Why hasn't there ever been a good Star Wars action game?

[Raban]

I mean, I never understood this. Star Wars has a lot of great lore, or at least the potential for awesome action, and yet there are very few action games that are even worth mentioning, let alone worth any form of appraisal.

Star Wars: Jedi Knight III Jedi Academy is pretty awesome, however the physics and gameplay are somewhat broken (leading to hilarious results).
Republic Commando was a repetitious bore-fest.
The Battlefront games are OK, but have shit SP experiences.
Let's not even mention the vast library of games like Star Wars Obi-Wan and The Phantom Menace, whose creators should be doomed to a special realm of hell for making.

I will admit, I have yet to play through the Super Star Wars series and don't doubt that I will be absolutely floored, but I'm speaking strictly of games in recent times. Is there anything coming down the pipeline? How is this series so doomed to failure when it comes to action video games?

Keep in mind I've made it very clear I'm speaking of action games, I wouldn't dare criticize the quality busting through the seams of KOTOR.

[demi]

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

[Raban]

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

You're joking, right?

[duckman2000]

TFU was fun for a few levels. Figured it wouldn't last when the first level was basically god mode.

[Himu]

I liked the demo to TFU.

[demi]

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

You're joking, right?

Nope, I think its amazing. Well, was. I played it to completion, unlocked everything, you name it. Great co-op game.

[Nintendosbooger]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

[Bebpo]

I liked the snes games ^^;

[Bebpo]

Oh wait, Jedi Knight counts?  Well Jedi Knight & Jedi Knight II are awesome.

It's better just to say all star wars games after the year 2000 suck.  In the 90s they were fantastic with games like Tie Fighter and Dark Forces.

[cool breeze]

I think the Jedi Knight games are the best and closest to what I'd want out of a Star Wars game.  I wish they'd make a new Jedi Knight game with the crazy grabby feely stuff from TFU and improved physics.

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

I was actually playing that just last week.  I played so much co-op of that years ago, but playing now, it's not too great.  Then again, I liked that Spawn Dreamcast game too.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Star Wars Jedi Power Battles

YES! Me and my bro played this shit all the time on the PSone. Jedi Knight 1 & 2 on the PC were both pretty decent games too.

[ManaByte]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

Rebel Strike was shit.

[Nintendosbooger]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

Rebel Strike was shit.

No it wasn't. It was a solid launch title that might not have aged well but when it was released, a lot of people, including myself, had fun with it.

[Raban]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

Rebel Strike was shit.

No it wasn't. It was a solid launch title that might not have aged well but when it was released, a lot of people, including myself, had fun with it.

You aren't very good at being a Nintendo shill. Rouge Squadron II was the GCN launch title, Rebel Strike came out much later, and sucked epic amounts of ass.

[Nintendosbooger]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

Rebel Strike was shit.

No it wasn't. It was a solid launch title that might not have aged well but when it was released, a lot of people, including myself, had fun with it.

You aren't very good at being a Nintendo shill. Rouge Squadron II was the GCN launch title, Rebel Strike came out much later, and sucked epic amounts of ass.

Yeah, I was originally referring to Rogue Leader. It's late, kiss my ass.

[BobFromPikeCreek]

TFU = 

[brawndolicious]

So are we now pretending Rebel Strike (GC) never existed?

Rebel Strike was shit.

No it wasn't. It was a solid launch title that might not have aged well but when it was released, a lot of people, including myself, had fun with it.

You aren't very good at being a Nintendo shill. Rouge Squadron II was the GCN launch title, Rebel Strike came out much later, and sucked epic amounts of ass.

Yeah, I was originally referring to Rogue Leader. It's late, kiss my ass.

Rebel Strike was a much better game actually.  It had crappy foot missions but you could always skip playing those parts.  The lighting was a world ahead and the scale of the levels was also just amazing.  The controls were very tight but you had both ground and air vehicles.  Just the fact that it had all the Rogue Leader missions playable in co-op, with better lighting, and a bunch of cool throwback easter eggs makes it the best Rogue Squadron game.  I think I actually played that game more than anything else last-gen now that I think about it.

If they made a sequel with fixed on-foot controls and online play, then my Wii wouldn't collect any dust for a very long time.

What I really want tho is a third-person Star Wars action game with an open world and jump-in/jump-out co-op.  Let me level up my powers/abilities, choose to be on the good or bad side of the force or Federation/Empire law and for once some 3D lightsaber controls that don't such holy ass and it's goty material.

[chronovore]

What I really want tho is a third-person Star Wars action game with an open world and jump-in/jump-out co-op.  Let me level up my powers/abilities, choose to be on the good or bad side of the force or Federation/Empire law and for once some 3D lightsaber controls that don't such holy ass and it's goty material.

The first Lego Star Wars game was pretty good and has much of what you mention, but the sequel based on the original (Eps. IV~VI) movies was too much of a blasé port from the PS2 base game. Lazy, even though I hate to use that phrase on any dev team's efforts on a multi-platform title, especially a cross-generational multi-platform title.

Dark Forces, considering it was largely a Star Wars skin over the Doom gameplay, with a sweet MIDI-driven contextual soundtrack WAS PURE CRACK. The game really made me feel like a character in a Star Wars movie in a way that nothing else has, before or since. It was really a breath of fresh air, despite how derivative it actually is in retrospect.

Jedi Knight 1 and 2 were outstanding for their time, though "Jedi Speed" powers, which predated the whole goddamned tidal wave of BULLET TIME games, actually sped your character up faster than the player could hope to control it. This changed for JK2, when they'd figured out "oh, hey. slowing everyone else down is a better representation of that." Never played Jedi Academy, and it feels like I missed out.

[brawndolicious]

Wow Dark Forces, I spent so much time over that shareware copy.  But you're right that there have been a lot of games over the years that did some of those things perfectly.  Even in TFU, the physics were so fucking amazing that you really felt like a god whenever you used the force powers.

If I made a star wars action game then I would focus on three major abilities (force, guns, and lightsabers) and have it so that you can make combinations of them after you've leveled them up all the way so that each ability alone feels well-done.  Too many games just use one or two of those and then make the rest of the game about using them in really tightly scripted set pieces which obviously gets really repetitive.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Factor 5 sucks and so does their games.  Their Rogue Leader games may have looked brilliant but were a total turd to play.

Dark Forces was pretty fucking awesome at the time, as was TIE Fighter but I haven't seen too many things even worth looking at coming out of the Lucas factory in years.  Of course I pretty much can't stand Star Wars anymore so maybe that has something to do with that.

[chronovore]

Rogue Leader / Rogue Squadron were totally overhyped at the time. Everyone talked about how great they were, so I picked them up. Every level seemed to be about memorizing where the enemies would come out next and getting there before the in-game announcement played. Everything was "wrong -- do it again, stupid" school of design. I never finished. I tried again with the Naboo Starfighter game, but it was more of the same.

By the way, I mentioned this in the "What are you playing" or official "The Force Unleashed" thread, but the writing in TFU was a cut above. The story progression is good, the main character is a believable addition to the Star Wars canon, and the resolution of the whole story is very enjoyable. I actually found myself playing through quickly because I wanted to see what would happen next.

[archie4208]

It is a pipe dream, but I'd like to see Kamiya do a Star Wars action game.  It could play like Bayonetta but without all the pervert stuff.  Jedi Time. 

[cool breeze]

I wouldn't really want that.  The reason I like the Jedi Knight games is because it's about being a Jedi in them.  Towards the end of Jedi Academy you're so strong you don't even need to touch an enemy enemies to kill them.  You can avoid battles entirely by just grabbing and throwing enemies off ledges using the jedi grip.  You can cause an entire room of enemies to ignore you by doing a jedi mind trick.  TFU is just an average action game with force powers replacing guns and that one force grab move used for "puzzles" occasionally.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Yeah when I was young I really liked that Atari 2600 Star Wars game by Warner Bros where you took out the AT-ATs....forget what that was called.  But that was when I was a kid.  A kid that once ate dog food and liked it.  So I obviously can't be trusted.

[Barry Egan]

I liked Shadow of the Empire.  But I was 9 years old at the time 

[Draft]

Dark Forces
Jedi Knight
Jedi Outcast

All stellar. Jedi Knight is a Goddamn classic. Outcast has crazy fun online.

[Raban]

I liked Shadow of the Empire.  But I was 9 years old at the time 

SotE isn't a bad game at heart, it's just buried under tons of glitches and bugs.

[M3wThr33]

Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga is the best Lego Star Wars. No point in getting just half of it. They redid all the vehicle levels and polished a ton of shit.

[Mr. Gundam]

I thought The Force Unleashed was awesome.

Rebel Strike wasn't bad, but I wouldn't call it an action game.

[Raban]

Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga is the best Lego Star Wars. No point in getting just half of it. They redid all the vehicle levels and polished a ton of shit.

The Lego Star Wars games are pretty excellent, I just wish there was something serious out there.

Star Wars Bounty Hunter is another good idea plagued by bad gameplay.

[muckhole]

Wasn't there a generaly well-recieved game on the Xbox, Republic Commando or something? Never played it, but I remember lots of people renting it and raving about it.

[demi]

Yeah, it was awesome. But tubbs here thinks its a borefest. Along with every other game he named off the top of his head. Why suggest when he wont like it anyway?

[Raban]

Yeah, it was awesome. But tubbs here thinks its a borefest. Along with every other game he named off the top of his head. Why suggest when he wont like it anyway?

I played it to completion, bro. The question is, did you?

Wasn't there a generaly well-recieved game on the Xbox, Republic Commando or something? Never played it, but I remember lots of people renting it and raving about it.

I used to be deeply ingrained in Star Wars and bought practically ever game with the title, that's why I have a vast knowledge of just how shitty some of these games are. Republic Commando isn't bad, but it's a sub-par FPS with quite a bit of repetition.

I'm not out to hate on every Star Wars game, but I've played them all, and most have lots of unfulfilled potential for whatever reason. And what happened, Demi, you started the thread with legit replies, and now it's back to personal insults. You mad I'm the only fat guy who hasn't sent you nudes? You gotta play ball to score, son.

[chronovore]

Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga is the best Lego Star Wars. No point in getting just half of it. They redid all the vehicle levels and polished a ton of shit.

Oh, man. Don't tell me stuff like that. The play balancing on the "original trilogy" vehicle levels was utter ass. The "complete XX level without dying" Achievements seemed like they'd be more frustrating than fun, so I just bailed before finishing them. But now every time I see that LSW: Complete Saga for sale cheap, I waffle on trying them again. 

Wasn't there a generaly well-recieved game on the Xbox, Republic Commando or something? Never played it, but I remember lots of people renting it and raving about it.

That's the only SW game I have wanted to play but never did. It's tactical combat with some nice heads-up stuff for directing your troops. I almost bagged it for Xbox 1 but wasn't sure if it was on the backward-compatible list for 360.