A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was a child who was mesmerized by the world of Star Wars when his father showed him A New Hope back in the day.
The diverse galaxy filled with various alien species, Jedi and Sith who fight with lightsabers and move objects with their minds, blasters that shoot bolts of colorful light, spaceships, and most importantly a legendary story were all enough to mesmerize me and make me a lifelong fan of the series.
As I grew older, I played Star Wars games and had the time of my life. Titles such as The Force Unleashed, Battlefront, and just a few years back Jedi Fallen Order put me in the driver’s seat and allowed me to experience the world of Star Wars through my eyes. And it was as magical as I remember when I was a kid.
It was then no surprise when Star Wars Jedi Survivor was announced a few years back, that I would be ecstatic out of my mind. My excitement was through the roof and I wanted nothing more at the time to get my hands on it and play it for hours.
At long last the time arrived and I had the opportunity to step into the boots of Cal Kestis once again and resume the fight against the Empire. Was it what I expected? Is it an experience that I wished for and was looking forward to for years? In many ways, it is. But in some ways, it falls short.
The Good
When Jedi Fallen Order was released, it came at a time when fans had mixed opinions about the franchise as a whole. Sure, there was plenty of good media based on the Star Wars universe. But the sequels to the main movie franchise had divided the fanbase and left a sour taste in the mouths of many fans.
Jedi Fallen Order was a breath of fresh air that managed to capture the essence of Star Wars to the fullest. The setting was perfect, the combat was phenomenal and engaging, and the graphics were stunning. But in doing so, it set the bar pretty high for a single-player Star Wars gaming experience.
With how the game ended, it was clear that a sequel was inevitable, and a few years after, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was announced.
I was among the lucky few to have gotten to play the game before the release, albeit a bit close to it. And I am pleased to say that it is exactly how I expected it would be.
Jedi Survivor takes the elements of Fallen Order and enhances them. You step into the shoes of an older, more experienced, and more mature Cal Kestis who has been working with what would later become the Rebellion.
The game begins with Cal being captured by some bounty hunters who then take him to the Empire. It soon turns out to be a ruse to get Cal inside the Empire’s ranks and the bounty hunters who brought him are actually his friends.
Soon we have our trusty lightsaber in our hands and the cute droid BD-1 on our shoulders, and the game begins where we wipe the floor with squads of Stormtroopers like it was a walk in the park.
As the game progresses, we gain access to the Mantis spaceship again and visit different planets.
Unlike many games where we start from scratch with little to no powers, Cal retains most of his force powers and moves in Jedi Survivor. The Souls-inspired combat is still there and will keep you on your toes as you parry and dodge your way through electro-batons and blaster bolts. The environment is spectacular, filled with scenic views, and rich alien life. The music is befitting and creates an ambiance that deepens the immersion.
Cal will also learn new moves as the story progresses and you can upgrade the ones you have unlocked at various rest points.
These rest points now also allow you to fast travel between points you have already discovered and activated, reducing the time needed to travel all the way across the map. Missed something in an earlier section and want to get it back? No problem! You can fast travel to the nearest rest point, get it and be back in seconds.
However, even with fast travel points, there will be portions where you have to traverse through vast expanses of land. Or, you may need to access an area that you otherwise can’t, even with your Jedi powers. In such situations, you can use a mount!
Cal gains the ability to tame animals during the game using which he can mount them and use them as transport. And yes, you can pet them. You can even use some flying animals to glide around the place and reach areas you wouldn’t be able to normally.
Not only that, but you will also unlock other lightsaber upgrades and stances, and even wield a blaster at one point! Cal starts with a single lightsaber stance and a double-bladed lightsaber stance from the get-go. Sometimes you can split your lightsaber into two allowing you to dual wield. As the game progresses, you can unlock new stances.
You can even turn your lightsaber into a dedicated two-handed weapon that resembles Kylo Ren’s crossguard saber. This mode is the slowest but it also hits like a truck! Then there is the blaster stance where you wield your lightsaber in one hand and blaster in the other. You’ll have to choose wisely because you can only select up to 2 active stances at a time. To change them, you’ll need to visit a meditation point and change there.
You can also customize Cal’s appearance and change his outfit, his hair, and beard styles. While in Fallen Order you could only change your poncho and its color, but in Jedi Survivor you can change entire outfits and even mix and match to get your preferred look. BD-1 also gets the same love and care, however, the Mantis can’t be repainted in this game so you’ll have to make do with the default paint job.
The Bad
While the game is awesome, it is time to address the elephant in the room. Despite the many praises I can give the game, its performance, especially on the PC, is a glaring problem that sours the whole experience.
Star Wars Jedi Survivor, in its current state, suffers from constant frame drops and stuttering. Even with the most powerful of GPUs, players are reporting that they are unable to get 60 Frames Per Second on average.
Even on the copy that I played on my PC, I faced constant drops and stuttering performance. At one point, I was getting as low as 5 Frames Per Second even when I cranked my visual settings all the way to the lowest possible. The game performs a bit better on consoles but still doesn’t meet the mark that was promised.
On Steam, Star Wars Jedi Survivor opened to Mostly Negative reviews with only 25% of reviews being positive. Since then, EA and Respawn have released a massive Day-One patch that has fixed some issues, and another patch was released a few days after. Yet some issues remain, especially in areas with heavy foliage. The game runs smoother, but there is still the occasional stuttering. And I felt that it looked a bit worse in some areas as the textures hadn’t properly loaded in yet.
At the time of writing this review, the reviews on Steam have gotten better with over 50% of the reviews being positive. The developers have announced that they will be releasing performance fixes in the future, but when can we get them has not been announced yet.
Jedi Survivor is the 6th biggest release that met the same fate of facing performance issues at launch. The likes of The Last of Us, Callisto Protocol, etc all have met the same fate before. This is considering that Jedi Survivor had already been delayed, yet still, EA and Respawn thought it was a good idea to release the game in its current state. It would have been much better if they had taken a bit more time to iron out the performance issues completely rather than release it in a nigh unplayable state.
At the end of the day, gamers care about having a good time playing a game they love. Breathtaking graphics and revolutionary additions to gameplay matter take a back seat compared to the overall experience. They don’t care if they have to wait a few more weeks if they get a finished product in the end that plays smoothly.
And The Verdict…
Despite the persistent performance issues, I had loads of fun to the point I was unable to put the game down for several hours. It fits like an old glove and picks up right where the Jedi Fallen Order left off.
It’s like meeting an old friend after many years down the line. You may have taken different paths in life, and become different people, but despite all the differences the bond is still there and you connect with each other just as easily.
Performance issues will be fixed with time and it doesn’t look like EA and Respawn will give up on this game any time soon. And once that happens, Star Wars Jedi Survivor will become the game it should have been at launch.
I can’t find many things other than that which I disliked or soured my experience. Star Wars Jedi Survivor was the most fun I had in a very long time. And it made the same young boy in me, that was mesmerized as a kid by Star Wars and everything about it, very happy.
