If your childhood resembled mine anyway, the phrase “Saber Realistic Combat” is stuck in your brain forever. For those who don’t know, this was the cheat code to enable limb amputation in his 2002 Star Wars Jedi Knight 2, long reigning king of simulated lightsaber combat. Entering that string of commands into his console suddenly recreates his scene in the cantina of A New Hope, whenever Kyle swings his blade humming his Katarn. But even without the detachable limbs, Jedi Knight 2’s lightsaber (and its sequel, Jedi Academy’s lightsaber) felt like an unparalleled power to date.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has the best lightsaber of any Star Wars video game I’ve ever played. Their pitch-perfect hums, crackles and whooshes are matched by quick and smooth combat maneuvers that truly convey the power of this elegant weapon. And after 20 years, we finally have a worthy successor to the Clash of the Jedi Knights.
To be clear, I mean it in the spiritual sense. Respawn Entertainment’s Jedi games are very different from Raven Software’s Jedi Knight series. Rather than a shooter/hack-and-slash hybrid, it’s rooted in FromSoftware’s melee combat rhythm. Even if you like the Jedi Knight, there is no guarantee that the Jedi his survivor will set your inner Kyber his crystal on fire. But if you want to relive the energetic rush that Raven infused into lightsaber combat, Jedi: Survivor is worth the Corellian freighter.
That first rush comes with the significant improvements Respawn has made to the basics of fencing. I know Jedi: Fallen Order received a lot of praise, but I personally found Dark Soulsian’s combat to be very rough around the edges. It felt slow and clumsy, with protagonist Cal Kestis wielding his saber more like a dull baseball bat than a deadly plasma blade. It often felt like we traded defensive blows. means cut.
The emphasis here is on fending off attacks rather than maintaining static defenses. This is due to the much larger number of enemies wielding Survivor blades. Weapons intercept and push each other in what appears to be real swordsmanship. Move the stitches together to create an impressive elaborate spectacle of your own making. To use Jedi: Survivor’s swordsmanship well, you need to stage a Star Wars duel. This is something we haven’t seen since the days of the Jedi Knight.
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Survivor’s parry-based combat is a very different beast to Jedi Knight’s approach (which now feels very wild and uncalculated by comparison), but the approach to how lightsabers are used has There is some important shared DNA. As we’ve seen in the movies, the lightsaber-wielding Jedi’s approach radically changes the tactics and rhythm of battle, and in the Jedi Knight games this is represented by his three fighting styles. Fast, medium and strong. The former utilizes its speed to deliver overwhelming attacks, while the latter uses slower, more dangerous, yet more devastating blows to cut through enemy defenses. It conveys the classic fighting style that epitomizes the warrior monk.
Jedi: Survivor has the answers to all these fighting styles through a new stance system, each wielding its own lightsaber. A classic single-edged saber corresponds to a Jedi Knight’s medium stance. A balanced approach to unlocking your inner Obi-Wan Kenobi. Disciplined, flexible and universal. However, snapping the saber hilt in half allows you to dual wield the blade and unleash a series of attacks at lightning speed. Naturally, that’s your fast style. In terms of strong style, it comes via a Kylo Ren-like crossguard saber, with a heavy, fierce arc similar to a two-handed claymore.
We have others, too. Double his blade lightsaber like the Quarterstaff is perfect for taking down gangs of battle droids that try to surround you with mechanical pile-ons. A shot during a rapier-like lunge. Combined, these stances give the feeling that the Jedi are incredibly skilled and versatile fighters. Exactly the same feeling that the Jedi Knight succeeded.
Of course, Jedi Knights were as famous for their suite of Force powers as they were for their lightsabers. In 2008’s The Force Unleashed, protagonist Starkiller famously tried to one-up in that department by dragging his Destroyer out of the sky and crumpling TIE fighters like tinfoil. . But that OTT approach, alongside PS2-era God of War-like combat, meant it felt too far removed from the Jedi power level we wanted to emulate. , returning to Jedi: Survivor’s proven true power, works beautifully. BATTLE Blowing his droids off a cliff or hoisting a squad of hapless Stormtroopers into the air and slamming them to the ground is a simple thrill. The glue that holds all this together is discovering the link between Force powers and lightsabers. Nothing like pulling an enemy towards you and slamming it into your blade with a smooth motion.
But if you have the same Jedi Knight memories as I do, perhaps Respawn’s latest installment is a clear successor to the Raven games is the way Cal’s lightsaber cuts off limbs. Nothing beats rampaging through a group of Buckethead Imperials with white-hot blades, especially when it’s a pile of cauterized body parts. As awkward as the idea may sound, the complete lack of severed limbs in Fallen Order is part of what makes lightsabers feel more like clubs than swords. Our first introduction to the power of the Jedi’s signature weapon was Obi-Wan cutting off Ponda Baba’s arm at the Mos Eisley Cantina. Jango Fett’s head, Anakin’s… well, pretty much everything. Jedi: Survivors can engage in “saber-realistic combat” from the moment Cal ignites his weapon for the first time, without the need for cheat codes. And from the moment the Stormtrooper’s right arm spirals away, it’s like he’s back in 2002.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.
