The Star Wars Games That Revolutionized Lightsaber Combat

The launch of the Disney+ streaming series The Acolyte, combined with the hype surrounding Star Wars Outlaws, a brand new open-world title set within the galaxy far, far away, has led to plenty of discussion and speculation concerning the future of lightsaber combat on screen. While Star Wars Outlaws might be missing that iconic feature […]

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The launch of the Disney+ streaming series The Acolyte, combined with the hype surrounding Star Wars Outlaws, a brand new open-world title set within the galaxy far, far away, has led to plenty of discussion and speculation concerning the future of lightsaber combat on screen. While Star Wars Outlaws might be missing that iconic feature of classic Star Wars gaming, with the protagonist relying on a blaster rather than the Jedi’s famous weapon of choice, The Acolyte has put unique lightsaber combat front and center. 

With incredible new techniques from The High Republic era and movements hugely inspired by the prequel trilogy, the style of lightsaber wielding seen throughout The Acolyte speaks to the rich history associated with the Jedi’s blade. Throughout Star Wars’ storied timeline of video games, lightsaber combat has evolved just as it continues to change today. While there have been low points for the series, we also wanted to highlight some specific titles that innovated and expanded upon what had been done with lightsaber combat on consoles.

Fast-paced, meticulous, precise, or chaotic, there are many approaches to mechanically perfecting lightsabers in Star Wars games, considering they are such an important part of the storytelling and action set pieces. 

Hack & Slash Mechanics Have Continued To Show Up 

Before diving into some specific titles, we’d be remiss not to mention the array of Star Wars games that took a hack-and-slash approach to lightsaber combat, without much finesse. Some of these titles have stood the test of time and showed just how much fun it can be to run around with an overpowered blade in the middle of intense skirmishes.

The very first Star Wars game to allow you to use a lightsaber at all was Star Wars: Jedi Arena (1983). Clunky, character-deprived, and altogether absurd, the title essentially allowed players to move their lightsaber backward and forward in a Pong-like gameplay style. It wasn’t exactly the cinematic combat fans might have hoped for.

The majority of Star Wars titles released since then have kept things relatively simple by relying on hack-and-slash mechanics. Whether it’s the NES and SNES titles of the 90s and 2000s, or the Old Republic MMORPG of the modern era, hack-and-slash mechanics remain the go-to method of capturing lightsaber combat that’s sustainable, dependable, and fun. 

The Star Wars: Battlefront series was certainly a big step up in its approach. While the earlier iterations of these games, like Star Wars: Battlefront 2 (2005), favored a button-mash style of play with players simply attempting to survive the chaos of battle, the reboot series added nuance to this idea with specific lightsaber-focused moves that were tailored to the characters in-use. It’s far from a specialist angle, but the Star Wars: Battlefront series had to find a balance between long-range attacks and those close-quarters combat moments. 

The LEGO series has also been a great joy to explore, as each adaptation of the big-screen adventures attempted to refine the hack-and-slash mechanics of those lightsaber-wielding characters. Of course, the key with a LEGO game is that it must be accessible, and thus should be easy to control for all ages. However, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga managed to add combos and Force-boosted moves seamlessly, while keeping the spirit of the classic LEGO approach alive. Again, while this isn’t the detail some fans may be looking for, the LEGO titles have built a lightsaber fighting style that works in context. 

The Force Unleashed series (beginning with 2008’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed) has also been widely praised for its representation of the Force. Players felt truly empowered when controlling Starkiller, with his Sith and Jedi influences shaping his Force abilities in combat. Although that’s a notable part of the titles, the lightsaber action itself was also a step in the right direction, perfecting the hack-and-slash elements.

Aided tremendously by those Force abilities, and made all the more cinematic with major quick-time event finishers, the Force Unleashed narrative was brought to life through the aggression portrayed via lightsaber use. There was real momentum behind every swing of the blade, and it always felt as if Starkiller himself was an unstoppable protagonist. Because of its mainstream appeal, The Force Unleashed’s controls were never complex but did help to refine this particular genre. 

The Anomalies

There are also those