Incorporate dynamics from other games
Posted Date – Mon 01 May 23 12:45am
Hyderabad: Successfully crafting one of the best Star Wars games is no easy feat. With Survivor, however, Respawn and EA aren’t just trying to deliver a Fallen Order sequel, but they’re also looking to elevate Cal Kestis and BD-1’s galactic saga to epic proportions. Their goal is to do this by keeping most of Fallen Order’s elements and adding some new ones.
In my first few hours with the game, I spent time trying to jog my muscle memory from the previous game and re-master game mechanics like wall running and double jumping. Just when I thought I had mastered Survivor, the game took a new turn and soon Cal was a Jedi like Batman or Spiderman, fighting his way.
Much of Survivor is an amalgamation of gameplay dynamics from other popular games. It lets you glide, rappel on cables, use multiple combat stances (such as dual-wielding lightsabers), and pursue side quests (called “rumours”).
At the same time, it asked you to use the “Force” to solve puzzles and found new ways to use this invisible entity in battle. If you’re looking for a new way to play, then Survivor isn’t for you.
Despite some improvements and new additions, my experience with Survivor was less than ideal. When I tried to play the game, I experienced several frame rate drops and many bugs and glitches. Some of them are less noticeable, but a few are game breaking, and for those, I need to restart the game or respawn to reset them.
For example, early in the game, on my way to the Forest Array, Cal can only keep going if BD-1 activates the terminal. However, for some reason, my BD-1 keeps floating in mid-air, unable to move no matter how many times I enter the activation command. I had to jump off a cliff a few times to have BD-1 respawn on my shoulders before I moved on. I ran into a couple of these as I traveled from Coruscant to Koboh and unraveled the game’s many mysteries.
With regards to glitches and bugs, Survivor’s combat difficulty is very uneven. Fighting certain types of enemies, such as Rancor, is nearly impossible on higher difficulties like Grandmaster and Master, because their attacks cannot be dodged, and once they land, you almost always die.
In a hack ‘n’ slash game, higher difficulties should require players to try new combos and techniques, rather than endlessly dodging and hoping never to get hit. During my hour-long battle with Rancor, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any benefit to being a Jedi in this universe if all combat was an endless dodge and punch.
A game that desperately needed a one-day patch and more fixes, Survivor has all the ingredients needed to be a worthy successor, it just needs a little gestation. Do give it a try in a month; it might be worth it. Until then, may the Force be with you!
