The High Republic is a brand new setting in theStar Warsuniverse, currently in development to help launch an upcoming series of books and comics. The new setting will take fans of the famous franchise to a time when the Jedi were spread out far across the galaxy, and the Galactic Republic was at its peak.
Many fans will be hoping that the High Republic will also bring with it some newStar Warsvideo games. With no announcements yet, however, here are theStar Warsgames to play before the High Republic era launches a new chapter in the franchise’s history.
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Star Wars: TIE Fighter
There’s no better way to immerse a player in theStar Warsuniverse than by placing them in the first-person perspective of a TIE fighter pilot, which is exactly whatStar Wars: TIE Fighterdoes. The game is a flight simulator withStar Warsflavoring, taking place between the events ofThe Empire Strikes BackandReturn of the Jedi. TIE Fighter was released in 1994 to critical acclaim and was praised for improving upon its predecessor,Star Wars:X-Wing.
Star Wars: TIE Fighterreceived numerous award nominations on its release and has been retrospectively considered one of the best flight-based games of all time. For players who loveStar Warsfor the action,Star Wars: TIE Fighteris the way to go, placing the player against rebels, pirates, and even treacherous elements of the Empire itself.TIE Fighter’s longevity alone speaks to the game’s successful simplicity, and its ability to capture the feeling of the original movies is a great guiding light for any developer working on aStar Warsgame in the future.
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga
TheLEGOgames are known for their tongue-in-cheek take on famous franchises, but what few fans know is thatLEGOcut its teeth on theStar Warsseries long before taking onIndiana JonesorBatman. 2005’sLego Star Wars: The Video Gamehelped establish the tone and key gameplay of the licensedLEGOgames.
The game had a successful sequel,LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy.LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Sagapackaged both games together. Players can seeLEGO’s take on all the events of the first sixStar Warsmovie from the Trade Federation talks in Episode 1 to the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. Traveller’s Tales is also developingLego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which will attempt to recreate all 9 main movies in the franchise into the LEGO universe.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005)
The 2005Star Wars: Battlefront 2took theStar Warssetting and seamlessly adapted it for a first-person shooter game, just asTIE Fightertook on the flight simulation genre. However, unlike later installments in the Battlefront franchise,Battlefront 2would also include fully-fledged space battles alongside its campaign and classic multiplayer mode.
While more recent additions to theBattlefrontfranchisehave been criticized for their abundance of microtransactions, 2005’sStar Wars: Battlefront 2is a well-polished game that gives the player everything they need the moment they buy it. For fans ofStar Warswho are interested in seeing the perspective of a clone trooper,Battlefront 2’s campaign follows one trooper of the 501st Legion, who witnesses some of the biggest events in theStar Warstimeline.
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The Knights of the Old Republic Series
you may’t have aStar Warsvideo game list withoutKnights of the Old Republic. WhileTIE FighterandBattlefront 2successfully emulated the feel of the movies while transferring them to a new medium,Knights of the Old Republicwas more ambitious. The game takes place 4000 years before Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star inEpisode 4, and takes advantage of that distance to build a rich world of additions to itsStar Warssetting. Indeed, the game was originally chosen instead of a proposed tie-in toAttack of the Clonesbecause of the creative freedom it would afford the developers atBioWare.
That creativity shines throughKnights of the Old Republicand its sequel developed byObsidian Entertainment,Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords. The games’ distance allows them to create aStar Warsstory which is far removed from the story of Luke Skywalker, something even recent installments in the movie franchise have struggled to pull off.
The first game also helped develop some of BioWare’s most famous design traits. This includes the studio’s standard dialog-based romance system, and the use of light side and dark side points as a morality system, which fans would later see return in some form asMass Effect’s Paragon-Renegade system.
TheKOTORseries isn’t just for fans who want a highly immersive story told in theStar Warsuniverse, but also for fans of BioWare’s classic style of RPG. For any player who’s finished every availableDragon AgeandMass Effectgame and is dying for me,Knights of the Old Republicis a great next step, though its graphics may not stand up to more recent additions to the studio’s portfolio. Fans can also sink their teeth intoStar Wars: The Old Republic, the franchise’s criminally underrated MMORPG which includes a ridiculous amount of storylines for each class and lets players take on different roles from smuggler to trooper to Imperial inquisitor.
Many fans will also be hoping thatKnights of the Old Republicwill provide the basis for a BioWare-developedHigh Republic RPG. Like theKOTORsetting, the High Republic could provide the distance and creative freedom to allow BioWare’s trademark storytelling style to shine. If any RPGs come out of the High Republic era, many fans will be hopeful that BioWare or Obsidian is allowed to retake the helm.
While fans may have to wait some time for a newStar Warsvideo game, the High Republic era is beginning now. The first short story in Phase 1, titled “Starlight: Part 1, Go Together” is set for release on December 15, and will hopefully launch a fascinating new chapter in theStar Warsseries that could provide some great new settings for futureStar Warsvideo games.
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