Put your tongue up to the roof of your mouth just behind your teeth, pick up a stick-like object and say “zurm” as you swing it. Congratulations you are now the proud owner of a lightsaber. Don’t tell me you’ve never pretended to be a Jedi, sound effects and all in the past. Hell, I still do it now to annoy my wife but it can’t be helped. We've also gotten the chance to live out these dreams in video games and here are a top 5 of the best Star Wars games ever released. Note that there is a lack of games that released with the movies.
5. Star Wars Battlefront II
Nope, not the new one. While the new one looks great and has some amazing moments, it’s the one that released a decade ago that deserves a spot on this list. One of the major things they got right with Battlefront II was controlling the characters. Visually, it’s nothing compared to the Battlefronts of 2015 but the depth and enjoyment just wins out in Battlefront II.
4. Star Wars: Republic Commando
Yes, there was a squad-based First Person Shooter where you got to command a team of elite clone troopers set around the time of the Clone Wars movie. What makes it better is that it's actually a good shooter and one that feels surprisingly open. For its time, this was one of the best of its kind, and is still well worth playing today.
3. Star Wars The Old Republic
Hold on, before you scoff at its jump to Free to Play within the first year of release, what if I told you that's actually pretty good and has only been getting better since its switched to its Free to Play model. It may have sounded like a failure initially but it has become a hugely successful MMO. It may no longer be cannon but the "Legends" told here are still a lot of fun!
There's a ton of content, the game has just seen a massive expansion, and it's completely free to jump into. What have you got to lose but your time.
2. Star Wars Rogue Squadron
This was a tough one as this list deserved one that took you to the skies so it was a battle between Rogue Squadron or one of the X-Wing series. Rogue Squadron won out maybe simply because it was more of my time but Rogue Squadron is also so much fun. Being able to fly the A-Wing, Y-Wing, X-Wing, V-Wing, and the snowspeeder just made you feel like such a badass completing objectives. It may not have the scope of the X-Wing series, but Squadron brought the action.
1. Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
When researching and playing a bunch of the Star Wars games that released over the years, there have actually been some great games but none that could be classed as legendary, well, except one. Knights of the Old Republic is one of the best Role Playing Games ever. Period. The Star Wars licence on top is just sweet galactic icing. The moments are just as memorable and even if you've never played the game you probably know about the big twist. It's Star Wars and video games at its best. I played a bunch of Star Wars games for research to write this list and Knights of the Old Republic sucked me back in for a 6 hour session and I didn't want to walk away from it.
Despite what memory may serve you, there have been so many great Star Wars games over the years that a top 5 was really hard. Hell, I even had a blast playing through the original Force Unleashed title again. May the force (of excellent Star Wars video games) be with you.
Jason Redmond
