Fans of Star Wars and solo games have not been spoiled too much in recent years. Electronic Arts, which bravely takes care of the rights to games based on the Star Wars brand, has long been deaf to the voices of the community. Both Battlefront parts released on this generation, the deletion of Star Wars 1313 and the general reluctance of EA to release single player games were not optimistic. This is where Respawn Entertainment comes in, all in white, and presents us the first one-person game in the Star Wars universe in years. The only question is is the Force with this title?
Respawn Entertainment is a studio that, in addition to multiplayer games, gave us an excellent single player mode in Titanfall 2. The story in this game is probably my favorite campaign in the FPS game of recent years. So this studio got a lot of credit from me before the Fallen Order premiere, and well, they didn’t disappoint.
In the game we play Cal Kestis, a young Jedi knight. The action of the game is situated between the third and fourth episodes of the Star Saga. Cal, while still a young Padawan, witnessed the Jedi massacre on the orders of 66. Now he hides himself and his power on the planet Bracca by working to dismantle old machines and ships. His past, however, does not allow himself to be forgotten, and when the Imperial Inquisitors went to get him, he must return to the path of the Force and remember his Jedi training.
History is definitely one of the better aspects of this production. We have here, of course, the classic for this brand fight between the oppressed good and the evil Empire. But thanks to the interesting characters that can be liked, the whole thing is very good to watch. The space between episodes III and IV is so wide that the creators could easily place their own vision of the story here without worrying too much about the canon. Of course, during our adventures, we will meet a few familiar faces, but these are rather episodic performances. Nevertheless, the story is something Star Wars fans should buy right now, and they should like it.
Over the years, while waiting for a new Star Wars game, I actually counted on The Force Unleashed 3. I’m a huge fan of that series, and honestly – if I just got the third installment, I was totally smitten. It turned out, however, that we got something more. It turns out that the Fallen Order is not an ordinary slasher with lightsabers. The game follows the latest trends and draws handfuls from other productions. If I had to name one game to which the order is most similar, I would mention … the last Tomb Raiders. Yes, Cal, like Lara, will travel fairly open worlds with different paths waiting for him. Not everything will be available at once, as many places will not be reached without the appropriate skills or equipment.
Terrain exploration is one of the greatest aspects of this title. Worlds full of secrets to discover and collectibles await us. Due to the fact that the action takes place in space and we visit many different planets here, the creators could allow themselves a lot of variety in the selection of what we are going to visit. From the forested Kashyyyk to the desert Dathomira, we will visit a total of 6 planets here, each completely different and each filled with puzzles and secrets.
Just as the hallmark of the Jedi are lightsabers, fighting them will be one of the main things we do in a knight adventure game. It is no different with the Fallen Law. Combat is an important element here and mechanically resembles games from the Dark Souls series. The lightsaber has its weight here and won’t cut through enemies right away. You have to counter their attacks, dodge and use the surroundings to your advantage. During combat, we can use the power, but we cannot do it indefinitely. After unlocking new abilities, we will be able to push back, zoom in or slow down opponents.
We can deflect blaster shots towards the shooters, and fights with more elite opponents can be more demanding. The combat system is quite difficult to master, but it gives a lot of satisfaction with every successful fight and play.
The game has a system in which if we die, we are reborn in the last point of meditation, while losing all gained experience. We can return to the enemy who killed us and regain the lost experience. We can save the game and buy new skills in the aforementioned meditation points. We can also heal ourselves in them, but this will cause all enemies on the level to respawn.
The BD-1 robot is a great support in our journey. He accompanies us throughout the journey. With its help, we will open closed doors, scan the surroundings and enemies, and later we will even learn to hack Empire droids. BD-1 can also heal us during the skirmish. As usual in this universe, this droid is cute and will quickly steal the heart of many people.
Great emphasis was placed on the cosmetics of our character and its equipment. We can get new outfits for Cal, the robot or our ship. Additionally, we can also edit our lightsaber. Unfortunately, all of this has only a visual aspect. Changing the color of the blade will not make it have different stats.
Graphically, the title looks very good. The characters and their facial expressions look perfect. The combat animations and our hero are also the highest level. Similarly with sound. From time to time we will hear some familiar melodies in the background. The game is available in the Polish language version and I cannot fault the dubbing itself. The only problem is that we cannot change it. The language of the game is assigned to the language of the console, so to enjoy the English version you need to change the console settings. It is sad that in 2019, the creators still decide on such restrictions.
Occasionally we will encounter a few bugs, mainly those related to the penetration of our hero through the environment. Occasionally, the physics acted strangely, and at random moments decided to launch my character into the air for a few meters. These are not big things, nor are they significantly influencing the fun, but it should be noted nonetheless.
I had a lot of fun with Star Wars Jedi. It’s great fun in the Star Wars universe. Fans of the universe will be delighted, because it’s the best that has happened to this world for a long time (not that the competition in this field is outstanding, of course). It’s a great game and I wish it would be a success. That the tables in Excel would give EA’s owners to think and change their views on the future of single player games. This is what I wish for myself and for you.
We thank EA Polska for submitting the game for review.
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