Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order is a single player, third person action exploration game (that’s a mouthful). In Fallen Order you play as Ian Gall – wait, I mean Cal Kestus. The game features multiple planets from the Star Wars universe (such as Dathomir and Kashyyyk).

Let’s start with one of my favorite parts of the game: combat.

May the Fourth (Force) Be With You…

Fallen Order features many different force powers, all with different uses:

• Slow
  • Slow enemies and projectiles
• Push
  • Push enemies and projectiles
• Pull
  • Pull enemies and projectiles
• Wall Run
  • Run on walls (crazy)
• Jedi Flip
  • DOUBLE JUMP

These force powers combine very well with your weapon (the classic lightsaber). Interestingly enough, the lightsaber has two modes: single or double blade. Single is good for single (wow) targets, and double bladed for groups of enemies. There are also split blade attacks, which consume force points, but do a powerful combo based on which form you’re in. 

The combat in the game is quick-paced, relying on parrying attacks and projectiles as well as dodging unblockable attacks. Once the controls click and you begin to be able to properly time all the attacks, you’ll begin to feel like a real Jedi.

However, slashing up Stormtroopers with your led baseball bat (which thankfully acts like a real lightsaber in the sequel) isn’t all there is to this game.

The multiple planets in the game are of varying environments; from the red planet of Dathomir to the ice of the moon Ilum, the many different environments provide different puzzles. Some puzzles are far simpler than others. For instance, one is just having to time jumps, while others require you to time slow, pull, or push. The variety in the puzzles make the time between the combat far more enjoyable.

I Have a Bad Feeling About This…

Sometimes in the game you’ll just get absolutely overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies (like against the undead on Dathomir). While you usually won’t die, it’s not fun to have to pay a stim(the healing item in game) for just passing an area.

Likewise, bounty hunters can also be infuriating depending on which two that attack you (as their appearance and identities are completely randomized). If you get unlucky, the fight will be extremely difficult…and yet again will be a drain on your resources.

Anyone who’s played this game has gotten lost on Zeffo. The planet is large and convoluted; with the lack of fast travel (thankfully the sequel added in faster movement), you could spend over an hour just trying to get back to your ship. 

Then there are the mini-gunners. The mini-gunners, as you may have guessed, use a mini-gun. These mini-guns launch so many rounds that if you block it you’ll get you stamina bar drained, and become staggered. When staggered Cal will just stand there till he either gets hit, or recovers his stamina. Additionally to the overwhelming number of projectiles there is no deflecting all of them, plus the gunners have a shield on there weapon. Thankfully the game uses them sparingly so you don;t have to deal with this annoyance very often.

The fashion in this game is also lacking, as your options are one jacket…or one of many ponchos. The ponchos are a bit on the bland side and sadly don’t provide a Jedi Knight feel. Funnily enough, though, Cameron Monaghan (voice actor and body model for Cal) has gaslit people into missing the poncho as the sequel, Jedi Survivor, hid the poncho behind a hidden bossfight. Additionally, in an interview about the sequel, he kept bringing up the lack of footage about the poncho.

Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order was the best Star Wars game in recent years (surpassed by sequel) and has a great combat and exploration, as well as an extremely engaging story.

I give the game a solid Episode 5 for rating.