TESTED GAMESou’ll see the fingerprints of
other franchises smudged
all over this game – mostly
Uncharted but also Tomb Raider,
God of War and the Dark Souls
series. For sure, Fallen Order could
have been a more original and
adventurous game than it is; but
after all the grumbling over Star
Wars Battlefront II (and its loot
boxes), you can’t fault Respawn
for playing it cautious.
Above all, this is an accessible
take on the series. You don’t need
to have liked – or even seen – the
most recent movie offerings to
understand Cal’s plight, nor will your
experience be hampered by a lack
of Star Wars trivia.
Cal is now working as a scrapper
on the planet Bracca, his Jedi training
a secret up until the day he betrays
his own anonymity to save the life
of a pal. Alerted to the event, an elite
team of Jedi-hunters come looking
and bang: Cal’s up and running.
And we mean running. This early
sequence is a heart-pumping blast
of combat and parkour as you try
to get to grips with your burgeoningpowers. Never is the action more
Uncharted-y than in this section,
training you to look up and around
as you run from corridor to corridor.
Within ten minutes you’ll be skating,
plank-walking and leaping from
vines as the tutorial teaches you
all you need to know about Fallen
Order’s plentiful platforming.
Cal doesn’t traverse as fluidly as
Nathan Drake, but the combat is
deliciously satisfying, in part due to
the electrifying graphics and sound
effects. Don’t go into this thinking
the fighting is easy, though. You’llneed to parry and block, often and
successfully, and experiment with
your skills to learn how best to chain
moves together, particularly as your
skill-set expands.
Once you settle into the game
proper, you’ll be mesmerised by
its gentle exploration, canny puzzle
design and tight, rewarding fight
sequences. Everything else in Fallen
Order is serviceable yet lacking any
true innovation... but that doesn’t
stop it being one of the best Star
Wars games of this generation.
Vikki BlakeSTUFF SAYS This could be the single-player Star Wars game you’ve been waiting for ++++,
Star Wars Jedi:
Fallen Order
Low on groundbreaking content but high on combat thrills, the latest Star Wars game sticks
to the tried and tested – which is good news for hardcore fans and nervous n00bs alikePS4, Xbox One, PC /
stuff.tv/FallenOrderY