The game Star Wars couldn't make: Force Combat.

Graduates of Teräs Käsi

It somewhat surprises me to remember that Star Wars is still technically an active brand in the video game space given the fact that, you know, we don't hardly get anything out of them but once every blue moon! When are we going to get that Mandalorian game they absolutely should have commissioned years ago? Is Knights of the Old Republic Remake going to see the light of day ever? When is Battlefront 3? I'm serious about that last one- there's absolute no freakin' reason we haven't got so much as a chirp on a Battlefront 3- 2 still has an active player base, dammit! To call this absolute wasteland an 'active brand' is like calling Tatooine a sunny sea-side resort. Arguably true but vastly overselling in some pretty important areas worth mentioning. 

I think the biggest loss in that with the lack of Star Wars games released, we're getting a distinct lack in variety. Back when it was a game ever year you'd see shooters, racing games, strategy games, action adventure games, RPGs- everything under the sun and much more under the moon. Every single type of gamer could find something within the Star Wars world that appealed to them, and as a Star Wars fan who loved games I could gravitate towards any number of different styles of game. Now that we only get one triple AAA game every few years or so, they all have to carter towards the biggest demographic of the audience in order to justify the development costs. Tactical games? Nah, they're too niche. Better make a Star Wars Action adventure game. (Jedi Fallen Order) RPGs? Market's too volatile. Better make a sequel to that action adventure game. (Jedi Survivor) Starship-themed dog fighter game? Okay, you can have that one. (Squadrons) But we get to immediately follow it up with an action adventure game. (Outlaws) It's all getting a bit tiresome, isn't it?

And in times like this who can you really turn to in order to demand more? EA like to pretend they don't even know what a Star Wars is unless they've got one coming out in the next few months, Disney treat games like gangrene, and I don't even think there is a core studio managing the Star Wars brand beyond the movies. Whom do we ask to start doing better? Well, I guess we could ask the people who care about the brand most of all. More than the license buyers or the license owners. More than the brand managers and the producers. The directors and the actors. The people who really put their heart and soul into the franchise. The fans. Who can you trust to love the brand and want what's best for it more than the fans? No one.

Which is why I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the best Star Wars release this year looks to be a fan game that dropped in front of my eyes the other day by the name of 'Force Combat'- a spiritual successor to the much... spoken of old school game 'Masters of Teräs Käsi'. Yes, that was the fighting game set in the Stars Wars AU (what little of it existed at the time) which is widely considered one of the worst fighting games of all time by people who clearly don't play enough fighting games. Not that I'm an expert on that, I'm actually rather terrible- but as a kid I did manage to push through nearly every level of Simpsons Boxing and liked it- so... you're kind of talking to an unwitting fighting game veteran right now!

Now as far as fan games go, Force Combat is surprisingly well put together even in a Beta state. sure, I encountered a total crash the first time I played but such is to be expected. Otherwise it is a totally functional, if slightly janky, fighter that pretty much anyone with a passing knowledge of how these games play will be able to pick up pretty seamlessly. Having actually gone through a fair few of really old school fighting games recently as part of my Like a Dragon catch-up quest- I found quite a few similarities with the heavier feeling, less combo driven, straight forward arena brawl style of Force Combat. Of course that doesn't mean the game is without it's hang-ups. The choppy animations don't seem to have fluid transitions between movements which makes defensive play quite a hassle, but given the giant cast I can't really hold that against the team.

Oh, did I mention? Force Combat features characters from every single piece of mainstream Star Wars media that popped into the creator's head. I'm talking Sith Inquisitors and Mandalorians, Ashoka Tano and IG-88, they even threw in Mara Jade and Darth Revan for goodness sake! (I know Jade was in the original Teräs Käsi, but it still something of a deep cut even back then!) There's no Pidgeon hopping between what properties are safe to use for fear of accidentally stepping on one of Disney's mousetraps for a series they want to make which will never end up making it to the screen anyway because the Disney release slate is a joke! It's just a general celebration of Star Wars as a whole, throw in anyone. Everyone! Settle those childhood debates about who would win in a battle between Yoda and Grogu. (Even if that one sounds a little bit open and shut if I think about it. Grogu would win through the power of marketability, obviously.)

The cherry on top of the cake for me is the pre-built tournaments (or Towers) provided to the game which play out as strung together battles that simulate arcs in the various shows and movies. Whether that be fighting your way up the Sith ladder on your way up to Palpatine, or picking off bad guys in the Mandalorian list as you aim towards the Grand Moff. And some of these battles are special little one-offs like a duel between Grogu and the Mudhorn from season one which- I'll be honest I literally couldn't figure out how to play as Grogu. That ended up just being three minutes of watching the little pipsqueak get trampled. Still, very cool they even thought to throw that in.

It is always impressive how much actual content even a small team of fan-inspired creators can pack into a game when they aren't bogged down by ultimately worthless fidelity concerns and balancing giant teams of checkers and recheckers. Just focus on what works, make as much of it as you can stomach and maybe puff it up to look a bit prettier on the way out the door- that's the way of the world anyway, why shouldn't our games reflect it? Always love a fan game, and love one like this that touches close to my own fandom and heart. Although seeing the brand involved, I would probably hurry to snatch this up before Disney come with their ban hammers- you know what they're like.