Like your “alternative” skydiving instructor who feels that parachutes are too conformist, Fallen Order shoves you out the door of the airplane and into the meat suit of closeted Padawan and future Coruscant gymnast, Cal Kestis with no exposition at all.
The first level is, predictably, a tutorial one, and sees you and Cal squeezing through narrow spaces and teetering on small beams above massive drops as you navigate the oft treacherous planet of Bracca.
Cal and his buddies are Imperial scrappers and as you discover ways to maneuver past the piles of junk in your way, you’ll notice the eye popping backgrounds in the distance, complete with busy Imperial shaped ships crowding the skies.
The game doles out snippets of narrative in small doses early on, while getting you comfortable with Cal’s movements. Jumping between ledges and from one scalable surface to the next, however, isn’t always as precise as it should be, and you may find Cal falling into the abyss more often than you’d like.
The action really kicks into high gear during the second part of the level, where you face swarms of Imperial troopers, on a moving transport. Cal’s acrobatics really shine here, as you’ll dodge, evade, parry, thrust, and reflect blaster fire with the best of them.
The ending sequence of the level has you engaging a recently discovered antagonist in a thrilling but (as yet) unwinnable encounter, which also serves as a tutorial of sorts for the inevitable future battles of this nature.
In the end, the early part of Fallen Order starts off slow, but ramps things up considerably once the narrative takes off. From just the first level, it definitely gives off the vibe of wanting to see more.
Stay turned for more Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order in our upcoming review.
