Over the last four decades or so, Star Wars has enjoyed a fairly lucrative career in the gaming landscape. Even when no new movies were being made, the Star Wars video game factory was usually hard at work producing the next title. And while not all of them were critical successes, the video game market breathed new life into the franchise, bringing new opportunities to expand the Star Wars universe and new fan-favorite characters to the lore.
Over the years, Star Wars games have taken on a variety of gaming genres, from the Battlefront series using first-person shooter mechanics to Empire at War using 4X strategy gameplay and Rogue Squadron using aerial combat. There's been no shortage of variety when it comes to Star Wars games, but there is one genre that the franchise hasn't attempted before. A Star Wars survival game has a great deal of potential, and wouldn't have to look very far for the perfect setting.
Setting a Star Wars Survival Game During Order 66
One of the most tragic, and popular, events in Star Wars canon is Order 66, when the Emperor finally reveals his plot to overthrow the Jedi, calling upon his Clone forces to "execute Order 66," activating a chip inside their brains that turns them on their Jedi generals. In Revenge of the Sith, an effective montage plays following this moment, showing a number of Jedi being brutally gunned down by their Clone comrades.
Newer Star Wars media has also dipped into this event, with several new characters in the Star Wars canon having their backstory closely linked to this monumental moment of history. Most recently, in a Book of Boba Fett episode, Grogu's whereabouts during Order 66 have been revealed, with him being present in the Jedi Temple during the 501st Legion's assault.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order has also shown Order 66 from the perspective of Jedi Cal Kestis, the player-character. During a flashback sequence, players take control of a younger, Padawan Cal as he hides in the vents of the Republic ship he's on and tries to make his way past the Clones guarding the ship's escape pods. Cal witnesses his Jedi Master get killed at the hands of the Clones and manages to flee the ship before they can do the same to him.
While Jedi Fallen Order featured Order 66 as a brief flashback sequence, a full Star Wars game set during this time hasn't happened yet, which could be a massive oversight on Lucasfilm Games' part. A survival game set during Order 66 has a lot of potential, and could use one of the Bad Batch episodes as inspiration.
In the first episode of the animated Star Wars show The Bad Batch, titled "Aftermath," the main cast of defective Clones witness Order 66 first-hand. As viewers soon come to learn, the Bad Batch's DNA is altered and their chips malfunctioned, causing them to go against Palpatine's orders. In this first episode, the Bad Batch comes into contact with Caleb Dume, a young Padawan on the run from the Clones. Caleb, who is later known as Kanan Jarrus in Star Wars: Rebels, is let go by the Bad Batch, and is last seen leaping across a canyon, before heading off on his own.
What A Star Wars Survival Game Could Look Like
The groundwork for a Star Wars survival game set during Order 66 is already there. If a potential Star Wars survival game wanted to use a first-person perspective, then contemporary games like Ark: Survival Evolved and Rust have already laid the foundations, with crafting mechanics and hand-to-hand combat being a focus of those games. If a Star Wars survival game wanted to use a third-person perspective, then games like Valheim, and even the opening chapters of Assassin's Creed 3 could be used as inspiration.
When it comes to the player-character, a Star Wars survival game has an entire galaxy to choose from. Already-established characters like Kanan could be used, with the game acting as a direct sequel to the Bad Batch episode, focusing on Kanan's journey through the snow-covered forest planet he's been left on. Players could even control a young Cal Kestis, during the early years of him trying to survive in the galaxy on his own. Alternatively, a Star Wars survival game could introduce an entirely new Jedi character, thus giving the narrative a bit more freedom.
The general gameplay loop for a Star Wars survival game could start off relatively simple, with only a standard lightsaber being given to the player at the start of the game, tasking them with upgrading their lightsaber and force powers over time by scavenging crafting materials and leveling up their skills via combat. A parkour element could be introduced, taking inspiration from the Bad Batch episode that sees Kanan climbing up trees and leaping between branches.
The general goal of the game could be to accrue enough power and weapons to survive and make it off-world. The player would have to survive a constant barrage of Clone or Stormtrooper forces as they make their way across the planet, collecting crafting materials from various crash sites. Once the player has gained enough force powers and abilities and has crafted a better lightsaber, they could try and make their way off the planet, perhaps by sneaking aboard an Imperial ship or stealing one from a nearby landing pad.
If the theoretical game wanted to be even more ambitious, then this loop could continue across multiple planets, with each one offering even more abilities and upgrade materials, but coming with more survival challenges, like Imperial vehicles such as AT-STs and maybe even an AT-AT or two. If the game wanted to forego a specific narrative journey, then the planets could even be procedurally generated to a certain degree, keeping the game going until the player simply can't survive anymore. Regardless of the minute details, a Star Wars survival game set during the aftermath of Order 66 has a lot of potential, and should certainly be considered along with the other Star Wars projects currently in development.