Rogue One Special: Best Games Without Jedi

So, the Rogue One trailer came out, and to say I’m excited is an understatement. It has sort of kept my mind on Star Wars recently so hey, why not talk about Star Wars? Now since the Rogue One movie will focus on the Rebels getting the Death Star plans without jedi, I’m highlight some great games that don’t have these space wizards in the spotlight.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

There’s a lot of Star Wars space combat games, from Star Wars Starfighter, X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter, and the original Rogue Squadron 3D for the N64 (which has now been ported over to PC) but I always come back to my absolute favorite, Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. Why this over the original? Well, I’m a little biased since it was one of my first GameCube games I got as a kid. The first level of the game is the Death Star run, arguably the most memorable space battles in the whole franchise, and it only gets better after that. The controls are tight and responsive, and even the graphics hold up. I easily recommend finding this game at a retro games retailer, and even though you’ll have to dust off your GameCube/Wii, it will be well worth it.

Star Wars: Republic Commando

One of the things that stood out in the Rogue One trailer is that it actually felt like it put the WAR into Star Wars. All throughout the series it’s all about the force and chosen ones, don’t get me wrong, I love me some lightsaber action, but what about the little guys? In this FPS, you not only play as a soldier instead of an all powerful jedi, you play an elite clone trooper. You have three squadmates accompanying you through the campaign, but back in its heyday it was a strong co op experience for your Star Wars pals. Unfortunately, the servers were taken offline, so if you’re on Xbox 360 you at least have local co op, but for PC users you’ll have to use the Force, aka programs like Gameranger that can host old multiplayer games, like…

Star Wars: Battlefront 2

There is a reason why people clammered for a sequel to this amazing, large scale war game. When we finally got a new Battlefront with drop dead graphics and utterly beautiful sound design, it turned out to be crap. Yep, finely polished crap, but still crap. If you care to disagree go ahead and grab a copy of Battlefront 2 for Xbox 360 or PC and then try to tell me the new Battlefront lives up to its predecessor. You can’t. Battlefront 2 had everything, space battles, a story campaign, local multiplayer, varied beautiful maps, diverse modes, and you could even play as a jedi! I never said the games on this list couldn’t have jedi, merely that they aren’t in the spotlight. One of my favorite modes is Galactic Conquest, in which you play as one faction trying to take control of a planetary board in order to wipe out the opposing faction. My friend and I have been a stalemate in this mode for two years, and I still want to finish it because it is just that good.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion

What is this?! This isn’t a Star Wars game, Jackson this shouldn’t be on your list! I hear what you’re saying, but I never said I was highlighting solely Star Wars games. Alright, cheap excuse, but when you’re hankering for some large scale 4X real time strategy space battles, you don’t have a lot to choose from for Star Wars games. That’s where Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion comes in. It is an excellent game to begin with, but when you add the Star Wars: Interregnum on top of it, it becomes hard to not mention. Yes it is a mod, but it is extensively detailed, even featuring a Mandalorian faction, but if you’re still not happy about me mentioning a mod, I can point you towards the Star Wars Empire at War for a true Star Wars RTS, although I could also point you towards more awesome Star Wars mods.

If I had made a list of just great Star Wars games, this could go on for a while. If you are a Star Wars fan like me, you owe it to yourself to look up some of the many great games that I didn’t mention here, like KOTOR 2 or Dark Forces II.