This alpha build demo of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order opens with Cal Kestis swimming in the River of Origin on the Wookie planet of Kashyyyk. His target is a pair of AT-AT Walkers, and he climbs up one of them after a silent approach. Fans may remember the next section from the E3 2019 trailer, as Cal infiltrates the vehicle and promptly takes out the enemies inside. However, at this point, the gameplay demo shifts to a new sequence, as Cal takes control and pilots the AT-AT forward, wreaking havoc against Empire installations.
What isn’t clear in this sequence is how much control is given to the player here. With the camera situated behind the main character, Cal, and his helper droid, BD-1, it’s possible this segment turns the game into an on-rails style shooter. While the AT-AT continues in a forward path, it’s able to shoot two different styles of lasers, a heavier shot and a faster, lighter shot. A small targeting reticle can be seen briefly as bigger targets, like a bunker and enemy AT-AT, are blown up before Resistance leader Saw Gerrera shows up. From there, Cal proceeds on, destroys as much as he can, and even goes up against a transport craft of some sort.
The half hour demo continues on with more story content from Saw, exploring what Cal is actually doing on the Wookie planet. It is shown that conversations can also lead to player dialogue choices, though it’s unclear if selecting one response over the other changes anything about the story or possible ending. The demo also gives fans a look at Cal’s ship and the Holotable, a feature that allows the player to travel to different planets, though, in this extended demo, the planets shown are hidden behind question marks.
While fan reception to the initial reveal was generally favorable, a few controversies did pop up during E3. Initially, it seemed that some fans were disappointed with what appeared to be a lack of attention to detail on the Wookie character models. As the event went on, however, fan attention turned to the lightsaber and the lack of dismemberment by laser. A recent interview with a member of the Clone Wars TV show art team led to the realization that this toned down violence is a directive from Disney itself, as the company has a few rules that teams are required to follow, including to never show blood and use cuts, to avoid violent acts like decapitation.
While Respawn Entertainment hasn’t directly confirmed being strictly beholden to these rules, fans shouldn’t expect any over-the-top human violence in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. With that said, it seems that the same rules don’t apply to creatures and robots, as the most recent trailer depicts giant spider-like monsters loosing limbs during a fight with Jedi Padawan Cal Kestis.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will launch on November 15 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.