At Electronic Art’s pre-E3 “EA Play” event, fans got to see around 15 minutes of gameplay from the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The gameplay features a lot of force powers, lightsaber usage, and other fun mechanics in what seems to be an incredibly promising experience for fans of the galaxy far, far away.
Gameplay footage starts on the Wookie planet Kashyyk, homeworld of Chewbacca. EA said the footage was approximately three hours into the game and featured an expert playthrough by someone who had mastered all of the game mechanics.
As we arrive, the main character of the game, Cal Kestis, a former Jedi Padawan, is on a mission to refound the Jedi Order after its destruction at the hands of Emperor Palpatine. Kestis, who is voiced by Cameron Monaghan, already wields a lightsaber and is rather competent in his use of force powers both in and out of combat. Fallen Order is a third-person action game.
Although very little of the overall story has been revealed, Fallen Order will likely build off of much of the canon as provided in previous movies and games, as most Star Wars video game titles have tended to do. In the short clip provided by EA, the main character runs into Saw Gerrera, Forest Whitaker’s character from 2016’s Rogue One.
The action game is reminiscent of similar titles as far as gameplay is concerned, but despite these similarities, the game doesn’t fail to find its own originality (at least as far as anyone can tell from a 14-minute gameplay trailer). Similar to earlier games like The Force Unleashed, players in Fallen Order will need to combine traditional lightsaber combat with a wide array of force powers to defeat enemies.
In one of the most difficult fights shown, Kestis fights against an elite Stormtrooper wielding some sort of energy staff in single combat. At other points, he is forced to deflect blaster bolts (also known as lasers) with his lightsaber, grab things with his force powers, freeze individual enemies in group combat, pull an enemy onto his lightsaber using the force, and even slow time.
One of the most gratifying aspects of the action game is the intense graphics and expansive world that the character gets to navigate as they attempt to bring back the Jedi. In the playthrough, Kestis not only has to fight against Stormtroopers but even local wildlife on the planet of Kashyyk. So it’s safe to say there will be a lot of variety to be found in the game.
Fallen Order will be available for Xbox, Playstation, and computer. Its expected release date will be November 15, 2019.
