Star Wars, as one of the biggest franchises in the world, has been adapted into basically every video game genre imaginable. We’ve got the action-adventure metroidvania with Souls-influenced combat and Uncharted-esque traversal in the Star Wars Jedi games. We’ve got the classic RPG in the form of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
We’ve got the open world stealth of Star Wars Outlaws. We’ve got VR games, shooters, point-and-click adventures, MMOs, fighting games, space simulators, even pinball. If you can dream it, it’s probably been Star Warsed.
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And yet, somehow, developers are still finding new ways to interpret the Star Wars universe in video games. Screenshots of a previously announced Star Wars game codenamed Star Wars Bruno from Electronic Arts, Respawn (which is also behind the Jedi series), and Bit Reactor have leaked, and it looks a lot like XCOM.
This probably shouldn’t be surprising – we knew this project would be a strategy game since its initial announcement in 2022. Bit Reactor boasts a pedigree of developers who’ve worked on XCOM, Civilization, Gears of War, and Elder Scrolls Online, so it seems intuitive that its game would draw from its shooter and tactical heritages.
But man, it looks a lot like XCOM, though it’s worth noting that the screenshots are dated to 2023 and the game almost definitely looks different now. The images show characters taking cover while aiming, hit chance percentages over enemies, and Bo Katan, the Mandalorian princess, as a player character. It also shows an Overwatch ability akin to XCOM, where your character will shoot anything that enters its line of sight.
Any Type Of Game Can Be Star Wars
The leaks themselves are not that interesting, especially considering they’re fairly old screenshots. We’ll get a more comprehensive look at the game during Star Wars Celebration later this month. What’s more interesting to me is that although Star Wars has made it to nearly every type of game that exists, as more genres spring up, Star Wars fits itself into them.
It’s a good time to be getting into the tactical-turn based genre, too, considering we’re seeing a bit of a revival right now. While the somewhat niche genre hasn’t quite hit mainstream success, modern classics like the newer Like a Dragon games and Persona have been carrying the torch, and critically lauded games like Marvel’s Midnight Suns and Tactical Breach Wizards have done a lot to remind players that there’s a lot of potential here. The upcoming Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 could be the game to bring the genre into the mainstream, which means Bruno will be in a very good place when it does eventually launch.
I can’t help but wonder what other genres Star Wars will enter next. Perhaps a life simulator focusing on a singular city like Coruscant? Maybe a roguelike shooter, a la Returnal? Hell, why not a deckbuilder? Developers have proven ingenious enough to adapt Star Wars’ considerable lore and world into pretty much anything. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a Star Wars Strand game some day.
