these sci-fi glowsticks is enough to kill and the same applies here.
(Pic: EA)
While some grunts will go down immediately, others (mainly those with melee weapons) will need to have their posture broken before they are exposed, allowing Cal to deliver a fatal blow. Sure, theres definitely some similarities here to Sekiro though its a lot more forgiving.
This isnt a mature rated game and even if it was there probably wouldnt be any gnarly takedowns – no slicing or dicing in a lightsaber storm of heads and limbs.
Disney and Lucasfilm wouldnt allow it, Brown told us. Hacking off extremities has always been a power move reserved for serious, pivotal moments in the Star Wars cinematic timeline.
Theres a constant line open between Fallen Orders developers and consultants who advise on the story, art, and sound. There are rules and guidelines to follow, but this isnt as limiting as it sounds.
Its a two-way flow and there have been occasions when making the game that Lucasfilm has aided Respawn with helpful ideas, making this a truly authentic chapter in the epic sci-fi saga.
(Pic: EA)
The section we played was from the Kashyyyk level that debuted during this years EA Play. Although Fallen Order will have us runninRead More – Source
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