What just happened? In the run-up to E3 2019, EA released a demo of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order containing 15 minutes of gameplay footage. During E3, developer Respawn had an extended cut to show chosen attendees behind closed doors. Today, EA decided to release that footage to the public tom clear up some confusion about the title.
The extended cut video contains about 11 or so minutes of action preceding what happened in the prior 15-minute teaser. It not only shows more of the Jedi combat system but also reveals that players will be able to pilot at least some vehicles — in this case, an AT-AT Walker.
Fallen Order’s director Stig Asmussen, who is probably best known for his work on the God of War series, says that Respawn wanted to be sure that fan knew that it was not just making a faux-open world action game like Uncharted.
“I promise there is considerable challenge and depth to be found within our combat system,” Asmussen wrote in an open letter to fans. “The same can be said about our approach to level design, which is crafted in a non-linear way with heavy influences from games like Metroid, Castlevania, and the Souls series. “
There was some confusion regarding the game after that 15-minute demo. The footage seemed linear and scripted even though the game is supposed to be an open world. Jason Schreier from Kotaku and Anthony Taylor from GamerSushi tweeted their confusion as to why Respawn chose to show linear gameplay, when what they had experienced at E3 was much deeper.
Asmussen explains that deciding what to show was not easy.
“We spent months going back and forth discussing the best strategy to release this content, and ultimately decided for the first-look, it was critical to present a focused 15 minutes of raw, in-game footage highlighting lightsaber gameplay that speaks to the Jedi fantasy in an empowering way,” he said. “But it should not be mistaken that our combat is overpowered or easy.”
Someone from Respawn told me about some of this stuff last week and I was baffled - the demo looked fun but I have no idea why EA would show linear, Nathan Drake-ish action-adventurey footage when it sounds like this game is so much more than that https://t.co/UY7YaX9N0X
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) June 17, 2019
The game will have a variety of planets that you can visit in any order that you wish. Each will have unique missions to complete, and as the player unlocks new abilities, alternative paths will open up.
“This is a lot to describe in 15 minutes of gameplay,” said Asmussen. “Getting hands-on [with] the full 25-minute experience is best to completely understand it.”
I'm not sure that the extended cut video did much to make me understand that it is not a linear affair. However, the extra footage is cool none the less. I'm still interested in playing it.
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order launches for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 on November 15, 2019.
https://www.techspot.com/news/80664-respawn-clears-air-about-fallen-order-letter-extended.html
