Best: Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
The only games I feel qualified to talk about with any degree of authority are the Lego franchise games, having played every installment released. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga remains one of the best installments in the franchise, featuring all six episodes in the series. What makes Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga a fantastic game, is the charm of being able to play as any character in the Star Wars world, in any episode of the series. The Lego-ified characters and levels allow you to experience the world as a player, and bring to life the fun of the original trilogy throughout the whole series.
Words by Rebecca James.
Best: Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Jedi Academy is a great game, arguably one of the best in the franchise. You play as the fully customisable Jaden Korr, a new student under the tutelage of Kyle Katarn, and have to attempt not to kill your fellow student Rosh Penin out of sheer irritation. Cackle manically as you fry Stormtroopers with force lightning and throw Dark Jedi off buildings with force push. Sometimes you don’t even have to kill enemies– the AI will lead them off cliffs without your input. But despite its flaws, Jedi Academy is thoroughly entertaining, action-packed and lets you choose your own destiny – light or dark?
Words by Sarah Corrigan.
Worst: Star Wars: Starfighter
Attempting to pick up the popular X-Wing/Tie-Fighter space simulation games for the prequel era, Star Wars: Starfighter is a lackluster effort. This Phantom Menace tie-in lets you pilot a Naboo Starighter, and a couple of other vessels that didn’t even make the cut in the film. Featuring a cast of z-list expanded universe characters, a divergent plotline of little relevance to the filmic canon, and without the presence of any iconic original trilogy crafts, it’s hard to see much appeal in a Star Wars game that uses its licence so sparingly. Couple this with frustrating controls and tedious missions and you have to ask yourself, why bother?
Words by Chris Evans.
Best: Star Wars Battlefront II
There’s only one thing that’s more fun than watching the explosive battle on Hoth, the fight for victory on Endor, or the explosive space combat above Coruscant and that’s actually getting to participate in those extraordinary events. The very popular sequel to Star Wars Battlefront takes all the elements that made the first one so good, such as getting to play as a Stormtrooper, or the ability to use the iconic vehicles from the Star Wars films, and adds in fantastic new aspects, including space combat, the ability to control iconic heroes from the franchise, and everybody’s favourite: Assault Mode on Mos Eisley. This was also the game where Pandemic Studios perfected Galactic Conquest, which could provide hours of fun for friends looking to fight for control of the galaxy.
Words by Thomas Davies.
Best: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Released in 2008, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was the best Star Wars game in years. You play as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, between episodes III and IV, hunting down the remaining Jedi so that you can grow powerful enough to defeat the emperor with Vader. The force has never been utilised as it has in this game, with the character of Starkiller being able to pull tie fighters out of the air and drag storm troopers along the floor. The gameplay could get repetitive but the variety of locations, as well as a great story with many familiar faces, made this a great addition to the Star Wars franchise.
Words by Conor Kavanagh.
Worst: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
The existence of The Force Unleashed II is irritating simply because it undermines some of the best parts of its predecessor’s narrative. Bringing Starkiller back as a clone is an interesting concept, but with a ludicrously brief campaign, the game has little time to truly explore it, and offers almost no replay-value. Elsewhere, the game simply re-skins familiar enemy types from the first game. This, combined with fewer memorable boss-battles, only serves to make this sequel more of a disappointment. Aside from some breathtaking graphics and truly cinematic cut-scenes, Force Unleashed II just felt like a lazy DLC addition to the original game.
Words by Chris Evans.
Best: Star Wars: Republic Commando
Dice would have you think that they’re about to unveil the definitive Star Wars FPS with their latest Battlefront installment, however Lucas Arts’ Republic Commando, circa 2005, still remains a strong contender for the title.
Set between Episodes 2 and 3, Republic Commando places you in control of an elite squad of clone troopers. Set-piece battles become incredibly tense as they rely increasingly on your tactical use of the squad based dynamics. The single-player campaign also excels when it throws the formula on its head, stripping you of your comrades when infiltrating a battle-droid factory, or reconing a derelict ghost ship.
The game also boasts an addictive online multiplayer mode, more akin to Halo than Battlefront.
Words by Chris Evans.
Worst: Kinect: Star Wars
In all likelihood the only reason anyone forked out the obscene asking price for the fundamentally broken kinect motion sensor, was Kinect: Star Wars. No other licensed property lent itself so well to the new system, as the opportunity for dynamic light-saber duels, high-speed pod races and blistering shoot outs was too enticing for even the most cynical of people. Alas, what we got instead, was the video-game equivalent of The Phantom Menace. Failing on just about every conceivable level, this was an unresponsive chore to play through, sucking all of the potential fun out of a motion controlled Star Wars tie in. And then there was the dancing mini-game. Yes. That happened. You weren’t just having a bad dream.
Words by Harrison Abbott.
