By Jamie Lambert
After releasing their last Monkey Island game, LucasArts seemed to shift their attention completely onto the Star Wars franchise. The release of The Phantom Menace in cinemas also marked the release of multiple games based on the film - Battle for Naboo and Jedi Power battles being those made by LucasArts.
After releasing their last Monkey Island game, LucasArts seemed to shift their attention completely onto the Star Wars franchise. The release of The Phantom Menace in cinemas also marked the release of multiple games based on the film - Battle for Naboo and Jedi Power battles being those made by LucasArts.
These were followed by numerous other Star Wars games, some of which were fantastic and others, not so much. Between 2000 and 2004, LucasArts published over 25 games, almost all of which there under the Star Wars franchise. It had been noticed that their reliance on the series had caused a drop in the quality of the work they produced, though even after this they continued churning out star wars games as any other games they made were vastly unsuccessful. A few of these games were notable for being fairly good, such as Rogue Squadron II and Knights of the Old Republic.
Unfortunately, a couple of good games don’t make up for tedious or awkward attempts at cashing in on the franchise - Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, a game developed by LucasArts, is a prime example of this. Though the game wasn’t particularly bad, it felt very unpolished and there were many sections throughout that felt either unfair, annoying or just plain terrible. The boss fights are unsatisfying and lacking in the immensity that is needed, the bounty hunting gimmick was awkward and badly implemented and the level design was dull and colourless. Though the combat feels fairly solid, it lacked the feedback necessary in a shooter. The main attraction to this game would be the story, which is only likely to appeal to fans of the franchise meaning that there is no appeal for most people. Many other LucasArts games followed this pattern of being dull and unpolished.
In 2004 the company was given a new president – Jim Ward – who’s aim was to sort out the “mess” that LucasArts had become. Instead of relying on other developers for games to publish, LucasArts began creating more games themselves. Star Wars: Battlefront II was one of the first games developed after this change in the company, co-developed by Pandemic Studios. Compared to the dropping quality of the previous Star Wars games, the first Battlefront was so widely and well received that it became the most sold Star Wars game of all time. It was not perfect, however, as it lacked difficulty and had dodgy AI. The sequel fixed the majority of the problems that were criticised in the first game, adding a single-player campaign with a solid difficulty, absolutely fantastic voice acting and a bunch of new classes. The option to play as a jedi was also given as a reward for doing well in the game, though the controls were clumsy and it didn’t have the weight that was needed. Beside this, it’s easily one of the best Star Wars games made by the company to date.
Unfortunately, a couple of good games don’t make up for tedious or awkward attempts at cashing in on the franchise - Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, a game developed by LucasArts, is a prime example of this. Though the game wasn’t particularly bad, it felt very unpolished and there were many sections throughout that felt either unfair, annoying or just plain terrible. The boss fights are unsatisfying and lacking in the immensity that is needed, the bounty hunting gimmick was awkward and badly implemented and the level design was dull and colourless. Though the combat feels fairly solid, it lacked the feedback necessary in a shooter. The main attraction to this game would be the story, which is only likely to appeal to fans of the franchise meaning that there is no appeal for most people. Many other LucasArts games followed this pattern of being dull and unpolished.
In 2004 the company was given a new president – Jim Ward – who’s aim was to sort out the “mess” that LucasArts had become. Instead of relying on other developers for games to publish, LucasArts began creating more games themselves. Star Wars: Battlefront II was one of the first games developed after this change in the company, co-developed by Pandemic Studios. Compared to the dropping quality of the previous Star Wars games, the first Battlefront was so widely and well received that it became the most sold Star Wars game of all time. It was not perfect, however, as it lacked difficulty and had dodgy AI. The sequel fixed the majority of the problems that were criticised in the first game, adding a single-player campaign with a solid difficulty, absolutely fantastic voice acting and a bunch of new classes. The option to play as a jedi was also given as a reward for doing well in the game, though the controls were clumsy and it didn’t have the weight that was needed. Beside this, it’s easily one of the best Star Wars games made by the company to date.
The next game developed by LucasArts was again much higher quality than previous titles. Star Wars: Republic Commando was released in 2005 but was sadly mostly overlooked. A first person shooter that focused on group command in combat, the gameplay felt original and fresh. It gave a much grittier twist on the glamourised Star Wars universe shown in previous games, and gave massive challenge against the clock and against difficult enemies. This forced you to make use of the fairly intuitive group commands, which were a joy to use. Republic Commando is notable for a fantastic original soundtrack, as the first Star Wars game not to rely on the soundtrack made for the movies by John Williams. The song Clones by Ash was used as the credits rolled, being the first licenced song in a Star Wars game. It was also painfully fitting, as the characters of each of your team members are increasingly fleshed out and the ending of the game makes the lyrics really stand out to you. A sequel was planned, and quite frankly needed, though unfortunately it was scrapped in very early stages.
Unfortunately it didn’t take long before the company began slipping back into bad habits. The quality of their games again began to decrease, releasing unfinished or just frankly rubbish games such as Lightsaber Duels and The Force Unleashed. The latter became the most sold Star Wars game of all time, and there was such opposing reviews and opinions that it was impossible to know whether the game was good or not without playing it yourself. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a massive disappointment. The game was much too flawed and suffered a very short campaign with very little else to keep you playing. There was no replayability value whatsoever. I’m also really put off games when they force you (if you’ll pardon the pun) to sympathise with the antagonists. Though this can be done well, such as in games like Battlefront II, The Force Unleashed does a fantastic job of doing it completely wrong. Since it sold so well, The Force Unleashed later got a sequel.
Unfortunately it didn’t take long before the company began slipping back into bad habits. The quality of their games again began to decrease, releasing unfinished or just frankly rubbish games such as Lightsaber Duels and The Force Unleashed. The latter became the most sold Star Wars game of all time, and there was such opposing reviews and opinions that it was impossible to know whether the game was good or not without playing it yourself. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a massive disappointment. The game was much too flawed and suffered a very short campaign with very little else to keep you playing. There was no replayability value whatsoever. I’m also really put off games when they force you (if you’ll pardon the pun) to sympathise with the antagonists. Though this can be done well, such as in games like Battlefront II, The Force Unleashed does a fantastic job of doing it completely wrong. Since it sold so well, The Force Unleashed later got a sequel.
A couple of games were made by LucasArts that weren’t dependent on the Star Wars label, such as Thrillville, Thrillville Off The Rails and Lucidity. The Thrillville games were fairly well received, though were never particularly popular showing that their dependence on Star Wars was keeping them alive. Other than the massively popular MMORPG The Old Republic, 2010-2012 was very quiet for LucasArts. In 2012 Lucasfilm was bought by Disney, who closed down all internal development in LucasArts. Though LucasArts still publish casual games such as Angry Birds: Star Wars, the rights to create core market games for the Star Wars franchise have been given to Electronic Arts, who are now working on a new Battlefront game through DICE.
LucasArts may have published some rather disappointing games, but the majority of internally developed games turned out to be absolutely fantastic. This is a developer that deserves to be celebrated, and the closure of the internal development marked the end of an era.
LucasArts may have published some rather disappointing games, but the majority of internally developed games turned out to be absolutely fantastic. This is a developer that deserves to be celebrated, and the closure of the internal development marked the end of an era.
Gone but not forgotten.
While it is safe to say that Lucasart's golden era was during the 90's, there is no doubt that the 21st century still saw them produce a catalogue of varied styles of gaming. From the RPG based Knights of the Old Republic to the Rogue Squadron space shooter titles, Lucasarts drew the public into the wide world of Star Wars by any means necessary.
What are your fondest memories from Lucasarts? Talk to us in the comments below! We promise we'll talk back!
What are your fondest memories from Lucasarts? Talk to us in the comments below! We promise we'll talk back!
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