‘Star Wars Jedi: Battle Scars’ Will Get You Hyped for Survivor

It has been greater than three years since Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order‘s trainee Power wielder Cal Kestis and his swashbuckling buddies survived an encounter with Darth Vader, so the small print of that online game journey might have light with time. With sequel Jedi: Survivor coming to PS5, Xbox Collection X|S and PC in April, you is likely to be pondering a replay of the 2019 authentic.

You can additionally take a look at writer Sam Maggs’ tie-in novel Jedi: Battle Scars, which comes out March 7 and takes place within the five-year interval between the 2 video games. The author effortlessly reacquaints us with Cal and the remainder of the Stinger Mantis crew, taking us on an intense journey that captures the hazard of dwelling on the run from the Galactic Empire and waging a seemingly hopeless insurgent marketing campaign within the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope.

This story follows the crew after they encounter a defecting Imperial who says she will cause them to fancy cloaking expertise that will give them a serious benefit over the totalitarian regime. Nevertheless, following this lead represents a serious threat because it’s unclear if the defector is reliable and her mission will carry them straight into the trail of a Jedi-hunting Imperial Inquisitor.

The sense of distrust is among the many story’s most partaking components, since Maggs infuses our heroes with convincing inner battle and reminds us of their previous traumas. Every character has a definite voice that involves the forefront once we bounce to their perspective, giving every character new dimension past what we noticed within the sport.

As the principle hero of the video games, Cal would be the most acquainted character to followers. This novel dives into his doubts and fears greater than the sport might, and exploring his unexpressed ideas proves fascinating. Maggs properly captures his combination of irreverence and seriousness, alongside together with his unsure dynamic together with his grasp Cere Junda. Cere herself has an intriguing arc however stays aloof for a lot of the story. 

Merrin, a Nightsister who joined the crew in Fallen Order, provides one other wrinkle by changing into emotionally entangled with their new ally. She presents a extreme exterior, however this novel locations her on the heart of its story and divulges a wealthy inside life.

Since her Power skills are derived from the Darkish Aspect, this could put her at odds with the Gentle Aspect-wielding Cal. Maggs touches on this solely briefly; it is disappointing that we do not dive into this dichotomy extra deeply.

Providing a break from all of the depth is four-armed alien pilot Greez Dritus, whose wise-cracking tone Maggs clearly enjoys writing. You are in for a deal with at any time when the story jumps to his perspective, since he is so clearly exhausted together with his crewmates’ idealism and willingness to hurry into hazard.

Greez overtly mistrusts the defector, making him essentially the most pragmatic and relatable of the crew (mirroring the films’ Han Solo). He is nonetheless on board together with his associates when it counts although, and his comedian aid standing feeds into the drama splendidly within the novel’s latter phases.

The motion sequences mirror the sport in a deeply satisfying approach, proper right down to Cal’s supercute droid buddy BD-1 flinging him therapeutic stims within the longer battle sequences. Nevertheless, each Cal and Merrin really feel invincible as they mow down squads of stormtroopers and bounty hunter goons — there’s little sense of peril and these scenes can drag on somewhat. The hazard comes solely after they run into extra intense foes, since we do not know if everybody on this novel will make it to the online game sequel. 

Among the environments our heroes discover are somewhat boring as nicely; the bases and prisons lack a lot coloration. In distinction, Maggs’ descriptions of the Stinger Mantis make the ship really feel extremely homey and acquainted (particularly in case you’ve performed the sport). We additionally get to see metropolis planet Hosnian Prime lengthy earlier than its destruction in The Power Awakens.

Jedi: Battle Scars sends Cal and his buddies on a tense journey and infuses them with new depth. It does not dive into each intriguing narrative chance as a lot because it might, nevertheless it provides a solution to reintroduce your self to those rebels as Jedi: Survivor attracts close to.