ABOVE The
traumatic events
of Order 66’s
execution still
haunt Cal
years after they
took place.BD-1
Every good Star Wars story needs an
adorable droid, right? From its letter
and number designation, Jedi: Fallen
Order’s small, bird-like droid would
appear to be related to BB-8 from
Episodes VII-IX, although this little
fella doesn’t roll around awkwardly
and likely have a problem with stairs.
In fact, its bipedal nature means it
kind of hops around and is small
enough to grab onto Cal’s back as he
wall runs and fights his way through
the hordes of Imperial enemies. It
also has useful stimpaks to heal Cal,
should that punishing combat take
chunks out of our Padawan
protagonist. BD-1 can even ‘whoop’
its approval in a beepy kinda way.C
Cal
The game’s protagonist is a young
Padawan named Cal Kestis. Cal
somehow escaped the slaughter of
the Younglings that took place in
Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith, the
result of Order 66 from soon-to-be
Emperor, Senator Palpatine. Cal
Kestis is very much a learn-on-the-
job kinda guy, particularly as he
never got to finish his Jedi training.
So of course you’ll be right there on
his journey from young chap with a
lightsaber to Empire-threatening
master of the Jedi arts.Dark Souls
Respawn didn’t want to do just
any hack’n’slash game and
instead the game features
‘thoughtful’ combat. Every
enemy feels different in a
fight, and each requires a
unique approach, having been
designed around a different
part of Cal’s toolset. Even the
lowliest of enemies, in this
case baton-wielding troopers,
can block attacks; others will
parry and counter you. The
result is patient, punishing
combat that will be Dark
Souls-level satisfying. As lead
combat designer Jason De
Heras told Edge, the team
wanted to give the combat
authenticity. “We wanted to
make the player understand
everything in the combat
playspace, so each enemy is
kind of like a puzzle.” There are
‘bonfires’, too: Meditation
Runes where you can refill on
stimpaks and level up.Electronic Arts
E
A decade-long licensing deal, signed
in 2013, means that publisher EA is
again behind this latest Star Wars
outing. It has already, via Swedish
developer DICE, given us the
excellent Battlefront games, and
despite some backlash over
Battlefront 2’s loot boxes a couple of
years back, those games are
excellent – with the second one still
being serviced with some top-notch
DLC. Sadly at least three mooted Star
Wars games have been cancelled by
EA in recent years, but it does look
as though with Jedi: Fallen Order,
Respawn has really nailed what a
good Star Wars game should be.A-Z OF JEDI: FALLEN ORDER
THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 043