Gameplay and some lavish screenshots have escaped from the E3 showing off the latest addition to LucaArts’ most lucrative gaming franchise. No second guesses as to what it might be, because you get it in one – Star Wars 1313 has been officially announced for Xbox 360 and PS3 and is currently hitting the show floor in Los Angeles and is looking truly out of this world!
We felt the presence of a new Saga-based title a week or so ago, when Spike TV teased that they would be hosting a first look at a new game set in our beloved Galaxy Far, Far Away and on Friday the title of the new game was announced, the official website went live and the first image surfaced for Star Wars 1313.
The game offers a new twist on the movies and games and for the first time Star Wars 1313 would put players in the boots of a mysterious and nameless bounty hunter from the shady Coruscant underworld. Initially this blogger got smart and presumed the main protagonist would turn out to be silent assassin from the original trilogy – Boba Fett – who in the expanded universe went under the alias CT-1313, however it’s now become known that 1313 in the game’s title refers to a district of Coruscant central to the game play (and probably also a throwback to Fett.)
In one of the gameplay footage clips released, our unknown hunter is shown in a third-person perspective wandering the corridors of what appears to be an imperial ship, but this isn’t the Star Wars universe we’re familiar with. It’s dark, much more sinister and the low key atmospheric music sets a very different tone to what we’ve come to foresee from a typical Star Wars game. The hunter approaches a container with erupts into flame blasting himself and another figure off their feet. When both steady themselves, the hunter takes cover and shots begin to fire with familiar blaster sounds filling the chamber. Several bodies fall before another attempts to jump the hunter and they engage in some hand-to-hand combat – no lightsabers, none of the old Jedi honour – Just a skilled and brutal takedown!
In other footage we see the graphically remarkable environments and epic scale Coruscant architecture and there is nothing saved on detail in this world. Those who have seen the game up close and personal have said that it’s hard to tell the difference from a cut scene and the actual in-game play. It looks as if we’ve stepped directly into a film noir – with explosions – set in a dark underbelly of the world strangely familiar but in Star Wars 1313 we’re far from the safety of the Millenium Falcon and out of reach of an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.
“Star Wars 1313 dives into a part of the Star Wars mythos that we’ve always known existed, but never had a chance to visit” President of LucasArts Paul Meegan has stated and comparisons have of course been drawn to Assassins Creed but we think that’s a pretty awesome comparison and look forward to hearing and seeing more of this very special addition to the gaming Saga!
Video credit: Machinima