New console game gives 'Star Wars' fans an expanded universe
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will be strictly a single person game.
(Reuters) - While ‘Star Wars’ fans eagerly await the final film in the original franchise, "Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker" in December, they will have a chance to play a whole new episode one month before, when a new video game "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order" comes out.
The story picks up off the end of "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" after Anakin Skywalker (later known as Darth Vader) appeared to kill all the Jedi trainees. However, a few of the Jedi padawans escape the carnage and the game follows one of them, Cal Kestis, as he tries to survive out in the universe while trying to improve his Jedi skills.
"Everything we do is part of one continuity so this is part of the story," said Douglas Reilly, the Vice President of Games at Lucasfilm. He added "There is the comics, the books, the TV shows, the movies, they’re all together in one continuity together and this is an important part of that."
Cal Kestis is played in the game by "Shameless" and "Gotham" actor Cameron Monaghan. The developers of the game spent a long time searching for the perfect person to embody the face, body and movements of the central character.
"The right person just brings so much more emotion, life to the character," said Vince Zampella from the game developer Respawn Entertainment. "I remember when Stig (Asmussen - the game’s director) found him, he came into me and the excitement, you could see it, it was electric in Stig. ‘This is the guy, we found him.’ It means so much to the team, it means so much to the performance. It makes all the difference."
Although the film is being distributed by EA Games, the game is a collaboration between Lucasfilm, who are behind all Star Wars productions, and Respawn Entertainment, who has made games such as ‘Titanfall’ and ‘Apex Legends’.
Reilly and Zampella admit that sometimes that relationship gets frayed. "Sure we argue and get mad at each other but it’s because we’re pushing for something greater than we could if we were alone," said Zampella, while Reilly added "If it’s easy, it’s not going to be great."
The game developers promise a "meaty" game, which will have plenty of surprises along the way as well as a new droid BD-1 and a lightsaber-wiedling baddie, Second Sister. Since the game was announced on ‘Star Wars Day’ (May 4) in 2016, Lucasfilm has ensured easter eggs for the game have been appearing across their films, novels and comic books.
"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order", which will be strictly a single person game, goes on release on November 15.
