Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – hopefully the later planets are visually more distinguishable (Photo: EA)
Nine minutes of new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor footage shows a very dusty planet and more Metroid influences.
We had hoped that Respawn would treat us to some new gameplay footage for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, to make up for the month-long delay. Fortunately, it did just that.
While the new nine minutes of footage show off a range of aspects – exploration, combat, etc. – it seems the main purpose is to highlight a new planet that protagonist Cal will be exploring: Koboh.
Koboh is an entirely new location for the Star Wars franchise, but we can’t help but be disappointed that it seems like a typical dusty, quarry-esque planet rather than something truly alien.
You could tell us this was just another part of Tatooine and we’d believe you. Anyway, it seems to be home to pirates/smugglers, who don’t like Cal and use reprogrammed battle droids from the prequel movies.
The game looks graphically impressive, thanks to only running on current-gen hardware, but there’s not much insight into the actual plot, which remains a bit of a mystery.
There are plenty of fight examples to demonstrate Cal’s new fighting styles. While you could unlock a double-bladed lightsaber in the first game, this time Cal has access from the start.
You can also see him split into two separate lightsabers and then put them back together, confirming that switching between styles will be seamless.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – Cal also gets a lightsaber with a crossguard, just like Kylo Ren (Photo: EA)
However, the footage does not show Cal using his new blaster. So maybe that’s something you need to unlock later in the story.
We also see some of Cal’s Force powers, such as pushing unsuspecting enemies off cliff edges. An all-new power appears to slow down enemies in combat, with Cal spreading his arms and turning the screen blue for a spell.
A fun detail is around 4:30 p.m. where Cal approaches a group of small creatures demonstrating how to jump over a wall.
The exact same thing happens in Super Metroid and the creatures Cal encounters are very similar to Metroid’s Etecoons, who teach Samus how to jump over a wall when she first encounters them.
This now makes us wonder if the new ostrich seen in December’s trailer is intended as a replacement for the Dachora, another Super Metroid creature that also resembles an ostrich. (You can see them wandering around in this new footage, but Cal never actually rides them.)
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It wouldn’t be surprising if these similarities were intentional, as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s exploration was a lot like a Metroidvania, as you regularly went back through areas to find hidden items and shortcuts.
You can check out the footage for yourself below, which comes via IGN.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor launches on April 28 for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.
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