Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Earlier in 2020 Microsoft announced that EA Play was coming to Game Pass Ultimate, and along with it Respawn’s 2019 soul’s like Star Wars game. I had been waiting to grab the game when it came to Stadia, but the free addition to Game Pass was too good to pass up.
This is probably the most enjoyable Star Wars game I have played in a while, probably the most enjoyable for me since the Force Unleashed. It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy EAs Battlefront revivals, but this story focused adventure is on a completely different level than the other recent EA Star Wars titles.
You play as Cal, a Padawan now grown, that hasn’t completed his training after the clones executed Order 66. The story gets set into motion when Cal uses the force as a last ditch effort to save a friend. From there the game has you hopping around a handful of planets in a quest to locate a register of force sensitive children. The story itself is one of the game’s strengths, despite what feels like rushed character development towards the end of the game. The twists are interesting, and your crew members are enjoyable. Cal and his little robot buddy, BD-1, really nail the ‘Star Wars’ vibe, and really grow on you throughout the story.
The game looks great too. I played the game on the Xbox One X in resolution mode, one of two modes offered, and apart from some dips in cutscenes the game ran at a relatively smooth framerate. From sounds to creature design, the game does an excellent job recreating the entire Star Wars universe.
That being said, the game has this weird feeling of inconsistency. For example, some of the animations are less than stellar. Cal’s run is a notable stand out. It simply doesn’t look or feel natural. The game also can feel janky. Sometimes Cal will decide to jump off a cliff when climbing, and sometimes other odd graphical glitches can happen while platforming. These bugs didn’t break the game, but certainly took me out of the moment. Combat has its fair share of bugs too, which can be frustrating as death is frequent and a normality. These presentation and gameplay bugs give an otherwise beautiful game a distinct feel of inconsistency.
As mentioned, the game is a soul’s like. You will die a lot. While this wouldn’t be a big deal if you were playing on something like a PC with a solid state drive, thirty second loads every death on my One X got old quick. Thankfully the game has an excellent set of difficulty options. Since I am bad at soul’s games, I was able to scale the difficulty down to a level where I could enjoy the game.
The game is the best Star Wars game that EA has put out in years, and the inclusion in Game Pass makes it a game you shouldn’t miss. It looks great, sounds great, and for the most part, plays great. There are inconsistencies that might put a stain on the experience, but an excellent narrative trumps those small frustrations and bugs. Hopefully we see more from Cal and the crew of the Mantis in the future.