As excitement steadily grows in anticipation ofthe rumoredStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order 2, fans have been speculating about where the game will end up taking Cal Kestis and his crew in their journey across theStar Warsuniverse. Because of the open-ended nature ofFallen Order’s ending, paired with the seemingly limitless possibilities ofStar Warsnarratives, the game’s sequel could go in any direction. While a direct sequel would make a lot of sense, a spin-off reboot ofStar Wars: The Force Unleashedseems like it could be a worthy in-universe follow-up.
The title of the game could beStar Wars Jedi: Force Unleashed, and would serve as a reboot of the originalThe Force Unleashedseries. Third-person action games have come a long way in the years followingThe Force Unleashedand its sequel. Now is a better time than any to do the premise of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice justice in a way that the original games couldn’t due to the limitations of their time. If the game were to follow a similar format asFallen Order’s narrative-driven experience, but still stay true to much of the DNA of the original series, it could go over really well with fans ofJedi: Fallen Orderand help build more of the game’s universe.
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Connecting The Rebooted Force Unleashed to Jedi: Fallen Order
The stories ofFallen Orderand the firstForce Unleashedgame mesh together surprisingly well and, with just a few tweaks, could end up complementing each other and making for a gripping spin-off.Star Wars: The Force Unleashedfollows Starkiller, Darth Vader’s secret apprentice who was trained to hunt down the surviving Jedi following the events ofthe notorious Order 66. Cal Kestis survived the attack as detailed inFallen Order, but has since rekindled his relationship with the Force and is once again a Jedi determined to stop the Empire’s rule.
Following the events ofFallen Order, Cal and his crew are most likely being hunted by the Empire after infiltrating the Fortress Inquisitorius to retrieve the Jedi Holocron. That’s where Starkiller’s story could start, as the secret apprentice of Darth Vader, who made a brief appearance at the end ofFallen Order. He could be promoted tothe leader of the remaining Inquisitorsand instructed to finish their work by hunting down Cal Kestis and his group of friends.
In a mission style similar toFallen Order’s worlds, Starkiller would go from planet to planet in search of picking up the pieces left by Cal until he finally meets and kills one ofthe crew members of the Mantis. Following their death, Cal stops running and meets Starkiller head-on for a battle and at the end of it, the player could choose one of two options just like in the originalForce Unleashed: follow the path of the light and join Cal or continue with the Darkside and attempt to kill him.
The events of the story’s third act would change depending on what the player chooses, but no matter what happens, Starkiller would end up dead either way to make the game a self-contained story and not impact the narrative ofFallen Order 2.
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Keeping The Force Unleashed’s DNA
The choice would be reminiscent of the player’s choice at the end ofThe Force Unleashedwhich follows a similar moral question about Starkiller’s intentions. However, instead of simply changing the final cutscene, it would allow for a deeper exploration of Starkiller’s character. The traitorous nature of the Empire is a central theme of the original series, and could make another appearance inJedi: Force Unleashed.Starkiller could be killed by Vader no matter what path the player chose, making for either a climactic showdown between the two when following the Lightside, or a backstabbing reveal whenfollowing the Darkside of the Force.
More iconic parts of the original series could be included in the reboot as well. From simpler game mechanical aspects that would translate to theFallen Orderformat like Starkiller’s gradual acquisition of new Darkside Force powers to more powerful narrative moments likeStarkiller pulling a Stardestroyer out of spacewith the Force.
The Force Unleashed’s central narrativethat would come along with it to theFallen Orderseries would be greatly benefited by the new motion capture technology that’s greatly improved the way that games tell their stories. As proven byFallen Order,Star Warsstories can now look and sound nearly identical to their film counterparts which would greatly aid just about every aspect ofThe Force Unleashed. Gameplay ambitions aside, this technology would allow the reboot to be the true vision of the studio behind it, unhindered by the limitations of previous technology.
One other thing that could setJedi: Force Unleashedapart fromFallen Orderwould be the way that the two games would handle their combat.Fallen Ordertakes a lot of combat cues from From Software games, where parrying is essential, and the player would be advised to take on more than one or two enemies at a time.The Force Unleashedsaw Starkiller ripping through legions of Stormtroopers with the use of his many destructive Force powers.Jedi: Force Unleashedcould find a happy medium between the two that make it easier for the player to dispatch threats while also adding enemy types that make them consider the best approach to combat.
Fleshing Out Fallen Order’s Universe
AsFallen Orderexists canonically in the newStar Warsuniverse, anything added to it also technically has the chance to appear in other canonical entries like films and the numerous Disney Plus series, so the game series needs to be very careful about the types of things it includes.Fans ofThe Force Unleashedhave been calling for some sort of canonical recognitionof Darth Vader’s secret apprentice for years and theFallen Orderseries seems like it could do just that and do it well.
This would finally give those fans the taste of a canonical entry that they’ve been asking for and also add an interesting story and character dynamic between Vader and Starkiller to the largerStar Warscanon.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashedis available on PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, and Xbox 360.
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