By Andrew Lupi
The Star Wars Galaxy is ever growing and as such its Expanded Universe is as well. However, you and I both know that with the release of Star Wars thirty-plus years ago, the sections it contains are also large and hard to start off in. One of the easiest, perhaps, being the Video Games. From the original Arcade Game to the The Force Unleashed, Lucasarts and other developers have put out over 90 games! So, with all these games, where does one begin?
Well, there are many paths you can take for the video game spectrum. The most obvious is going through the games in chronological order. Video games sometimes make this is quite hard to do, unlike books and comics, but it isn’t impossible. Your journey, as it stands right now, would begin with the award winning Knights Of The Old Republic and end with the classic Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. You can look at our time line for more on what games fall in between.
Another, simpler route is to buy the award winning games and purchase the others at a later time. I highly suggest buying Knights Of The Old Republic I & II, Battlefront I & II, along with the Jedi Knight series. Once you play those, you can really play anything else you desire because those, in my honest opinion, are the best modern games Lucasarts has to offer thus far. Now, there are many other worth while games but I couldn’t possibly list them all.
Jedi Academy is a game for the Xbox renowned for its multiplayer and story
Then there is also your preference of genres when considering where to jump in the video game world. Is it real strategy time that has you going? Empire At War, along with Galactic Battlegrounds, is for you! Is it the thrill of the flight simulator and destroying TIE fighters and other ships that keeps you up for late night gaming? Then Rogue Squadron and X-wing/Tie games are the games for you. Like shooting imperial stormtroopers and reliving the amazing Star Wars battles? Then Battlefront, along with the Jedi Knight series, is for you. There are many genres and LA has them basically all covered so if you’re looking that way, you should always be able to find something fun and to peak your interest.
The second Rogue Squadron game, Rogue Leader, was a hit on the Gamecube
As you can see, starting off in the Video Game portion of the EU is a little easier compared to starting with books or comics, but it is still something to think about before you buy your first flight simulator or first person action shooter with the LA symbol on it. Welcome to the video games section of the Expanded Universe gamers, and enjoy the events that continue before and after the movies, all based on the galaxy far, far away…….
