I have not been a fan of Star Wars since Disney got their hands on the rights to it. I am not a fan of EA either. So imagine my surprise when I finished Jedi: Fallen Order and was like “well slap my face and call me a womp rat, that was really good.” Yes of course it isn’t perfect. Nothing ever is and here is my take on the game.

+ “Who’s scruffy-looking?” – Han Solo. This game is straight up amazing to look at. Each world is unique looking and all have some really big, dominating set pieces. The enemies look really good and are all Empire-shiny and the fauna is well animated and has variety in size and appearance. You have everything from your little bugs right up to your giant trolls.

+ “The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie.” - George Lucas. I couldn’t agree more with this and if the aural experience is good or lacking I usually include a note about it in a review. You have your John Williams-esque score done excellently by Gordy Haab and Steven Barton, who are no strangers to the Star Wars game universe. The soundboard of lightsabres and blasters and the general ambiance of the worlds is really well done too. Very immersive.

+ “I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.” — Jango Fett. Some are disappointed at the lack of side content and we have been so conditioned to expect side content, which many times is lackluster and is nothing but game padding. Fallen Order has no side quests. It is a simple game at heart. There are things you can explore (I would recommend doing this later though, see the cons below) but generally you have an objective and you linearly move through the game to get to that checkpoint. I like it for this title because it makes it more of a cinematic experience. It keeps driving the plot and doesn’t let you get bogged down in grinding out more Force skills or searching for worthless cosmetics. If you want a space epic full of side quests then we already have the Mass Effect trilogy and you should go and play that instead.

+ “Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” Silent Bob. But WE do crave these things and the story in Fallen Order is great. Not overly complicated but it did something I haven’t seen with a movie franchise game in quite a while….it actually uses lore well and references source material. I can’t really tell you much about it because of spoilers but you will get a bigger feel for the Star Wars Universe in general. There are tons of cinematic zones to really make you feel like you are a real life Jedi or at the very least inside a Star Wars movie.

+ “The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.” - Darth Vader. You really feel powerful in the game. Deflecting blaster lasers never got old for me, there are a bunch of moves, counters and dodge-counters you can perform. You can Force push enemies off the edge of cliffs or pull them towards you and bury your lightsabre in their chest. Cutting enemies literally in half is extremely satisfying.

- “Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.” — Anakin Skywalker. Camera angles in the game can sometimes really limit you. When free running its fine but in combat the camera can get a bit sticky.

- “Powerups are the path to the dark side. Powerups lead to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering. I sense many powerups needed.” – Yoda. Sure I’m paraphrasing with this one. The game hints that it is open world exploration right at the start but as I foolishly set off for a planet that was not the primary mission I soon discovered that you can get up to a certain point and then it is gated off. There is so much off the world that is gated. Want to get in there? Can’t do that yet, you need a power up that you can’t find on your own. Later on in the game you start to notice there are places that you just cannot access yet and it frustrates me for exactly the same reason the Tomb Raider games annoy me as well. I am not a fan of this oh, lets come back to this area later with a powerup just so you can open that door over there and find a worthless collectible. This is why I recommend just following the main story and don’t worry about side-looting. Save that for the end in your New Game+ so you can cheevo hunt your little heart out.

Yes this is Tomb Raider with lightsabres but it works so well. Strange creatures, magic, weird cultures, macguffins to find, faceless enemies to murder by the thousands, it has all the hallmarks of a good adventure game. I don’t play a lot of AAA titles but as a Star Wars fan and a fan of adventure games, Fallen Order is a game I could recommend on a sale. If you are an exploration nut who wants to find ALLS THE LOOTS then you might even be justified at buying in at full price….however…….Right now (January 2021), EA Play is a dollar. It will be a dollar until about March for your first month and then 5 bucks thereafter. I just played Jedi: Fallen Order for a dollar and that my friends is a good deal. I don’t intend on switching to the 5 dollar tier and will most likely just dip after this trial is over.

May the force be with you, always.

I have not been a fan of Star Wars since Disney got their hands on the rights to it. I am not a fan of EA either. So imagine my surprise when I finished Jedi: Fallen Order and was like “well slap my face and call me a womp rat, that was really good.” Yes of course it isn’t perfect. Nothing ever is and here is my take on the game. [h1] THE LIGHT SIDE OF THE FORCE [/h1] [list]+ “Who’s scruffy-looking?” – Han Solo. This game is straight up amazing to look at. Each world is unique looking and all have some really big, dominating set pieces. The enemies look really good and are all Empire-shiny and the fauna is well animated and has variety in size and appearance. You have everything from your little bugs right up to your giant trolls. [/list] [list]+ “The sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie.” - George Lucas. I couldn’t agree more with this and if the aural experience is good or lacking I usually include a note about it in a review. You have your John Williams-esque score done excellently by Gordy Haab and Steven Barton, who are no strangers to the Star Wars game universe. The soundboard of lightsabres and blasters and the general ambiance of the worlds is really well done too. Very immersive.[/list] [list]+ “I’m just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe.” — Jango Fett. Some are disappointed at the lack of side content and we have been so conditioned to expect side content, which many times is lackluster and is nothing but game padding. Fallen Order has no side quests. It is a simple game at heart. There are things you can explore (I would recommend doing this later though, see the cons below) but generally you have an objective and you linearly move through the game to get to that checkpoint. I like it for this title because it makes it more of a cinematic experience. It keeps driving the plot and doesn’t let you get bogged down in grinding out more Force skills or searching for worthless cosmetics. If you want a space epic full of side quests then we already have the Mass Effect trilogy and you should go and play that instead.[/list] [list]+ “Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” Silent Bob. But WE do crave these things and the story in Fallen Order is great. Not overly complicated but it did something I haven’t seen with a movie franchise game in quite a while….it actually uses lore well and references source material. I can’t really tell you much about it because of spoilers but you will get a bigger feel for the Star Wars Universe in general. There are tons of cinematic zones to really make you feel like you are a real life Jedi or at the very least inside a Star Wars movie.[/list] [list]+ “The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but the learner; now I am the master.” - Darth Vader. You really feel powerful in the game. Deflecting blaster lasers never got old for me, there are a bunch of moves, counters and dodge-counters you can perform. You can Force push enemies off the edge of cliffs or pull them towards you and bury your lightsabre in their chest. Cutting enemies literally in half is extremely satisfying.[/list] [h1] THE DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE [/h1] [list]- “Just for once, let me look on you with my own eyes.” — Anakin Skywalker. Camera angles in the game can sometimes really limit you. When free running its fine but in combat the camera can get a bit sticky. [/list] [list]- “Powerups are the path to the dark side. Powerups lead to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering. I sense many powerups needed.” – Yoda. Sure I’m paraphrasing with this one. The game hints that it is open world exploration right at the start but as I foolishly set off for a planet that was not the primary mission I soon discovered that you can get up to a certain point and then it is gated off. There is so much off the world that is gated. Want to get in there? Can’t do that yet, you need a power up that you can’t find on your own. Later on in the game you start to notice there are places that you just cannot access yet and it frustrates me for exactly the same reason the Tomb Raider games annoy me as well. I am not a fan of this oh, lets come back to this area later with a powerup just so you can open that door over there and find a worthless collectible. This is why I recommend just following the main story and don’t worry about side-looting. Save that for the end in your New Game+ so you can cheevo hunt your little heart out.[/list] [h1] THE BALANCE OF THE FORCE [/h1] Yes this is Tomb Raider with lightsabres but it works so well. Strange creatures, magic, weird cultures, macguffins to find, faceless enemies to murder by the thousands, it has all the hallmarks of a good adventure game. I don’t play a lot of AAA titles but as a Star Wars fan and a fan of adventure games, Fallen Order is a game I could recommend on a sale. If you are an exploration nut who wants to find ALLS THE LOOTS then you might even be justified at buying in at full price….however…….Right now (January 2021), EA Play is a dollar. It will be a dollar until about March for your first month and then 5 bucks thereafter. I just played Jedi: Fallen Order for a dollar and that my friends is a good deal. I don’t intend on switching to the 5 dollar tier and will most likely just dip after this trial is over. May the force be with you, always.