Jedi: Fallen Order – The First Hour

Jedi: Fallen Order is an action-adventure game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. After the first Battlefront (multiplayer only) and the controversial Battlefront II (multiplayer by-election but sporting a short single-player campaign), it is finally the turn of a full-fledged, single-player-only game. Players are here in control of a young Padawan (Jedi trainee), named Cal Kestis, during his adventure as a runaway fugitive first, and as a restorer of the Order later on. Jedi: Fallen Order is set in the expanded Star Wars universe shortly after the events of Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

With the Jedi Order dismantled by the Emperor and Darth Vader, the surviving Jedis (or trainees) are disbanded across the Universe, attempting to survive while being chased by the Empire, one of its deadliest “weapons” being the Inquisitor know as the Second Sister. In his quest for freedom and life, young Cal will visit worlds taken both from Star Wars or new ones expressly made up for the game.

Gameplay-wise, the title is a blend between an action-adventure and a platformer, in a way that closely remembers (at least in this first hour) what we used to see in the early Uncharted titles (with all due respect, that is).

Basically, all you have to do for the first part is to run away and confront your enemies, in a futuristic train chase that has already been seen somewhere else (as stated above). This is not to say that we are facing a bad game (quite the contrary, actually), but my first feeling is that combat is way too simplistic: it tries to mimic Sekiro at first, as far as blocking and parring is concerned, but without the same effectiveness. Also, the Force “Slow” mechanics seems not to be enough, and it needs to be integrated/enhanced later on.

When you get to your first planet after escaping the first chase, a new world of options will open up (including modding and powering up your Light Saber), and the “real” game will finally take off.

The first hour is obviously never enough to tell if a game is good or bad, but it is usually enough to understand if a title has potential or not. Despite the weird look of its characters in terms of visual expressions (and I am talking about humans here…), I like this game a lot and I will try to explore it to the last bit. For the moment, though, I cannot tell/show you more than I already had, so please stay tuned for a new update.

Thank you for your patience.