Star Wars Jedi: Survivoris already established as incredibly dark and enigmatic based on its tonal cinematic teaser. The fate of the ragtag Stinger Mantis crew is unknown, Cal Kestis’ lightsaber is seemingly in the hands of an Imperial senator, and an unidentified individual rests suspended in a bacta tank. This all creates a purposeful atmosphere for whatStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s narrativewill propose in terms of its themes, but the teaser also features an important tease at a chief gameplay change.
In the final shot of the teaser, Cal has holstered what looked to be a blaster pistol. This has now been confirmed throughan action figure ofStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Cal, and makes significant implications on what the game’s gameplay will be like with an added long-ranged armament.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderwas already surprisingly dynamic with regard to different lightsaber mod playstyles, diverse Force abilities, and creative BD-1 mechanics. It seems thatStar Wars Jedi: Survivorwill iterate upon this with dedicated gunplay, which will fundamentally change how combat is approached.
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Gunplay Moves Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Further Away from a Soulslike
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderis an amalgam of game genres, one of which being a Soulslike. This is due toStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s level design and combat structure, where players are often somersaulting around enemy attacks while struggling to pop healing items and occasionally parrying an incoming attack.
The latter action is more comparable toSekiro: Shadows Die Twiceas players time consecutive parries. But the comparison stands andFromSoftware’s Soulslike formulais therefore a fantastic design choice forStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
It is unknown how closelyStar Wars Jedi: Survivorwill follow the combat structure of its predecessor, but fans now know that Cal will be equipping a blaster pistol at some point in the sequel, which will undoubtedly iterate upon the original game’s combat. Having dedicated gunplay will also surely eschew it a bit from the Soulslike formula proper, especially if exchanging blaster fire becomesa substantial part ofStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s combat.
FromSoftware is certainly not unfamiliar with long-ranged armaments such as bows and kukri, andBloodbornehas its fair share of firearmsessential to parrying and riposting most enemies. Indeed,Bloodborne’s more common workshop firearms are rarely ever advisable when dealing damage besides attempting to carve out slivers of an enemy’s health, particularly if players want to keep their distance or if only a bit of chip damage will completely deplete their enemy’s health bar.
Instead, well-timed attacks with a firearm will parry an enemy’s incoming attack, leaving them open to a subsequent riposte. It is unlikely thatStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s blaster or blasters will behave similarly, especially considering a generic blaster’s rate of fire and how much damage blaster bolts do in theStar Warscanon already. Therefore,Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s potential Soulslike design will likely change drastically when a blaster is introduced.
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Gunplay Can Make Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s Combat More Dynamic
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderdid a wonderful job of making gamers feel appropriately powerful wgen brandishing a lightsaber. IgnitingStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s customizable lightsabersmeant players could feel protected against blaster bolts and other hits, but a stamina bar would drain as they deflect each attack. Once depleted, Cal’s guard is broken, and he is staggered for a moment.
Still, lightsaber strikes that players are able to land on enemies are also appropriately weighted and cut them down quickly depending on the enemy. Players are never put into a combat scenario without their lightsaber at hand inStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, but it is now almost assuredly guaranteed thatStar Wars Jedi: Survivorwill force players to part ways with the elegant, civilized weapon at some point.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s cinematic teaser offered a glimpse of the blaster pistol holstered on Cal’s leg with his lightsaber also attached to his waist, which likely suggests that players will be balancing combat between melee and ranged approaches. There will hopefully be enough of a logical incentive to using both a lightsaber and a blaster, asStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderintroduced many abilities that made the lightsaber overpowered, such as the ability to hold a blaster bolt in stasis and pull a stormtrooper into its path.
But if players have a blaster themselves, it may deter a melee approach. For example,Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s stormtrooperswere able to block Cal’s lightsaber attacks with electrically charged batons and such armaments, but with a blaster it seems like these ordinary enemies may be defenseless and easily defeatable.
If Cal’s lightsaber is lost or taken from him during the events ofStar Wars Jedi: Survivor, introducing a blaster pistol could make players rethink how to approach each encounter with only a long-ranged firearm equipped and no way to engage enemies in close-quarters-combat. However,Star Wars Jedi: Survivorbalances its close- and long-ranged combat, equipping a blaster will surely be a dynamic way to enhance gameplay from that of its predecessor, which concentrated heavily on a thorough catalog of Force abilities.
If any other Soulslike or melee-centric action-adventure game introduced gunplay, it may be a point of contention that fans steel themselves for in case it turns out poorly. Rather, fans may not need to worry about gunplay being implemented poorly inStar Wars Jedi: Survivorwhen they consider who the developer is behind it.
Respawn Entertainment is known forthe beloved science-fiction shooter franchiseTitanfall, as well as the immensely popular and free-to-play battle royaleApex Legends. It was more of a drastic gamble, then, for Respawn to try its hand at a third-person action-adventure game centering almost entirely around melee combat. Respawn was already well-versed in science-fiction, thus making its transition to the overwhelmingly iconicStar WarsIP more palatable, and it now has an opportunity to integrate its renowned shooter mechanics intoStar Wars Jedi: Survivor.
It can be presumed thatStar Wars Jedi: Survivor’s gunplay will be in third-person, and it will be interesting to see how that approach is taken from a gameplay standpoint if players are able to freely swap between a lightsaber and a blaster.Star Wars Jedi: Survivorwill hopefully have more to share outside of speculation in the near future, andthe recently announced Disney and Marvel Games Showcasewould be a great stage for its gunplay to be revealed in official gameplay.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivoris expected to launch in 2023 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.
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