This week LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will join the massive canon of Star Wars games and stand alongside true titans. What are the best trips to the galaxy far, far away?
For almost as long as star wars existed, it is the same star wars games, from 1982 The Empire Strikes Back on Atari 2600 and Intellivision. They were among the franchise’s biggest influences, alongside the extra novels and tabletop RPG West End Games that spawned the “Expanded Universe.”
As we anticipate the arrival of the next big entry in the Lego Star Wars line, let’s take stock of the last forty years and name our top five star wars Games.
5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2008)
Any child who grew up with star wars probably developed a pretty impressive impression of Darth Vader. Even though he’s the villain, there’s always been a certain dark side mystique – such is his power, after all. LucasArts has tripled on this notion with Star Wars: The Force Unleashedthe ultimate dark side power fantasy.
As Vader’s secret apprentice/contingency plan, you roam the galaxy in search of surviving Jedi and Rebel leaders with a full suite of Sith abilities. It all boils down to a choice between Vader and Palpatine, with branching endings for each. The game was a pretty big critical and financial hit, and was bolstered by post-launch bonus content that continued the non-canon “bad” timeline, pitting you against Luke and Obi-Wan.
LucasArts repeated this formula with its sequel in 2010 with somewhat diminishing returns, bringing the Starkiller closer to the burgeoning Rebel Alliance and offering more alternate universe missions. However, these two star wars the games are definitive ‘dark side’ experiences (and you’ll soon be able to play the original again on Switch).
4) Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (2003)
Windows 95 hosted countless attempts to copy the success of Lossand not even star wars could resist the lure of this fashion. Star Wars: Dark Forces released in 1995 and introduced us to Kyle Katarn, a rebel mercenary who would become a Jedi in its 1997 sequel. Katarn’s series changed direction completely over the next two games, moving away from the Loss-like feeling and culminating in Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
Katarn played a supporting role for the playable character, Jaden Korr, his apprentice at Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Academy on Yavin IV. Players could choose Jaden’s race and gender, and customize their abilities and fighting style as the game progressed. The story also allowed players to choose their own path through the story, while bonding with the expanded universe in a way that most other games didn’t.
At the time, it was one of the best representations of the Jedi way in star wars games, finally realizing the potential that the dark forces series had sucked years before. After participating in many hours of lightsaber battles in its predecessor’s modified online scene, Jedi Academy felt like the culmination of everything the license could do.
3) Jedi: Fallen Order (2019)
The star wars the name alone is not enough to carry a video game, as proven by numerous games released since Disney acquired LucasFilm a decade ago. Respawn Entertainment Jedi: Fallen Order finally shook off the curse of EA microtransactions and delivered one of the best experiences in star wars more games.
You play as Cal Kestis, a padawan who survived Order 66 and has been in hiding ever since. The trauma of losing his master has severed most of his connection to the Force, and he must rebuild it as he meets another Jedi exile and embarks on a quest to hide the identities of other potential users. of the force. On the gameplay side, Fallen order falls into the “Souls-like” category, with a marked degree of difficulty and enemies that respawn when you use a save point to regroup.
Powered by a terrific cast, led by Cameron Monaghan, and featuring one of the cutest droids ever created, Fallen order linked the eras of star wars while delivering a solid gameplay experience unlike anything the franchise had yet done. With a strong response from critics and fans, and stellar sales, it has restored hope in EA’s keeping of the franchise and is set to lead a new trio of star wars Respawn games.
2) TIE-Fighter (1994)
With sources as epic as star wars, you can branch out into many different game genres that focus on individual aspects of movies. In four games, the X-wing series focused on the experience of flying starfighters, and its climax is Star Wars: TIE Fighter.
This sequel shifted the perspective to the Empire. As a rookie Imperial Cadet, you embark on a campaign of missions against the Rebels and then against a treacherous faction of other Imperials. With only a handful of characters (including Grand Admiral Thrawn, a fan favorite who recently made his debut in the novels) and point-and-click areas to interact with between missions, he managed to tell an absolutely massive story for its time ; the definitive edition on CD-ROM contained thirteen chapters and an enormous amount of voice acting.
During missions, and following the TIE Fighter model, players could manipulate their engines, shields, and weapons to gain an advantage and achieve specific objectives, not always destroying their targets, but sometimes disabling them for capture. By completing bonus objectives, you’ll earn an invitation to the Emperor’s Secret Inner Circle (and a cool tattoo to show off your membership in this exclusive club).
It’s not just one of the best star wars games of all time, it’s a fierce contender for the best flight sim of all time, even though it’s a space fighter set in a fictional universe.
1) Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
Before Mass Effect and dragon ageBioWare strikes gold with its ambitious RPG Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which stretches further back into the series’ past than any other game or movie has to date. Its combat system adapted traditional tabletop RPG mechanics into digital form, with attack and skill tests determined behind the scenes by rolling a d20 and your characters’ modifiers.
Knights of the Old Republic showed us the galaxy 4000 years before A new hope, including trips to many iconic locations like Tatooine, Coruscant and Kashyyyk. The player character is caught in the crossfire when his Republic cruiser is attacked by Sith soldiers who capture the Jedi Bastila Shan. You get caught up in the effort to save her and find yourself embroiled in a conflict between the Jedi and two Sith Lords, Darth Revan and Darth Malak, with a sprinkle of Mandalorians for good measure. Almost twenty years later, I’m still reeling from the big reveal halfway through the game and the possible fates of your excellent companions.
BioWare would continue to implement this d20-based approach in the first Mass Effect game (before removing bugs that stemmed from the Legendary Edition remaster), which cemented their place in industry history. Perhaps because of his heritage, KOTORthe successor to the MMO The old republic was one of the only existing star wars games (or any other media) to remember when Disney bought LucasFilm and reset the canon slate.
But more important, Knights of the Old Republic and its Obsidian-developed sequel really had it all star wars games could aspire to: showcase all the different facets of ownership well, engage players personally, and tell a movie-worthy story. It will be exciting to see how all the innovations he inspired will be reintroduced in his upcoming PS5-exclusive remake.
Of course, this ranking of star wars games could very well change over the next few weeks as LEGO skywalker saga will rock out of the gate with a refined engine and sprawling campaign spanning all nine theatrical episodes and more. Stay tuned to CGMagazine this week for our official review and a few more surprises!
