With Star Wars Jedi: Survivor getting epic gameplay-filled trailer at The Game Awards last week, and a confirmed March 17, 2023 release date, if you haven't yet played the original Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order now's the time. The game is currently 88% off on Steam, making it a steal at AUD 5.99.

As per our review, "The story here is classic Star Wars. The characters are infectious, and the planet-hopping and Metroidvania game design, once you’ve gained most of your base abilities, is fun and rewarding."

Released in 2019 it marked Respawn Entertainment's first foray into the Star Wars universe and cinematic storytelling. So yeah, deal alert! Grab it today.

From the extrapolation-central grey matter deck of industry veteran, Jeff Grubb, and his Giant Bomb podcast, GrubbSnax (you need a premium account to listen/watch), comes the idea that a sequel to Respawn's polarising Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is not only in the works, but is set to be announced a little later this year, with a view to releasing in 2023.

Grubb does suggest there is a chance we see the sequel at the end of this year, but has hedged his own bet on it being in early 2023. That said he sure doesn't serve up much more than that nugget, so we'll spend the next 100 or so words talking about how a sequel needs to be addressed seeing as in our review we cited poorly-crafted derivative combat and a lack of cohesion as far as abilities gathering and world traversal are concerned.

The first game nailed OG Star Wars storytelling, but failed to craft a game with its own personality, focusing instead on what gameplay systems and mechanics and visual beats were popular at the time. Don't get us wrong, we want the massive vistas and alien worlds, and larger-than-Midichlorian-life characters and set-pieces, but if you want to make a Souls-like, go all-in on that or just leave it out. There are plenty of other ways to tighten challenge and difficulty. And for the love of Yoda, fix the fucking rope swing, Respawn.

Ahem.

We're keen, just also a bit concerned. Either way, stay tuned for more as it becomes clear and available.

As per a new job listing from EA which is looking for a Senior Software Engineer for a new Star Wars game described as a "third person action/adventure". With the release of the solid Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from Respawn Entertainment, there's a good chance that this job listing could be in reference to a sequel.

One that looks to be already underway. On the other hand as it doesn't mention Respawn or Fallen Order specifically, there could be a brand-new third-person action/adventure Star Wars game in the works - thanks in part to the success of Fallen Order which has broken digital sales records for EA Star Wars titles.

Either way it looks like EA isn't done with single-player Star Wars - and that's a very good thing.

For the full job listing - head here.

Although specific numbers weren't revealed, EA notes that during the initial two-week launch window Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order became the fastest selling Star Wars game to date on PC. And across all platforms it became the fastest selling digital launch.

Not only that but the single-player only game has been met with a mostly positive reaction from both fans and critics alike. As per our review, "The story here is classic Star Wars. The characters are infectious, and the planet-hopping and Metroidvania game design, once you’ve gained most of your base abilities, is fun and rewarding."

And here's a few more quotes from those that created the game.

“On behalf of Respawn and EA, we thank everyone for their support of the studio and the team throughout the development and launch of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. Telling a story in the Star Wars galaxy is a dream come true and the reception from the fans has been incredible,” said Vince Zampella, Head of Respawn. “With the launch of the game, the debut of The Mandalorian and the upcoming release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it’s a great time to be a Star Wars fan!”

"Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order demonstrates the amazing potential for original storytelling in Star Wars games,” said Sean Shoptaw, SVP, Games and Interactive Experiences, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. "The close collaboration between Respawn and Lucasfilm is a perfect example of how we can deliver an experience for fans that is authentic to the stories and worlds they love, while also being an incredibly fun and innovative game. With the fantastic reception and launch so far, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has proven to be the must-play game this Holiday.”

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is available now on PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

Respawn's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is upon us and the Force is... maybe a bit fence-sitting as to whether Light or Dark at this point. There's a lot to love here, but a lot of questionable stuff to unfurl as well.

Here's a snippet from our in-depth review:

This is sort of the first problematic part of the game, in that it’s one-note. One Kenny G-note at times, despite the influences injected from those aforementioned games. This isn’t a bad thing from a narrative perspective depending on your feelings across Anakin or Luke, but the singular path of the game’s story undermines the planet-hopping nature of what Respawn has tried to craft here. Is this Mass Effect, or is this The Force Unleashed? And that question begins to rear its head a lot in the nature of the game’s seemingly-ungated-but-very-gated worlds. I completely skipped Kashyyk -- technically the game’s third world because I’m an explorer in games, which means I’ll avoid progressing the story as much as possible. The problem is, I needed to go to Kashyyk to gain abilities from there to properly traverse the game-world. It’s very Metroidvania in this way, which is fine. But the gating needs to be handled better than “you just can’t go any further because you can’t jump more”.

Click here for our full Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order review.

Released in 2014, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor was at its core Assassin's Creed but in the Lord of the Rings universe. That said, one of its most unique features dubbed the Nemesis system made it go well beyond simple clone. Where falling to named Orcs would see them rise in power and stature whereby the next time you faced them - they remembered who you were, and the way in which they took you out.

Which is why this little snippet from our in-depth hands-on preview of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from Nathan Lawrence made the team here let out a collective "ooh".

Grappling with the melee variant of Scout Troopers, who are armed with batons capable of blocking lightsabers, is tricky when they’re in groups, and any trooper with an orange pauldron means you’re in for a tough fight. Throw a rocket launcher-wielding Stormtrooper into the mix, who seemingly doesn’t give a Sith about detonating his brethren, and fights become a whole lot more frantic.

There’s a great sense of death deterrence at play, too, with clear inspiration from Dark Souls, spliced with a touch of Shadow of Mordor’s iconic Nemesis System. Die – and you will – and you’re sent back to the nearest manual save point, stripped of any XP you’d gleaned since your last upgrade point. Your killer will usually gloat about killing you, further incentivising un-Jedi-like revenge, and they now glow orange to make them easier to spot.

To get your XP back, you only have to damage them but, if like me, that death came from a backline prick with a rocket launcher, you have to get past other goons before you can deal that damage.

Much more than a simple third-person action-game Fallen Order blends a save and progression system reminiscent of Dark Souls with elements from Shadow of Morder and even Metroidvania-style exploration. It's a recipe that when you add-in the pedigree of developer Respawn and the breadth and scope of Star Wars - make this sound like a classic in the making. Or, to borrow a phrase from Darthy Vades whilst he was flying his badass Tie Fighter, The Force is Strong With This One.

For our full preview - Click Here.

Following up from our in-depth hands-on preview of Respawn's upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from our resident Padawan Nathan Lawrence, we've also got direct-feed gameplay. Complied together from b-roll footage by our back-up Padawan Adam 'Griz' Mathew.

Here we get to see a bunch of exploration and combat on the planet Zeffo. And also, some combat that takes place on the planet Chewie calls home. Kardash-I mean Kashyyyk. Check it out.



For more on Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order be sure to read our preview.