Whenever I look at what happens to the space saga of George Lucas after he decided to sell the rights to the brand to Disney, I have the feeling that something went wrong in Star Wars in recent years. Specifically, what made the nervous waiting for the premiere of the next installment, comparable only to unpacking Christmas presents, gave way to a simple wave of the hand.
Until twenty years ago, when The Phantom was entering theaters , this state of affairs never crossed anyone’s mind, and the premiere itself and the accompanying buzz were an EVENT. Fans of the universe know very well what happened a few thousand martyred midichlorians later, but the period of the earlier twenty years of drought was enough for the audience to storm the cinema halls for the second trilogy.
The trend has reversed in the last decade. The frequency with which we view lightsabers on silver screens has increased disproportionately to the quality. And don’t get me wrong, Star Wars is still huge budgets, epic shows and technical mastery … but without the spirit of swashbuckling adventure, which at one time made each of us want to find ourselves in Luke’s skin somewhere deep inside. and admire a double Tatooine sunset or join the crew of the Millennium Falcon. And yes, not everyone has to agree with the above opinion. It should be noted, however, that the recent films have divided the fans a lot. The players, in turn, did not have such a problem.
Old, new wars
They didn’t have it because licensed interactive productions were mostly… mediocre at best. Apart from the unfortunate battlefront lootboxes , which caused a real storm on the Internet, amateurs of singles campaigns did not have much to be happy about. After two installments of Force Unleashed disappointed the expectations of fans of the star saga, and the boldly announced 1313 did not see the light of day, it was painfully realized to all interested that almost fifteen years had passed since the last, really successful production set in the Star Wars universe .
And just when we had all grown accustomed to the sense of loss, help came from a completely unexpected side. Here is operating under the armed arm of Electronic Arts, responsible for Apex Legends and two titles of Titanfall , Respawn Entertainment has created something that for many, if only because of its form, will be a nostalgic journey into the past, without microtransactions and an epic story only for one player and included in the canon.
And no – my dear – Fallen Order is not the third KOTOR and, in fact, I don’t think it wants to catch up with the legend. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Respawn developers decided to take solutions that have already worked in other single productions, and all this has been adorned with a hellishly good script. And they hit almost the jackpot.
new Hope
The plot of the Fallen Order takes place between the third and fourth installments of the saga, when the famous Order 66 enters into force, recognizing the Jedi Knights as traitors to the Republic. In these extremely dramatic times for people on the bright side of the force, we get to know the young Padawan Cal Kestis. A boy hiding among the scrap metal guild makes a fatal mistake that draws the attention of the Imperial Inquisitors. Kestis has no choice but to run – the kind in the course of which he will meet unexpected allies, face his own weaknesses, and fight for a better future for the oppressed.
It all sounds a bit standard, and indeed – the beginning of the Fallen Order does not foreshadow a particularly exciting adventure. Fortunately, these are only appearances. After a sluggish two or three hours, the plot begins to gain momentum, characters gain character and surprisingly complex motivations, and the whole thing is inspired by a classic, epic star-war chic. And when the scriptwriters get the wind in their sails, there will be no reduced fare. On the monitor screen there will be great things happening, things that will touch every fan of the universe and, above all, extremely effective things. It is a pity to reveal any details, because the whole thing is simply worth getting to know for yourself. It’s enough to say that the script is a great asset to American production. Cal and his companions are a very nice bunch, and discovering more references to the classic saga gave me a lot of pleasure.
Cutting with a lightsaber
The gameplay, which fits the Star Wars game like a glove , also made a positive impression on me . There are basically two key elements here: exploration and combat.
The former is a classic in the style of metroidvania , which we could already taste a bit in this year’s Control : extensive locations, initially partially closed to us, but with the unlocking of new skills, they gain depth. Character development has been wisely guided here so that when we return to previously visited places, sometimes necessarily dictated by the plot, we will be able to discover something new each time. The fallen order appreciates the patient players who like to “lick the walls”. For discovering subsequent passages and seemingly inaccessible items, he rewards us not only with visual “collectibles”, but above all with the necessary experience points, which we will use to equip Cal.
Methodical development and the will to explore is a necessity, because at every moment of the game, the creators make sure that we do not feel overly strong. New sets of opponents (and there are many of them) force you to develop new defense and attack strategies, and since the whole game is strongly inspired by productions like Sekiro and Dark Souls , we will be busy on a normal level of difficulty all the time. From soulslike games , Fallen Order it also borrows the mechanics of save points – instead of fires, we have meditation points, but the principle is similar: if we decide to go to rest to repair vitality, previously defeated opponents will return to their places. Each death is, in turn, the loss of previously gained experience points, which we can regain by defeating our tormentor in the next duel.
So many theories, and how does this mix work in practice? Quite delicious, because there are simply no places in the Fallen Order where something interesting would not happen. And when we manage to develop the hero properly, the fun turns red. The timetable includes, for example, crazy wall runs and descents on icy slopes, ending with measured jumps directly into the embrace of hostile creatures, or the entire squad of Imperial stormtroopers. These, in turn, will be “softened” by slowing down time, pulling or throwing them on the wall, to finish them off with an effective pirouette with a lightsaber. It all looks extremely attractive and is designed in such a way that it intertwines seamlessly – just Uncharted and Sekiro enchanted in one game.
Not exactly stellar setting
With all this fabulous gameplay, the technical layer is a bit worse. In the PC version, there is a problem with optimization. On my home Ryzen 3700X, 16 GB RAM and 1070ti it was smooth in most cases, but all of a sudden the production could “crunch” at random moments. Perhaps this is due to the size of the location and the lack of loading screens (even when flying to another planet!), But the setting itself does not justify it in any way. Fallen Order is not an ugly game, but the graphics quality can be very uneven. In addition to fantastic-looking landscapes, we have not very detailed character models, including particularly nasty Wookiees who look like pasted ones from the previous generation consoles.
There is also the unfortunate dubbing in the Polish language version, which cannot be easily turned off. While Polish actors perform well and in a way can make us remember the times of the Phantom Menace , I would simply prefer to have a choice.
Dreams finally come true
I must confess: I didn’t wait a bit for the Fallen Order , and the first hours made me sure that a large reserve was justified. Later, however, the development child of Respawn Entertainment took me completely by surprise, delivering one blow after another. The interactive version of the New Star Wars is still not a perfect game, but it doesn’t have to be. They did exactly what many new installments in the film version lacked: they breathed the spirit of adventure into the already known story. And if only for that, you shouldn’t be indifferent to them.
