The Star Wars universe offers the perfect ingredients for great video games. The space opera has everything from exotic alien words and rich lore to a vast timeline and a bevy of characters, and of course…lightsabers! Not surprisingly, the highly successful franchise has spawned a huge number of (mostly) successful video games.
Star Wars creator George Lucas himself led the way in this regard, creating Lucasfilm Games in 1982, which later went on to be renamed LucasArts. Many of these games were enormously successful, with some still receiving sequels today while fresh entries featuring new characters like Cal Kestis are also thriving.
Tomorrow, April 27, Cal is set to return in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the much-awaited sequel to 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. But once you’re done with that, here are five other fantastic Star Wars games you could try.
Star Wars games that you simply must play after Jedi Survivor
5) Star Wars: Republic Commando (2005)
Platforms: PS4, PS4, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Windows (Steam)
Tactical first-person shooters where you control a squad are a rarity. The Brothers in Arms and Rainbow Six games are the most well-known examples but Star Wars: Republic Commando pulled it off quite well too.
Set during the Clone Wars, you lead your Clone commandos special ops unit in tackling a variety of missions. If you’re concerned about handling the logistical challenges of managing a squad while running and gunning, rest assured that it’s handled very well. The Clone commandos have very good AI and take care of their end of the bargain quite well in firefights. Coupled with a rich and memorable story, and its availability on a variety of platforms, it’d be a shame if you missed out on experiencing this one for yourself.
4) Star Wars: Squadrons (2020)
Platforms: PS4, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, Windows (Steam/Epic Games Store)
Being a futuristic space opera, Star Wars has some very cool spaceships and fighter planes that often face off against each other in dogfights reminiscent of legendary World War 2 battles. To that end, Star Wars: Squadrons scratches almost every itch you ever had while watching the Rebel X-wings going up against the Empire’s Tie-fighters on the big screen.
Aside from these two highly recognizable fighters, the game also includes lesser-known ones spread across Fighter, Interceptor, Bomber, and Support classes. Aside from a fun campaign that alternates between the Vanguard and Titan squadrons, the game features an excellent multiplayer mode where the combat comes alive in a way simply not possible in the single-player campaign.
Given how 360-degree awareness is paramount in a game of this nature, Star Wars: Squadrons features a fantastic VR mode for PCVR and PSVR 1 users. It offers added immersion over the regular version, as well as a competitive edge in online gameplay.
3) Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, Game Boy Color, Mac OS, Dreamcast, Nintendo 64, Windows (Steam/GoG)
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that almost everyone who watched 1999’s Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace’s incredible pod race scene wondered what it would be like to try it for themselves. LucasArts thought so too, and released Star Wars Episode I: Racer the same year to roaring approval from the press and players alike.
It features all the pod racers from the film, and tracks from not just Tatooine but a variety of other planets from Star Wars lore, such as Baroonda and Oovo IV. The game offers a tremendous feeling of speed as you narrowly skim past jagged rocks and narrow tunnels and manage your roll angle and boost pressure while fending off other racers.
It sold like gangbusters, moving over three million copies and becoming the most successful sci-fi racing game – a Guiness Book record. More than two decades later, in 2020, the game was spruced up and re-released on the PS4, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, while PC users can grab the original from GoG or Steam.
2) Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Windows (Steam/Epic Games Store)
The popular plastic toy brand Lego has collaborated with numerous major franchises in making some great video games, including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Batman, and, of course, Star Wars. And the most recent entry offers a wholesome cake with plenty of icing on top for gamers.
As indicated by the title, you get to play through all nine of the movies featuring Luke Skywalker, and you get to do it as almost any of the major characters from the films. What makes it even more appealing for Star Wars fans are the minor variations to the original stories that add fascinating new links and backstories.
All of this is coupled with the fantastic gameplay and combat mechanics present in prior Star Wars Lego games, glossed with the added sheen of next-gen hardware.
1) Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One S/X, Xbox Series S/X, Nintendo Switch, Android, iOS, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows (Steam/GOG)
When Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KOTOR) came out in 2003, shooters and space fighter plane games primarily dominated the Star Wars gaming scene. The RPG allows players a deeper experience of what it truly felt like to be immersed in the world, and lets you customize and personalize attributes like skills and Force powers to a very high degree.
Of course, an RPG would be hollow were it not for a rich story. Fortunately, the one in KOTOR is on par with the very movies that are the bedrock of the franchise’s popularity. And it’s one whose ending is affected by your actions throughout the game. Along the way, you come across some characters who you’ll remember as vividly as the standouts from the movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL-RfE-ioJ8
As with many other great games of the past, KOTOR is also being remade from scratch, as revealed last year. The chance to play (or replay) one of the greatest games in its next-gen incarnation will be a tantalizing one for players both old and new.
