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It has been years since EA chief Frank Gibeau infamously said that single-player games are “finished.” The conversation seems to never end, and it was quite funny to see the success of Jedi: Fallen Order proving that even under EA’s banner, single-player games are not dead. After roughly four hours of hands-on experience playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for a preview event, the sequel slashes the dead horse with its smart improvements over its worth predecessor.
Running on PC with an Xbox controller, my hands-on preview of Jedi: Survivor showed that the team at Respawn listened to critics and fans who praised the game’s strong characteristics and bashed its eyebrow-raising choices. While it has to prove itself on release, as I, for one, certainly remember the flood of people online talking about Fallen Order’s technical issues, these few hours show a promising game that is smarter and beefier than what came before.
Story: Five years later and darker
Where I got thrown into was about an hour into the story. Cal and his adorable droid, BD-1, crash land on a planet called Koboh. The two search for their buddy Greez for some help while discovering the problems the people of Koboh face: Bedlam Raiders. This setting thrust me into the darker side of the game’s tone while giving some lighthearted banter between some old friends.
From the snippets I got in my preview of Jedi: Survivor and talking to the devs watching me die over and over, the storytelling has matured since the previous installment. Respawn is aiming for something similar to Empire Strikes Back in tone. Cal has grown into a Jedi Knight, as seen by his tired face and scars from his plentiful battles. His sense of vengeance toward the Empire has evolved, matching aggression in his mission and how he feels in combat.
Cal quickly became a fan-favorite character in the Star Wars universe. While his anger lingers inside and comes out in certain cutscenes I watched, he has a charisma that shines his personality bright into the sky. I felt joyful seeing a bro moment between him and BD-1 as he bumped his elbow into BD’s robotic knee for a quiet celebration of accomplishing a task. Put that together with his honorable Jedi ways of treating people he bumps into; it shows he has become a true Jedi like all the ones that fans have adored over the years.
Gameplay: Stronger and smarter
I remember when Fallen Order was released, and everyone made Souls comparisons. It certainly is no Dark Souls in difficulty or style, but its Metroidvania inspirations and combat design give a faint familiarity. In Survivor, it hones in on its identity while proudly wearing those inspirations on its sleeve, whether you are going back and forth in an area to get an item or patiently stabbing and moving backward from one of the many dangerous creatures that live on Koboh.
Lightsaber combat evolved with more stances, which see Cal twist his lightsaber into new forms. The full game will have five, but I got to experience three stances that changed up the gameplay. I was able to switch between speed, level of protection, and power to fit situations or to vary up the gameplay to ensure every fight felt fresh. Add in additional unique moves you can perform for defense and offense, and the foundation has been set for satisfying, different ways to play the game.
Switching these stances with the press of a button made it easy to swap between the two equipped stances for any situation or how I wanted to play at that moment. Although, only having two stances equipped and needing to go to a meditation spot or workbench to swap them out made Cal feel more restricted despite his growth in power. Swapping in a menu or being able to equip more would have kept me more adaptive to situations.
I did not get to experience the other two stances in my hands-on preview of Jedi: Survivor. I did see the blaster from a demonstration at the end of the event from one of the Respawn devs, who showed off new Force abilities, lightsaber tricks, and the blaster, which shoots rapidly to deal devastating damage. It is uncertain what restraints are on shooting, but it looked deadly.
No matter what I chose, as I had plenty of time with all three stances, I got to slaughter through stormtroopers, wildlife, and droids. When I could hit my combos, parry, and block properly, the animations and brutality made me feel what Cal has evolved to be over the last five years. Of the things implemented from feedback from the previous game, dismemberment adds a layer of the visceral nature of what it would be like if you were to slash at someone with a lightsaber.
Playing at normal difficulty was still quite a task. Despite my countless hours in FromSoftware games, I forgot how much of those skills still apply. While there are things to assist, like damaging enemies for more Force power and BD-1 injecting you with health with the Stim Canister when activated, the pummeling nature could be tasking of my mental state. While the combat feels balanced and lets you play around on how you tackle situations, the respawns can be frustrating as I had to make my way through obstacles to reach where I died.
May the Force be with you, Cal
Force powers from my hands-on preview of Jedi: Survivor were nothing new, as I got to manipulate my enemies, while using the classic powers from the movies to get the upper hand. While I had fun with this and felt the weight of having superpowers, the teases I got to see and hear about, including using the telepathic side of the Force to befriend animals to aid you in reaching areas, highlight the evolution of Cal’s use of the Force.
The Force may not have been a major part of my experience, but combos sure were. Whether I slowed down time or threw smaller enemies off a cliff, I found creative ways to find a synergy between my lightsaber and Force powers. When things tie together, it turns the gears of fluid combat that made me feel like a true Jedi Knight.
In moments, I had some stealth as I climbed up to a ledge and attacked a droid from below. Having that stealth gave me a taste that I was not satisfied with. Despite large grassy areas and ways to get the jump on enemies, it was only through being above or below that I could strike a single foe. While the number of playstyles gives options to satisfy most of the ways I want to play, I longed to crouch around and dispatch enemies silently in some situations.
Enemies were a mix of the hallmark stormtroopers and new alien life on Koboh, to various types of droids. The humans and droids spoke to give themselves character, giving me something fun to hear as I planned out my attacks.
The different types of enemies with their own set of weapons and attacks make for dynamic fights. I found myself having to get the distance in order to reexamine my situation as I figured out how I wanted to about cutting down their numbers. When nailing what I wanted to do, it made for a satisfying experience of creatively using my powers and weapon to exterminate the threats around me.
Puny droids and creatures can give a false sense of power. I got to feel Dark Souls comparisons when I came down to the end of a mine; I came across a hulking creature called a Rancor. That was one that I had to back away from for a while but I came back after some advice from a fellow journalist playing next to me, who killed the beast on the hardest difficulty (I was on the standard setting). Patience rewarded me by completing the side quest and killing an enemy that was testing my anger that thankfully did not explode in a crowded room of peers and developers.
Maybe the time has diminished my memory of Fallen Order, but I found myself laughing more this time around when fighting during my hands-on preview session of Jedi: Survivor. Battle droids are easy to dispense, so I would love to throw them off a cliff and hear them have one final comedic line before crashing into the ground. The other quality that continuously brought me joy was friendly fire, as B2 battle droids only seek death, even if that means their rocket blows up the people or droids fighting by their side.
Parrying is an art that I never mastered, which led me to quit Sekiro. Jedi: Survivor requires some timing, but by holding down the block button of whatever platform you play on, you can protect yourself and occasionally get a blaster shot to go back at the shooter. Landing the timing delivers brutal damage to both health and stamina, and when that stamina depletes, an option to execute could occur. When I had that moment for a cinematic kill, it was mesmerizingly violent. Although, I did have Cal glitch out as he stabbed the ground each time I attempted to stab a downed enemy, who managed to get back up for another round.
Bigger, yet familiar
Fallen Order went about its movement around environments in fun but generic ways. Based on what I experienced in my hands-on preview of Jedi: Survivor does not reinvent the wheel as Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild did for the open world genre, but it gets creative on how it tackles its mechanics, like grapple hooks and climbing.
Diversifying how Cal gets from Point A to Point B makes all the difference, especially when it hits back and forth like a combo of getting distance from an enemy and then throwing my lightsaber at them. I would go from wall running to climbing on vines to sliding down the ground to my landing spot. While combat is Survivor’s strongest quality, that synergy gave me similar feelings when bringing a crowd toward me for a wide swing of a double-sided saber to cut them down.
While the spots to use your grappling hook are highlighted, much of the terrain blends the walls to run on and places to climb. Hopefully, for people, there will be accessibility settings to offset the difficulty of having to search for where you need to go. Although I got lost, I enjoyed not seeing the generic yellow paint or other methods that other games have done to signify what I must climb or jump on.
Smarter, faster, and more brutal
Puzzles have become more creative this time around. While my dumb brain had to take a few moments to think during my hands-on preview session of Jedi: Survivor, getting the ball rolling on puzzles came naturally as I used the environment, and some Force and lightsaber-centered methods made me feel smarter. The scenarios and mechanics all feel familiar but presented in a way that made me feel like I was figuring it out, not the game telling me or giving me clues that were not embedded in the world.
I saw a few of the quality of life changes sprinkled throughout my session, but the one that made me want to hug every dev in the room was the addition of fast travel. Meditation spots were there to swap stances, level up, and more, like Fallen Order, but now I could fast travel to various other resting areas.
Skill trees have been given a facelift to give it more depth. The three categories have subcategories that had multiple, extensive skill trees. If more are available in the final game, it is to be determined, but I had enough to examine and put my points into the various trees to feed my playstyle for this session. I only got the basics, like upping the amount of stamina I had to block or parry, but by looking ahead, I saw all sorts of fun ways to make Cal stronger than ever before. While this has expanded greatly, the trees separated themselves to be readable in making the proper decisions.
The other way to power up is through Perks, which give an attribute to Cal. From my experience, it was three slots for three Perks, but I only found one to boost my block. More powerful Perks will cost more slots, but those slots can expand later in the game. It is a nice touch for a boost on this new Star Wars adventure, but the extent of its usefulness is floating somewhere in a galaxy far, far away.
Metroidvania meets Dark Souls meets Star Wars
The world feels more alive this time around, largely due to the open zones that expand the Metroidvania elements. During my few hours of getting a hands-on preview experience Jedi: Survivor, I could see that Koboh was not large, but it felt dense as I ran through the ruins of civilization, went down into dilapidated mines, and more.
The Holomap and BD visor (BD-1’s ability to act as binoculars) helped navigate this dense, open space. I could put down markers to track where I needed to go. I still had trouble finding where to go, but the map acts as a puzzle in cases in which you must find the key to opening a path or how to overcome an obstacle.
Various places held specific rewards and challenges, some of which I did not experience. I did complete a Jedi Chamber, a location filled with puzzles that give a reward by the end. Like the puzzles when I mainlined my session, these were creative uses for me to test my skills and brain power to figure out how to reach from one position to another to solve the room.
Dispersing characters did not overpopulate the mostly tight open zones, but it did give the more life to the planet compared to planets from Fallen Order. Wildlife would jump out at me for plenty of jump scares that turned into a flurry of attacks from my lightsaber. Droids and stormtroopers would be patrolling areas or investigating buildings. I would take advantage of some of these moments to pick off remaining enemies when two groups would be fighting.
Friendly people surviving the occupying Bedlam Raiders would give me hints of what was going on around the area for me to investigate points of interest. Others would have a Rumor, which was the game’s way of calling it a side quest. The one I did led me to find prospectors lost in a mine, in which I found that previously mentioned Rancor. That one quest gives me a taste of what will hopefully be more surprises when I take on these favors for the locals.
As I helped around a town, it opened up new options. Greez’s saloon would open up to interact as a hub. I did not see how, but I could recruit people to assist Greez in developing his establishment. The other option was a vendor, who sold a key to unlock doors, cosmetics, and music. This is just one of the many ways Jedi: Survivor delivered me a meaningful mechanic that went beyond gameplay and gave me goodies as it fleshed out the world in a way that made it more believable.
Workbenches allowed me to swap my stances and customize both my lightsaber and BD-1. The customization balances a linear path while providing enough options and sliders to alter the polish or rustic nature of BD or my weapon. Color options were plentiful during my time, and as I explored, I found loads of new cosmetic options. As cool as it was to have my own saber (a dark blue-gray in pristine condition and a cyan coloring for the blade), giving my droid buddy new parts and colors carried a weight of adorableness that nearly crushed me as the fun animation flew parts into him, knocking the old pieces away.
Cal did not miss out on getting some new digs. In the pause menu, I was able to dress him up with a haircut, new facial hair, and new clothes. From what I saw, the hair options I unlocked were not a good look for the handsome Jedi. I did add some additional facial hair, siding for enough coverage of hair without going full lumberjack to keep him looking clean. The clothes were nothing spectacular, but between color options and the number of clothes I unlocked in a few hours, it makes me hopeful for some fashionable swashbuckling adventures when the game releases.
The demo I played was not the final game that will hit digital and physical shelves on April 28, so for it being incomplete some issues were possible. That said, I was surprised by the stuttering I had. My frames did not dip too low, but it was enough to see a little sluggishness in Cal’s movement. When I reached the open zone, it became more noticeable. While I am not worried for the launch, it gives me flashbacks to the chaos that ensued when Fallen Order had released.
Audio/Graphics: An immersive Jedi experience
It may have been me not remembering quite how Fallen Order sounded, but Survivor scrambled my brain as the sound boomed in my headphones, particularly in combat, making my heart thud louder than the game during my most intense battles. The lightsaber and blasters sound exactly how it always does in Star Wars media, but with that meaty gameplay, it brought it to another level. Between cutting objects or enemies and singeing plants to hear a burning hiss, wielding a lightsaber has never been better.
The world came to life through its sound design. Hearing various animals made the environment feel like a true ecosystem. Waterfalls and the rustling of plants that I rushed through let me experience the variety that the habitat of Koboh has to offer.
No matter what movie or game we are talking about, Star Wars can consistently deliver bangers with its score. The music in Jedi: Survivor is no different. It has that symphonic identity that the franchise has while differentiating itself from John Williams and other composers who have delivered their take on this universe’s music.
The higher fidelity and detail were noticeable straight from the first cutscene that led to the crash of Cal’s ship, the Mantis. The colors of the galaxy in that opening cutscene popped more, making me realize that I am in for one of the prettiest Star Wars games ever.
Then, I landed on Koboh, and I realized that the previous thought was correct. Koboh was the perfect introduction to Jedi: Survivor due to its biodiversity with its dry, sandy grounds and walls to forests feasting off the plentiful water supply from pools and waterfalls. It created colorful contrast between the rusting paint of buildings and a diverse set of plant life.
Conclusion: The Star Wars Jedi: Survivor hands-on preview shows promise
In my hands-on preview of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, I had my excitement level raised dramatically. I thoroughly enjoyed its predecessor, but as years passed, I haven’t gone back to play it or even think about my time with Cal. Now that I got back in his shoes, I am energized by the small and vast improvements made, along with getting that scratch of being a Jedi again.
The only worry I have is about the performance. Leaving the previous generation of consoles behind gives me hope for console players, but the stuttering scared me of pre-ordering on PC, even though day-one patches are common to knock out early problems. Regardless if I get it on PC or on my PS5, I will be there to see where Cal and his friends go next.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor releases on April 28 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.