Respawn’s Aaron Contreras talks in-depth about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

One of the biggest draws at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Exposition (E3) was the reveal of Electronic Art’s all-new Star Wars game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. After six years and only two Battlefront games that were terrible from the jump, it appears as if EA finally may have stuck the landing with a game about a young Jedi who uses all-new Force powers to fight the Empire.

Of course, seeing the gameplay from E3 in various videos on YouTube, and actually playing the game itself can be two very different things; an experience Star Wars fans are all too familiar with since Disney and EA inked their deal back in 2013.

Speaking to StarWars.com, Respawn Entertainment’s (a subsidiary of EA) lead narrator, Aaron Contreras shared a deeper look at Fallen Order, in what I’m sure the company hopes will assuage the fears of fans hesitant to purchase the game on its release.

“You play as a Jedi named Cal Kestis, who is on a quest to restore the Jedi Order and survive as he’s being hunted by the Imperial Inquisition,” Contreras said. “It’s set between Episodes III and IV. So it’s during what we call the Dark Times, when the Empire is totally dominant over the galaxy and there is no hope. It’s an authentic Star Wars story.”

Cal is a completely new character in Star Wars canon, and I like that he’s being hunted by Darth Vader’s Inquisitors who were established in the animated Star Wars Rebels series. Disney really does love continuity. According to Contreras, continuity in this game came about because his team worked very closely with Lucasfilm.

“They are on set during all of our performance capture. They are playing builds of the game, so they are right there with us to give their opinion and make sure that it’s an authentic Star Wars product,” he said.

As far as players will encounter and where they’ll go, Respawn made sure to include familiar faces and locations with this new story. “Roughly half our locations already exist in the Star Wars universe,” said Contreras. “In our E3 demo, you deal with the Wookiees over on Kashyyyk, you meet Saw Gerrera and the Wookiee Chieftain, and General Tarfful, who is a character in Revenge of the Sith, is mentioned.”

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And now for the really good stuff: Lightsaber combat and Force powers. Contreras said his team’s game director characterized it as “thoughtful combat,” meaning players will actually be able to strategize how to fight instead of just mashing buttons.

"If you just go in and blindly start swinging, you’ll be successful in some situations against some opponents, but we try to create a combat design where the player thinks about stuff, analyzes the situation, and is aware of what their tool-set is at that given point in time. You need to really look at the situation…the environment, the terrain. Do you have the high ground, for example? What enemies are you facing? What are their capabilities? And then sort of do the right movement at the right time for the best results."

Harkening back to one of my favorite Star Wars games — The Force Unleashed — players will be able to use Cal’s Force powers in conjunction with his lightsaber. Powers like slowing blaster shots in midair and Force-pulling Storm Troopers in their path is something new, but that’s not going to be the only trick in his arsenal.

“I’d say your primary tool and the primary weapon of the Jedi is the lightsaber, but you have an array of Force powers that you can deploy in combat. And you have to use the right power at the right time…[a]nd then of course, as our hero goes through the game and his connection to the Force deepens, he’ll develop more powers and have more of an arsenal of abilities to play,” Contreras said.

The farther players progress, the more powerful Cal becomes, and at certain stages in the game, all-new Force powers and lightsaber technique will be learned. When not in combat, players will be traveling and exploring as they work their way through Fallen Order. Part of that exploration will include “platforming,” which simply means jumping from one platform to another in a video game.

"Platforming and exploration are a huge part of Jedi: Fallen Order. It will be a lot of navigation in the environment, like swinging on ropes, climbing up walls, making leaps across chasms, as you make your way through the game. It’s that sort of action/adventure DNA that we’re putting into the game. He’s very much an agile, developing Jedi hero, and he’s going to be navigating through the world in very kind of unconventional ways, including the wall-run, of course."

Man, give this kid the ability to shoot lighting and we’ve got ourselves a The Force Unleashed clone…I kid. In all seriousness though, what will be new, is Cal’s droid sidekick BD-1. “You’ll meet BD-1 relatively early in the game,” said Contreras. “He quickly becomes Cal’s closest companion because, for a good percentage of the time, he’s riding around on his back. He’s your best pal, and he’s kind of going to experience the entire story with you, every step of the way.”

BD units are described as droids explorers and archeologists use, so he’s perfectly suited for Cal’s needs. Also, this isn’t the first time and EA game featured a backpack droid, as the latest Battlefront game used one for the main character as well. That, at least, was a neat aspect of that game, so I’m pleased to see it makes its way into Fallen Order.

BD-1 will heal you, scan things in the game that adds to your personal databank, hack doors closed doors, and will evolve with you to eventually get new abilities like Overcharge which “causes him to overcharge certain technological things.”

Hopefully, this game will undo some of the wrongs EA has done with the Star Wars name in video games. I guess only time will tell. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order hits PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC on November 15. You can pre-order now.

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