Louis_Cypher
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Here is the inevitable companion thread to The Top 25 Star Trek Games. Star Wars, despite having more games overall, has less important ones for fans to study for lore, because a lot of it's games are just movie adaptations, multiplayer type games, or abstract arcade games. Those that are worthy, however, are sometimes exceptional in world-building terms. This list focuses on which games provide new knowledge of the galaxy, it's epic history, and opportunity for exploration. Predominantly multiplayer games and movie adaptations won't be included:
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01). Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Dark Forces II
by LucasArts, 1997
Verdict: Timeless
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 5 years after the Battle of Yavin, 1 year after the Battle of Endor
It is one year since The Emperor was killed at the Battle of Endor. The galaxy has entered a new era, with the New Republic arising to take the place of the collapsing Galactic Empire. A former imperial Inquisitor, the Dark Jedi named Jerec, believes he has discovered the secret location of the lost Valley of the Jedi, an ancient burial ground from a long-forgotton war, which, when siphoned of it's life energy, will give him the power to rule the galaxy. Along with other Dark Jedi accomplices, Jerec searches, while Kyle Katarn pursues in his famous ship The Moldy Crow.
Easily the best Star Wars game prior to KOTOR, and one of the best tie-in games of all time. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II needs absolutely no cameo appearances by characters from the films, it is important enough without them. It is a self-contained epic of equal stakes to the actual Skywalker films. Kyle Katarn is not yet part of the new post-Disney canon, but is widely regarded as one of the most beloved Expanded Universe characters in the franchise.
If Jerec had succeeded in his plan, he would be as powerful as Emperor Palpatine; the story is that grand in scope. Yet Kyle Katarn defeats him alone, aided only by his trusted pilot Jan Ors, in a personal quest separate from the films. This is an example of how you don't need to constantly refer to recognizable characters, or load unlikely cameo appearances into every scene; a game can stand alone, thus adding a huge sense of the scale of the setting. You are one person among thousands of worlds, so running into a familiar face would shrink the breadth of the setting.
02). Star Wars: Dark Forces
by LucasArts, 1995
Verdict: Timeless
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM, mod projects for mouselook: Force Engine and XL Engine
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 0 years before the Battle of Yavin
It is the height of the power of the Galactic Empire. The Rebel Alliance hires elite mercinary Kyle Katarn to infiltrate the Empire's base on planet Danuta, to recover plans for the enemy's Death Star superweapon. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Empire, others see the Death Star project as a waste of resources, focusing instead on improving the quality of it's military. Moff Rebus initiates the 'Dark Trooper' project, a plan to create nigh-indestructable battle droids for the Empire, armed to the teeth with the latest infantry munitions. Kyle Katarn must scout out and confront this new menace to the Rebellion.
Speaking of how first person shooter games are often more atmospheric than any other genre, Dark Forces is in my personal opinion, a great example. During missions to places like Anoat City, and the rocky crevasses of planet Fest in the Atrivis Sector, you feel isolated, aided by the excellent LucasArts sound/visual design, into a feeling that you are one small person among an entire remote planet somewhere on the Outer Rim of the Galaxy. Even exploring sewers can be interesting, showing how these cities subsist on archaic infrastructure. I think there is a hell of a lot to say about the atmosphere of early boomer shooters.
In my opinion, the original Dark Forces is still the best pure FPS that Star Wars has, and every fan should play it however they can, whether with mods or just using DOSBox as Steam and GOG.com do. Almost every other Star Wars FPS tries to be something other than a shooter, like adding melee combat, but this protagonist has no special powers; he is just a solider. This is how the majority of Star Wars millions of soldiers and heroes fight; with guns alone. Kyle is one of Star Wars best gunfighters. The game does not grovel around main trilogy characters making cameo appearances; they are are absent.
03). Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II - The Sith Lords
by Obsidian Entertainment, 2004
Verdict: Timeless
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM, restoration mod: Restored Content Mod
Lore contribution: Exceptionally high
Timeline: 3,951 years before the Battle of Yavin
Years after the defeat of Darth Malak, Dark Lord of the Sith, in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, the galaxy is divided between the rampaging military forces of his successors; Sith pretenders to the throne of Dark Lord. Each is a scarred veteran of the previous war. Darth Nilihus, a Sith Lord capable of consuming the life energy of entire worlds, rivals Darth Sion, a Sith Lord who's sheer willpower has kept his dismembered body alive through The Force. The protagonist, also veteran of the Mandalorian Wars, must navigate a ravaged galaxy, and determine the secret of how to heal the Old Republic, or else succumb to the Dark Side.
The Knights of the Old Republic duology are usually the top two games of any Star Wars list. What BioWare and Obsidian did, which deserves all due credit, is actually make these games feel archaic and set in the distant past of Star Wars, whilst also preserving the essence of the setting, and visual continuity. Shuttles parked in a docking bay look like something less advanced, yet in the same lineage as the technology of the films, like VHS and Betamax tech compared to a CD. People use Kolto as a healing drug, instead of Bacta, from thousands of years later.
The lore added to Star Wars's richness, and made extensive use of the "Tales of the Jedi" established history, in which Dark Horse Comics had established much of the past of the Star Wars galaxy, including the Old Sith Wars, and Sith Lords like Exar Kun. Of the two games you could perhaps argue that the original KOTOR did more to establish this era, because BioWare have always had a flair for world-building, but on the Codex, the greater complexity and ambiguity of KOTOR II are praised over the more straightforward hero's journey of the first. In a way that mirrors the relationship of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "A New Hope".
04). Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
by BioWare, 2003
Verdict: Timeless
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: Exceptionally high
Timeline: 3,956 years before the Battle of Yavin
Almost 4,000 years before Luke Skywalker, the Chosen One, destroyed the first Death Star, at the Battle of Yavin, in the first Star Wars movie, there was an era of turmoil in the galaxy, when the rival Jedi Order and Sith Order were legions, and clashed openly in the thousands. These were the Old Sith Wars. During this era, the militaristic Mandalorian culture were used as allies or mercenaries by the different powers. During one of the nomadic Mandalorian Crusades against the civilized planets, a Jedi named Revan arose to fight them off, disobeying his masters' policy of neutrality, taking many Jedi sympathizers with him. He fell to the Dark Side, becoming a Sith, turning his armies on the Old Republic and the Jedi. He was overthrown by his apprentice. Now that apprentice, Darth Malak, is Dark Lord of the Sith, continuing his war. You must stop the fall of the Old Republic.
Picture yourself in 2003, when there were only five Star Wars films, a few books, a few Dark Horse comics. Nobody had tried to create an RPG based on a major space opera franchise before. They still haven't attempted it again, 20 years later. You begin to see the impact a full RPG, with a star map and space travel, had on audiences, who couldn't have asked for something more appropriate in their dreams. It was the tail end of an era when game concepts sometimes exceeded a franchise, because the majority of games developers were Star Wars, Star Trek and Tolkien fans. Not only that, but it was set thousands of years in the past, unearthing an entire new era to light. KOTOR was considered an equal entry to the Star Wars universe as the films. RPGCodex may see KOTOR as a relatively simple RPG (mechanically), but from a Star Wars fan's perspective, it was a godsend.
05). Star Wars: TIE Fighter
by Totally Games, 1994
Verdict: Timeless
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on floppy disk, remake project: TIE Fighter - Total Conversion
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 3 years after the Battle of Yavin
The best Star Wars space flight sim game ever created. Also a hell of a story too. Take the perspective of the Empire, it's ideologically dedicated pilots trying to create order throughout the galaxy. Embark on a series of military campaigns showing how the Empire operates, including intervention in the affairs of local governments, and the interdiction of rebels and pirates. Receive accolades and awards from the imperial hierarchy and orders directly from Darth Vader and Grand Admiral Thrawn.
There is now a total conversion project for X-Wing Alliance, which uses that game's more advanced game engine to re-create every mission of the original campaign of TIE Fighter. It received a lot of media attention recently, and is a really good mod. TIE Fighter and X-Wing remain the best space sims Star Wars has, as things like "Star Wars: Rogue Squadron" were somewhat simplified, as good as those games were, and these were full space sim every bit as good as Wing Commander, etc.
Gameplay is utterly immersive, and consists of managing your fire modes, redirecting energy to different systems, just as much as dogfighting. Even now there is something very deeply compelling about this, and it feels so appropriate to what we see on-screen.
06). Star Wars: X-Wing
by Totally Games, 1993
Verdict: Great
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on floppy disk
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 1 year before the Battle of Yavin
Not much to say here that hasn't been mentioned in regard to TIE Fighter, it's sequel. X-Wing takes the Wing Commander type space sim action that was popular in the early 90s, complete with many keyboard commands simulating a cockpit, very varied mission objectives, and all the other great things about serious flight sims. It levels these aspects up with all the love and care that Star Wars games of the 90s were known for, actually bringing the genre forward in that time when it was released. There will always be something special about games that try to realistically simulate actual starship operations, such as manually entering hyperspace, scanning targets, selecting alternative fire modes, and so forth. It grounds you inside the universe in a way unlike anything else, forgetting you are in a game. The more the process is automated, in modern games, making them somewhat like an arcade rail shooter, the more you are taken out of the immersion, because you can see your ship has a dashboard with dozens of buttons, control levers, readouts.
07). Star Wars: Republic Commando
by LucasArts, 2005
Verdict: Great
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, Xbox, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, originally released on DVD
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 22 years before the Battle of Yavin
Republic Commando follows a squad of Republic special forces Clone Commandos as they tackle a series of missions, during the three years of the Clone Wars. Temuera Morrison returns as he did so often in the 2000s, to voice several of the Clone Troopers with his usual New Zealand tough-guy charm. It is well loved, being one of the few shooters that were available to most fans in the 2000s, when older Dark Forces games were as-yet unavailable on services like GOG, and is therefore the most well-remembered FPS among the public.
In terms of gameplay, while Republic Commando is well-loved, it actually has a number of weaknesses. In Star Wars, all weapons are high lethality. It never takes more than a couple of shots to kill anything, short of a Mandalorian wearing full beskar armor. in Republic Commando however, the enemies are bullet sponges. Four Clone Commandos firing full automatic into a droid for seconds and seconds, with the droid taking dozens of hits, can sometimes be required to bring down something that is seen being killed by a single bolt from a DC 15-A blaster rifle.
08). Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Mysteries of the Sith
by LucasArts, 1998
Verdict: Great
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 10 years after the Battle of Yavin, 6 years after the Battle of Endor
A stand-alone expansion for Dark Forces II, which added a few new things to the game engine. Unlike the full motion video in the original game, Mysteries of the Sith attempts to animate all cutscenes within the game engine, a policy that most developers adopted going forward. The game isn't quite as well put together as it's big brother Dark Forces II, but is nevertheless one of the best Star Wars games.
In this story, you play as Mara Jade, the future wife of Luke Skywalker, who was once an agent of the Empire. Kyle Katarn has become a mentor to her, as she transitions to a life serving the New Republic. During a raid by imperial forces, Kyle and Mara split up, and Kyle eventually goes missing, leading Mara on an epic quest that takes her as far as the swamps of the ancient Dark Side planet of Dromund Kaas.
09). Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order
by Respawn Entertainment, 2019
Verdict: Good
Availability: Steam, Epic Games, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 14 years before the Battle of Yavin
Some few handful of Jedi survived the fall of the Jedi Order. They went into hiding, never showing their powers, and were hunted down by Darth Vader, Boba Fett and the Inquisitors. One such Jedi survivor, a mere youngling, Cal Kestis, is almost discovered, and embarks on a quest that takes him across ancient ruins and imperial outposts.
After years of the Star Wars license being squandered, with not a single-player game for what felt like almost a decade (not profitable enough for the greedy owners of the license at the time, who wanted micro-transactions and other moral degeneracy in games), they finally released a new single-player Star Wars game in 2019, and to everyone's surprise, it also wasn't bad. It was actually pretty good, even if it heavily drew upon genres that are quite familiar at this point. Jedi: Fallen Order won't win accolades for it's contribution to gaming history as Dark Forces should, but it was very competent, and actually nice to see a prestigious geek franchise given the modern works, with the ease-of-use improvements that have emerged in gaming over the last 15 years, like better feedback and GUI.
Despite using the trope of 'some Jedi survived the great purge', it actually handled the material fairly well, without going too far into the trap of making Jedi survivors feel too common, or having too many cameo appearances (except the gratuitous Saw Gerrera cameo, as every game and TV show around that time had to have Saw Gerrera in for some reason; the guy now personally knows about three Jedi, by random chance, out of trillions of beings).
10). Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast
by Raven Software, 2002
Verdict: Good
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 4, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 12 years after the Battle of Yavin, 8 years after the Battle of Endor
Five years after the release of the legendary Dark Forces II, Raven Software, one of the oldest and most prestigious FPS developers, was hired by LucasArts to create a new FPS game in the Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series. The story revolves around Kyle Katarn having abandoned his connection with the Force, that was revealed in Dark Forces II, to live a simpler life after the fall of the Empire. Events transpire that he seeks out Luke Skywalker on Yavin 4, to re-learn the skills he acquired previously, and stop a new Dark Jedi threatening the New Republic. Dasann, a Dark Jedi allies with the Empire Reborn faction of the Imperial Remnant, seeks to do what Jerec wanted, to siphon power from the Valley of the Jedi.
The reason that this well liked game is lower on my list than usual (although this is still a list of the best games), is that I feel that Raven Software didn't quite capture the essence of Star Wars the way they did for Star Trek in "Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force II". Some levels just feel less immersive than the much older Dark Forces II. I don't want to under-sell it however, as it's still a great Quake III-engine era game.
Some people play down the gun problems in this game, saying that you acquire a lightsaber quickly enough, but the truth is that the shooting in Jedi Outcast actually annoys a lot of people. This isn't good in an FPS, irrelevant of whether people solo the lightsaber. In the original Dark Forces, the E-11 blaster rifle, the most common gun in Star Wars, was a hitscan weapon, which meant the enemy is hit as soon as you fire. In this game, most blasters fire extremely slow projectiles at enemies that constantly dodge, with very fine hitboxes, meaning that shooting anyone from more than point-blank range is often frankly annoying, and this takes up a not-inconsiderable portion of the game. Games are meant to be fun, at the end of the day.
11). Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy
by Raven Software, 2003
Verdict: Good
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation 4, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 14 years after the Battle of Yavin, 10 years after the Battle of Endor
In some ways Jedi Academy is an improvement over Jedi Outcast, but the two games are similar so I ultimately just grouped them together for ease. In Jedi Academy, the final game in the Dark Forces series, you control a protagonist of your own creation who is new to the Jedi Order, and embark on a series of missions that you can choose from a list. I enjoyed that flexibility, and there were some memorable worlds. The Dark Jedi you face this time is Tavion, the accomplice of Desann, the antagonist of Jedi Outcast, who escaped the ending of that game. Seeking the relics of Sith Lord Marka Ragnos, you must pursue her.
12). Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
by LucasArts, 1997
Verdict: Good
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, Nintendo 64, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 3 years after the Battle of Yavin
Another name (like Kyle Katarn) that used to be fairly famous among Star Wars fans is Dash Rendar, a smuggler not unlike Han Solo, who doubles as a mercinary soldier for the Rebellion. He flies the YT-2400 freighter The Outrider. Set between "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi", the Shadows of the Empire project was intended to be the first big multimedia project outside the original film trilogy, and was one of the first major Expanded Universe works. It follows the story of the leader of the Black Sun criminal empire, Prince Xixor, trying to assassinate Luke Skywalker, to ensure that Darth Vader cannot have an heir. Xixor intends to make a case to the emperor that he would be a better enforcer of the Emperor's will than Vader.
Shadows of the Empire ranks highly in terms of world-building, but it is an archaic game mechanically, with some sections that play more like a rail shooter. I managed to complete it without resorting to mods fairly recently, but the controls may annoy some modern gamers. There are space levels, shooter levels akin to Dark Forces, and levels on moving objects like trains that behave more like rail shooters in practice. Thankfully it is short, so the gameplay may not be a barrier to giving it one playthrough at least.
13). Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance
by Totally Games, 1999
Verdict: Good
Availability: Steam, GOG.com, originally released on CD-ROM
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 3 years after the Battle of Yavin
You play as Ace Azameen, a young member of a neutral family of traders, as they are drawn into the political struggles of the galaxy. I'm not as familiar with X-Wing Alliance as some of the other games here, having never played it when I was younger, but I've heard from friends that the game has a solid story. Essentially, if it's the same as the rest of the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series, it will be excellent. It seems they upgraded to a full 3D engine with detailed polygonal modals, and seems to be about as advanced as the excellent Star Trek: Klingon Academy.
14). X-Wing vs TIE Fighter
by Totally Games, 1997
Verdict: Good
To be added.
15). Star Wars: Episode I - Racer
by LucasArts, 1999
Verdict: Good
To be added.
16). Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II
by Factor 5, 2001
Verdict: Good
To be added.
17). Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
by Factor 5, 1998
Verdict: Good
To be added.
18). Star Wars: Battlefront II
by Pandemic Studios, 2005
Verdict: Good
To be added.
19). Star Wars: Rebellion
by Coolhand Interactive, 1998
Verdict: Good
To be added.
20). Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
by LucasArts, 2002
Verdict: Good
Availability: Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube
Lore contribution: High
Timeline: 32 years before the Battle of Yavin
In Bounty Hunter, you take the role of Jango Fett, voiced by everyone's favorite Maori actor, Temuera Morrison, and explore the early career of this famed gunfighter before the events of the prequel films. Count Dooku wants Jango Fett to destroy the Bando Gora, a Dark Side cult, which threaten's Darth Sidious plans for domination of the galaxy. Simultaniously, Dooku can use this task as a way of judging a suitable template for the new clone army that is central to Sith plans.
The game contains some pretty important events in the life of the Fett family, and the events leading up to Jango's participation in the Clone Wars. An example is a mission showing how Jango Fett acquired Slave I, from the prison asteroid Oovo IV, destroying all the other examples of this craft in the hanger, before leaving. It is also, as mentioned, the task by which Jango was chosen by Darth Tyrannus to become clone template for the Grand Army of the Republic.
Although this game is one of the rare prequel-era games from the 2000s that has a decent story, instead of being a direct movie adaptation, it is a pain to control in places. Some of the later missions especially, requiring you to use Jango's jetpack in a very fine way, to grab very awkward rails, will make you wonder what the designers were thinking.
21). Star Wars: Galaxies
by Sony Online Entertainment, 2003
Verdict: Good
To be added.
22). Star Wars: Empire at War
by Petroglyph Games, 2006
Verdict: Acceptable
To be added.
23). Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
by LucasArts, 2001
Verdict: Acceptable
To be added.
24). Star Wars: Clone Wars
by Pandemic Studios, 2002
Verdict: Acceptable
To be added.
25). Star Wars: The Old Republic
by BioWare, 2011
Verdict: Mediocre
Availability: Download from official site, also released on DVD
Lore contribution: High, but damages credulity somewhat
Timeline: 3,643 years before the Battle of Yavin
Three and a half thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, a resurgent Sith Empre and Old Republic are in a Cold War, in which both sides seek to gain advantage by deploying their agents on small assignments across the galaxy. As either a Jedi, Sith, or member of their respective government's military forces, you take up the role of one such agent.
I'm not a fan of MMOs in general, as I think anything that a MMO does, it has to bend into a compromised form, and can always be done better by a single-player game. Everything must be made generic. Characters must all visit exactly the same number of planets. There must be some contrived reason to funnel everyone into the same locations. There must be a contrived reason why every faction is of equal strength and in a constant stalemate. Terrain is flat, with respawning to accomodate crowds. Nowhere feels crafted, isolated, or bespoke. MMOs were invented purely to monetise things that are free in single-player games. I made similar criticisms when reviewing Star Trek Online for the Top 25 Star Trek Games. However, The Old Republic is at least, one of the better attempts to make an MMO in the industry's history, as BioWare were a single-player company, forced to make a multiplayer game, and tried to load it with as much voice acting and story as they could.
Another area of criticism I have for the game however, is that it feels much less integrated into the visual context of Star Wars, when compared to the Knights of the Old Republic games (that it was superficially related to for commercial reasons). Something about the art feels too advanced, too generic. The graphics have also taken on a more cartoonish look, probably to conserve graphical needs from lower-end users. This gives everything a rounded sheen. Honestly, despite it's superificial appeal of being just a download away; trust me that MMOs are the last thing to play on a list like this, if looking for a real story. The reasons why the Old Republic and Sith are locked in a stalemate are frankly transparently contrived, and it's for the best that TOR isn't canon after the Disney buyout of Lucasfilm. I've included it in recognition of it's fame among the public, when perhaps something like "Star Wars: Lethal Alliance" or "Star Wars: Empire at War" might have been better.
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