Last week, at the time of this posting, EA announced ‘Star Wars: Squadrons.’ which is yet another Star Wars game set around the original trilogy era.
‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ will be the fourth big game to come out under EA’s exclusive Star Wars license. The gaming giant’s first three being ‘Battlefront’ (2015), ‘Battlefront II‘ (2017), and ‘Jedi: Fallen Order.’
What do all four of these games have in common? Each of them takes place in or around the Original Star Wars Trilogy.
Even ‘Battlefront II,’ which heavily marketed with all three eras of the Star Wars trilogy, felt mainly focused on the originals and sequels. It took a whole year for them to focus on the Clone Wars.
Now it’s 2020. We’ve had four games that largely ignored the prequels. And now that we have ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’? Please EA, it’s time to move on.
Why the Prequel Hate?
Ever since Disney bought the rights to Star Wars, there has been a concentrated effort to ignore the prequels as much as possible. This made sense at the time when a new trilogy was available to hype up. I get it: Disney didn’t want to remind people how much they don’t like those films.
This even went into the games, as one of the big selling points of ‘Battlefront.’ The game took place only on planets from the original trilogy. Since then, they’ve gone back on that a little bit, embracing what people did like (i.e., Obi-wan, Clone Wars, Darth Maul).
Still, most of the content from the Star Wars prequels are ignored.
It makes no sense. The prequels have not only grown a passionate following, but they are still a major part of the Star Wars saga. Now, here comes ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ and what do you think they ignore? Even if Disney or EA Games doesn’t think those prequel movies are good, they can add things to make it more loved, just as Clone Wars did. Not only would this build good will with the community, but also make Lucasfilm and Disney a lot of money.
They have gotten better with movies and content; however, it seems to have stayed about the same on the gaming front. ‘Battlefront II’ took a long time to bring justice to the prequels, and Jedi: Fallen Order, a game set just after them, had mainly references and a few locations. Of course, the game stays tied to the originals mostly.
It’s tiring to see things constantly reference and tie into the same material. The fandom has seemed to move on from ignoring the prequels, why haven’t the studios?
It’s the Perfect Era for Gaming
Love or hate these films, the era itself is perfect for games.
There are battles in every corner of the galaxy. Dozens of unique planets, hundreds of Jedi with lightsabers, millions of clones and droids, and a vast variety of alien races. The original trilogy has far less. That’s not to say it’s bad, just that it doesn’t make sense for them to ignore such a rich era.
Especially for a game like ‘Star Wars: Squadrons,’ it could only be improved by being in the prequel era. There would so many more customization and game-play options available.
I love the original trilogy, but I’d much prefer to try out all the different droid ships instead of variations on the Tie Fighter and X-Wing. I think a lot of people would too. There is so much creative freedom locked away in the prequel trilogy that EA seems almost afraid of touching.
End EA’s Exclusive Deal
Back when Lucasarts was around, we were getting multiple Star Wars games every year. With EA, we’ve seen only four games in only six years. Six!
EA is capable of making good games, ‘Jedi: Fallen Order’ is amazing, but there’s little variety. The beauty of having multiple studios make Star Wars games is the diversity.
They all bring what they love about Star Wars and make something that is more than a cash grab. There’s more passion behind the scenes with each studio putting their touch on the franchise.
We’d get indie games, triple-A games, console games, and PC games. The Star Wars games library would be huge. Some games would be made by prequel lovers, others by sequel lovers, and the rest by original trilogy lovers.
It’s no secret that Star Wars games are in a bit of a rough patch with EA. The best thing to do would be to allow them to keep making Star Wars games, but end the exclusive deal. Give smaller studios a chance to hit it big and show what Star Wars means to them. That’s how ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ would have been made better.
People love the Original Trilogy, but it would be great to see something new for a change.
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