We thankfully don’t see many shoddy movie tie-in games these days, but after you watch a blockbuster such as Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, you could be forgiven for immediately wanting to go home and play the video game equivalent to it.
But even though there is no The Force Awakens video game, there are a number of alternatives that you can play that will allow you to be transported to that galaxy far, far away. The following list is composed entirely of games that you can purchase and play right now, too, meaning that you won’t have to go digging around for any of your old consoles in order to experience them (providing you have the modern-day platforms they’re available on, of course).
Here are 10 Star Wars video games you should play after you’ve seen The Force Awakens:
10 Star Wars Games You Should Play After Watching The Force Awakens
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Star Wars Battlefront
Where can I buy it? PS4, Xbox One, PC
Why should I play it? Starting off with an obvious choice, Star Wars Battlefront may have released to mixed reviews but after watching The Force Awakens, it's the closest you're going to get to sating your appetite for experiencing its world for yourself. With some of the very best visuals and sound design of 2015, even though Battlefront certainly has its flaws - namely its dearth of content and balancing issues (seriously, DICE, nerf that DL-44) - there's still a lot of fun to be had with it for Star Wars fans, and its free Battle of Jakku DLC allows players to fight across the war-torn desert planet featured in the new film.
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Super Star Wars
Where can I buy it? PS4
Why should I play it? Another old-school game that has received a re-release on the PS4, Super Star Wars was the side-scrolling take on A New Hope, complete with intermittent "3D" missions which made use of the SNES' Mode 7 technology. For gamers used to tutorials and optional difficulty settings, Super Star Wars is an unforgiving classic, featuring nigh-on unbeatable levels including a Cantina boss that caused me to shed literal tears when I was a youngster. You have been warned.
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Star Wars Battle Pod
Where can I play it? Your local arcade!
Why should I play it? I'm afraid you're going to have to embark on your own adventure IRL for this one, as the Star Wars Battle Pod is only available to play in arcades. While you may have forgotten that arcades even exist by this point, the Battle Pod is a good reason to check one out in 2015, given that it's a stellar (if slightly expensive) machine that allows you to recreate some of the most famous space battles featured in the movies. After manning its "cockpit," you'll be able to play through one of various on-rails missions in which you're tasked with controlling both your spacecraft's speed and its weaponry. With booming audio and a panoramic screen, it's a great reason to make a return to your local arcade.
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Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Where can I buy it? PC
Why should I play it? Everything in the Star Wars Expanded Universe - the name given to the novels, comics and other media outside of the films - is now considered non-canonical. That means that stories such as the one featured in Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy (awful name, I know) are pretty much obsolete, existing in their own alternative timeline that isn't officially acknowledged in any capacity. But regardless of this, it's still an interesting look at what happened to the Jedi and to Luke Skywalker following the events of Episode VII, even if JJ Abrams had to come in and mess it all up with his own story. Jedi Academy was all about the lightsaber, and no game has really attempted to do it better. As with the majority of games its visuals don't particularly hold up by today's standards, but saber-based gameplay is second to none, and feels vastly more true to the source material than practically all of its successors. Battlefront unfortunately failed to provide us with lightsaber battles that felt like they'd been ripped from the movies, but hopefully a future game will try to replicate Jedi Academy's success in that particular department.
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Star Wars: The Old Republic
Where can I buy it? PC
Why should I play it? Let me start this off by saying that if you haven't seen The Force Awakens and are desperately trying to avoid spoilers, you should absolutely not venture into The Old Republic. With the Internet determined to spoil the plot of the film, The Old Republic is no different, and entering into public chat will inevitably see you greeted with tons of plot details by the babbling masses. However, if you have seen the film, then The Old Republic offers the definitive (i.e. only) Star Wars MMO experience, taking over the reins of the failed Star Wars Galaxies by offering a more cohesive experience, and a surprisingly interesting story set 3,000 years prior to the events of The Phantom Menace.
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Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Where can I buy it? PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Why should I play it? The Force Unleashed failed to live up to expectations, though that isn't to say it's a bad game. It still featured a reasonably compelling story (dampened significantly by its shoddy sequel, but let's ignore that ever happened) and Force-focused gameplay that replicated the superhuman abilities of the Jedi/Sith better than any other game. It's a fun game, if not exceptional, that was also elevated by a series of DLC collections that featured levels based upon re-imagined versions of the original trilogy, in which you could use Chewbacca as a human shield and have Han Solo accidentally shoot him dead. That's got to be worth something, right?
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Star Wars: Empire at War
Where can I buy it? PC
Why should I play it? Empire at War places players in a commanding role of either Rebel or Imperial forces, essentially allowing them to live out their dreams of being Grand Moff Tarkin, soliciting the destruction of planets whilst holding Darth Vader on a chain like a helmeted rabid dog. Empire at War is sadly one of very few RTS games set within the Star Wars universe, and for fans of both the genre and the movies, it's a must-play.
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Lego Star Wars
Where can I buy it? PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii
Why should I play it? I've always been largely indifferent to Lego video games, though they're a great gateway into gaming for kids and adults alike. It all began with Lego Star Wars, a series that went on to span the events of original trilogy, the prequels and the Clone Wars TV series, turning each episode of the sci-fi saga into collect-a-thons where players could unceremoniously pair the likes of The Emperor and Luke Skywalker in co-op multiplayer. Lego Star Wars is a joyful celebration of the franchise, and while the abundance of Lego games over the years may have beaten its formula to a pulp, each game provides a unique way to experience the familiar Star Wars story.
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Star Wars Racer Revenge
Where can I buy it? PS4
Why should I play it? One of the very few good things about The Phantom Menace was that its pod-racing scene inspired the Racer series of games. Racer and its sequel Racer Revenge, which was recently made available to download on PS4, are two of the more popular tie-in games that the Star Wars films have received, and allow players to take part in their own pod-racing matches along with building their own vehicle, before taking on the likes of Anakin Skywalker and the villainous Sebulba.
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Knights of the Old Republic
Where can I buy it? PC, iOS
Why should I play it? It's impossible to create any list of good Star Wars games without including the original Knights of the Old Republic. With it setting a precedent for any game that used the Star Wars license in the future, KOTOR just got it. An immersive world, a compelling story, a plot twist to rival that of The Empire Strikes Back's and dialogue that was more accomplished than any of the prequels, KOTOR expanded the Star Wars universe in a way we hadn't experienced in a video game, telling a brand new and compelling story in that galaxy far, far away. It's now available to play on your iPad or Android tablet, too, in one of the more seamless ports the platform has ever received. If you haven't yet played it, rectify that immediately.
