“Star Wars” video games sometimes feel repetitive and stale. As exciting as immersing yourself in the force can be, finding fresh and interesting takes on the franchise can be difficult.
Thankfully, some “Star Wars” games take big chances, and offer features that are pretty cool and unique. Furthermore, those things sometimes foreshadow gaming trends to come.
Here are five awesome “Star Wars” video game features that shook things up in a galaxy far, far away.
“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” (2003): Story first!
Widely considered the greatest “Star Wars” game of all time, “Knights of the Old Republic” brought something never seen in any of the games before or since: an original story.
With an emphasis on character development over action, “KotOR” truly is a fascinating game to play. Furthermore, the its original story is set roughly 4,000 years before the events of the “Star Wars” movies. This isn’t just the best “Star Wars” title, it’s also one of the finer role-playing games ever made.
“Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga” (2007): Play the movies, silently
Nowadays, seemingly every officially licensed Lego game is great — but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, the first example of a truly complete, immersive Lego game is 2007’s “Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.”
All subsequent Lego titles pretty much followed this one’s lead, and it’s not hard to see why. The game’s mix of humor, action, adventure and puzzle solving is as rewarding today as it was 10 years ago. This game, though, is remembered most for its hilarious dialogue-free retelling of the “Star Wars” story.
“Star Wars: Battlefront” (2004): Multiplayer galore
Not to be confused with the more-recent “Star Wars Battlefront,” this 2004 classic laid the groundwork for massive multiplayer games that now are commonplace.
“Star Wars: Battlefront” can we played with up to 64 players through local-area connection (LAN), and success only can be had if you prioritize teamwork. Throwing so many players into a sandbox was a risky proposition at the time, but has been duplicated by many games since.
“Star Wars: Rogue Squadron” (1998): We can see what we’re shooting!
Arcade-style aerial battles have been at the centers of countless games, but few have simulated this style of confrontation as well as it was in “Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.” By utilizing Nintendo 64’s graphics expansion pack, “Rogue Squadron” was able to feature higher quality visuals than any other game of its style prior to that point. that really hadn’t been seen to that point in air-battle games.
The case can easily be made the game’s sequel, “Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader” is superior, but that installment wouldn’t have been possible without the foundation laid down by the original.
“Star Wars: Battlefront II” (2017): Everyone’s invited
We know, this game isn’t even out yet, but therecently released trailer suggests great things are to come. Most significantly, in our opinion, is “Star Wars: Battlefront II” will be the first game to cover the entire “Star Wars” chronology. That means players will be able to play with characters such as Darth Maul, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren.
Furthermore, unlike its prequel, “Battlefront II” will feature a story mode.
