Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Xbox One

TechRadar Verdict

Fallen Guild is the definition of a mixed bag, a muddy combination of trending influences with some that land and others that fall manner brusk of the marking. The combat organisation at its core is impeccable fun and we struggled to put the game downwardly, but the residue of the feel feels very disparate and bloated, and the downtime will always leave you longing for more of the bright moments of action. Whilst faithful to the Star Wars moniker, a yawn-worthy protagonist and an unambitious story ensure this is more of a side story than the mainline entry it could've been.

Pros

+
Best Star Wars combat system to date
+
Disparate but admirable mix of Dark Souls and Uncharted
+
True-blue to the cinematic hallmarks

Cons

-
Bloated gameplay between set pieces
-
Ho-hum protagonist and a lacklustre story
-
Functioning hitches and poor signposting

Review Data

Fourth dimension played: xx hours

Platform played: Xbox Ane X

Nosotros've been waiting a long fourth dimension for a good single-player Star Wars game. It'due south been more than than ten years since The Force Unleashed and, with the heady Star Wars 1313 canned in the meantime, it'south been a difficult decade for fans who are just begging to get their mitts on a virtual lightsaber.

Luckily, Respawn Entertainment has finally come through with a narrative-led, Uncharted and Dark Souls-inspired Star Wars game in Fallen Order, which also turns out to be embedded in official universe canon.

So, given the heavy millstone effectually its neck, does Fallen Order cadet the pressure level or end up beingness a dingy collection of trending influences?

A new hope?

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review — It certainly *feels* like a Star Wars game - just something is missing (Image credit: Respawn Entertainment)

One thing is for certain. Equally soon equally you lot beginning your journeying, you lot'll go the impression that Fallen Order understands and respects the hallmarks of Star Wars. Intricate textile details and cinematic framing litter each scene. Watching the heavy rain every bit it trickles downward and pools at the bottom of a vibrant roof, enjoying a glorious vista as the orchestra comes in… it feels very in tune with the movies and respectful of the source material.

The score, in item, is extremely Star Wars, fifty-fifty making unimportant conversations feel like they're worth tuning in for. The opening sequence of the game stands out for the way it introduces Cal's powers seamlessly just, not soon after, Fallen Gild flips a switch and drops yous into Metroidvania style environments that advantage careful exploration. Unfortunately, it didn't have very long until we were craving more of the unpredictable Star Wars set pieces that the game frontloads in the opening.

The main meat of Fallen Social club is this lonely, explorative attrition confronting the game's tricky enemies, which range from stormtroopers to fantastical bog rats and tomb defending mechanicals. They all await the office, just the non-humanoid character designs could be from any soulslike and we wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Carving your way through each planet feels like taking your first steps out of Firelink Shrine, though the world isn't linked similar Lordran simply more traditionally carve up into worlds from Star Wars lore. Some of the planets quickly blend into one palate of lush jungle, simply Dathomir and Kashyyyk stand out on their own given the rich lore behind them. We did appreciate how Cal'due south ship The Mantis serves as a North Star and is visible in some places from where you're fighting, anchoring your location on the map. It's a nice impact.

Want to catch up? Here'due south how to watch the Star Wars movies in order

A disturbance in the force

This disconnected style doesn't do Fallen Lodge whatsoever favors, but it helps to elevate the Metroidvania elements of the game, which accept you returning to each planet after the fact with newfound powers. This allows you lot to pick upward new collectable items every bit well as fancy force skills.

A lot of the context hiding in these nooks and crannies is well written and will delight the die-hard fans, but it can start to seem like set dressing for the sake of it, given how much of it in that location is. Possibly if Respawn reigned in the collectables, and fabricated them more specialized, information technology would be more rewarding, but in that location are only oodles of inexplicable cosmetic upgrades to detect similar poncho colors and lightsaber hilts.

Information technology pales in comparison to Dark Souls' archaeological storytelling via detail descriptions and artefacts. Somewhen, we just gave up on collectables unless they had a statistical buff tied to them. Annihilation else felt pointless. We empathize that Respawn needs to find a fashion to usher players down every nook and cranny, but if it's just there for the sake of it then why does it need to be there?

The rest of the game seems to relish in the 'Blueprint by Subtraction' style with a gorgeous minimalist HUD and hands-off approach, which is why this pattern option confuses usa so much. Perhaps a gear organization was scrapped or deemed besides ambitious, but the point of urging players to explore is to reward them with something and, unless you lot discover things that tin help you or the lore echo's, it's a fool's game.

Likewise many Cantina cooks

As yous tin can imagine, the Uncharted and Dark Souls parts of Fallen Order feel very disparate. In our eyes, they should take been intrinsically connected if Fallen Order wanted to exist more than than only the sum of its influences, which it wears very proudly on Cal's poncho sleeve.

The climbing animations and the process of using obstacles to preface and constrain story beats are ripped from Uncharted, and whilst this can't be a bad thing, we were waiting for the moment where Fallen Society would utilise its stellar source cloth to become beyond the confines of typical Naughty Dog storytelling. Information technology'due south skilful fun, certain, but some of the dangerous mishaps could use a scrap of galactic flair.

Puzzle-wise the game provides a few interesting rooms merely Fallen Order seems to have a problem with signposting. Yous tin easily terminate upwardly lost or stuck, feeling frustrated for quite some time fifty-fifty with the hints from your charming robot companion BD-1. In that location were a few puzzles where we constitute the solution or the adjacent area by fault, the worst of which is a pile of rubble you have to push through to get to the next surface area - you'd take no thought information technology was where you lot needed to go unless you rubbed Cal's body against every wall.

Nosotros found gainsay to be corybantic and more Bloodborne than Dark Souls, with a surprising amount of work existence done by the haptic vibration in the Xbox One controller. Y'all tin feel the heft of Cal's lightsaber when he'south cleaving through rats and troopers, and the way he leaps and jolts effectually enemies in combat feels every bit fluid equally Sekiro.

This is easily Fallen Order's best offer and a fantastic surprise. Learning how to unravel an enemy with your lightsaber and combining forcefulness abilities to deal impairment is so much fun. Reflecting equalizer bolts has similarly never felt as satisfying, though nosotros recollect The Force Unleashed even so has it beat when it comes to wreaking havoc in giant combat arenas, equally Fallen Social club only actually has you fighting modest groups at one time.

By having four difficulty levels the game is certainly more accessible than Sekiro, but it too can't find a challenging midpoint similar FromSoftware games practise. Nosotros've been mostly playing on Jedi Master, but at some points, it just feels unfair, whereas Jedi Knight is far as well easy. It means nosotros were switching difficulties when the enemy claiming started to spike at random, which isn't actually what you want from a Soulslike, it hampers half the fun. The 'bonfire' placement is as well ineffective, and ordinarily, you tin can simply run past a grouping of enemies to go to a condom bespeak and cheese them from behind. Just having the choice is far too tantalizing.

Functioning-wise the game chugs hard, even on the Xbox One 10, so much so that we decided to stick it in Performance Way, a necessary choice that drops the game to 1080p and improves the frame rate, an essential feature of a game that is very much nigh timing. Hopefully, this will be patched in the hereafter but at the moment, the game performs below the standard you might expect, which is especially disappointing on a device that is congenital for untapped 4K.

Mannequin Skywalker

Unfortunately, the writing is a bit predictable and Cal Kestis is an extremely dull protagonist. The fashion he brandishes his lightsaber in an early on section of the game later losing a friend is certainly noble but completely reckless and unbelievable. If he cared most being a fugitive, he would have kept it sheathed and not permit his emotions overcome him. He'due south an emotionally predictable character and, unbelievably, ane of the first things he does in the game is to pick up a guitar and play with his eyes closed like he's some insufferable bro at an after-party.

This would be fine if the wider story could deport him, only it almost immediately slams the brakes every bit far as the fugitive premise is concerned, sending you on an take a chance to find ancient Jedi secrets. Information technology'due south zippo more than than an alibi to push button you through the game, and Cal is mostly on the forepart foot, which feels unnatural given the mode his story is staged.

What'due south criminal is that with one of the virtually lore-rich backdrop in the world, Fallen Order fails to accede whatsoever truly ambitious plot threads. It'south a hero's journeying with a few interesting twists. The inclusion of characters from wider Star Wars lore and attempts to coax out some backstory from its locations is admirable, simply it only doesn't have the emotional pull.

The joyous gameplay of the semi-scripted opening sequence does return in spots, our favourite being freeing the wookie slaves from Kashyyk, which involves clambering up an AT-AT, Shadow of the Colossus-style. Sadly these moments arrive in an intermittent mode, making all the lonely gameplay that surrounds the gear up pieces feel bloated. The story itself is passable every bit a Star Wars sideshow, but we were clamoring for something that stood boldly on its ain - akin to BioWare's KOTOR serial.

The issue is though, despite all its flaws, we kept pushing through and enjoying the challenge as Fallen Guild ramped upwards the difficulty and sent us on an interplanetary adventure. If you like soulslike games or adventure titles like Uncharted, Fallen Social club feels like comfort food, specially if you ignore the chaff and focus on perfecting the incredible gainsay. It's merely a shame it'south so safe given the immense potential.

Verdict

Fallen Order is a faithful Star Wars game with a safe story and some puzzling blueprint choices, but at the core of the experience is a Souls-lite platforming puzzler with a truly fantastic combat arrangement. Respawn's action-hazard best realizes the childhood dreams of many fans who have grown upward wishing to wield a lightsaber, so whilst the prepare dressing and characters can't meet the bar set by the cinematic universe, information technology's a perfectly complementary sidecar.

If you'd like a single-player narrative adventure in a beloved world (an increasingly rare gambit nowadays) then information technology's difficult non to recommend Fallen Order in spite of its electric current operation issues. Crucially, the formula at the core of the game is very addicting and well made, fifty-fifty if a lot of what surrounds information technology is a letdown.

The 'Jedi' in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order acts a lot like a Sith

Jordan Oloman is a journalist and documentarian with experience beyond the pop civilisation/tech spectrum writing reported features, reviews. news, guides, op-eds and more than for a wide variety of outlets. He is also an affiliate streamer on Twitch and have previous experience in scriptwriting, podcasting, game consultation and creating video content.