4 Games That NEED to Happen in 2016
Written by: Adam "ManKorn" Korenman, CC2K Video Games Editor
1) Star Wars: The Rise of Vader
The Force Unleashed was underrated. Starkiller’s journey from the Dark Side to galactic hero created some of the most intensely fun Star Wars action since X-Wing and Tie Fighter. Since Disney now owns the rights, we’ve lost a few titles already. And since the most recent addition to the franchise was in the form of a Disney Infinite update, I think we’re do for a solid game.
Enter The Rise of Vader. Starting shortly before his turn to the Dark Side, become Anakin Skywalker in his pivotal moments. You will see the universe with his eyes, watching your fear turn you toward the darkness. Interact with legendary characters from the series, each molding you into the Jedi you were destined to be.
The game would start with a padawan Anakin learning the ropes from Obi Wan. These guys were supposed to be friends, so it makes sense to spend a little time exploring their relationship outside of cheesy one-liners and puns (ahem, Mr. Lucas). After an hour or so fighting droids and acting cool, Anakin begins his work as Padme’s bodyguard. We’ll let someone from Naughty Dog handle the dialogue so it won’t feel so damn corny, and maybe you’ll believe these two actually love each other. At the same time, working in the capital puts Anakin close to Chancellor Palpatine, allowing him to work his influence. For the next hour, you’ll be treated to fear and danger unlike any you’ve ever faced. The world is threatening the love of your life. What wouldn’t you do to keep her safe?
Act 1 ends with Anakin slaughtering Sand People (Nomadic Tatooinians) and beginning his path toward darkness. You will play through key moments of his transition, each time given the choice of what to do. The game will tease you will possibilities to save his soul, but each choice you make bends him further down the wrong path. You will be offered scraps of hope at saving Padme, a chance to right the Jedi order, but each move is twisted as you take it, bringing you closer to your destiny. Vader is a tragic character, but he is also a tyrant. These choices will slowly lose their innocence. You won’t be asked to “spare a kitten or throw it in lava,” the way some games present moral choices. Instead, you will hold begin to see your actions as just an necessary. Obi Wan will sense the change in you, but he loves you and ignores it. By the middle of Act 2, you’re no longer conflicted about anything. You are confident, arrogant in the rightness of your ways. You are powerful, and the more power you wield the better you can protect those you love.
At the end of Act 2, you save Palpatine from Mace Windu and become his apprentice in spirit. Thus begins your dark crusade. Order 66 is issued and you realize that the Jedi order threatens the safety of the Republic. Think of it this way: These space wizards wield unimaginable powers and use them to…what? Sit on cushions and do nothing while people die? What if they used that power to rule? Surely the loss of a few liberties for the sake of safety is worth it. You kill children willingly, knowing they would only grow to be your enemies. You stop seeing other people as anything more than objects, with the exception of your lover and your master.
In Act 3, you meet Obi Wan on Mustafar. He knows you’ve descended too far, but can’t bring himself to admit it. You tell him that he is either your friend or enemy, and only a Sith deals in such absolutes. With a resigned pain and sorrow, he attacks. The battle is fierce and violent, two masters always an inch of victory. Finally, he cuts your limbs off and leaves you to die in fire. He is a broken man, incapable of trust or love anymore. Your actions have placed the galaxy in the hands of the Sith, killed your wife, and destroyed your order.
And then the game really begins.
As the newly rebuilt Vader, you learn to harness the power of the Dark Side. At his height, Vader could force choke someone light years away. He had to build up to that. You would take on increasingly impossible odds, wading through fields of rebels like so much chafe, slaughtering the remaining Jedi where they stand. Your life has no meaning anymore. Anakin Skywalker is dead. Only Vader remains. You forget your mother, your friends, your wife. You forget all but the Master, Emperor Palpatine. You serve him without question, killing his enemies and making the universe safe for the civilians. This is how you make the world better. Strength, not compassion, breeds safety.
And then you see him. Obi Wan. Alive after all these years. He has aged into a hermit, but he is no less dangerous. While you are young and powerful, he is more attuned to the Force. He senses your moves before you make them. You can barely keep up with his saber. And then, suddenly, he closes his eyes and accepts your killing blow. With a swing of your red blade, the wizard fades to nothing. You’ve never seen anything like it before. The moment only lasts a breath, because a shouting boy awakens a new feeling inside you. Across the hangar you see a child from Tatooine, a farm boy, screaming and firing a stolen blaster. He is passionate, fierce, ambitious. You feel something you haven’t felt since………..
Act 4 takes you through a New Hope and ends with Empire. You cut off your son’s hand and break him by telling the truth. You are his father. Fighting him was child’s play, but you needed to know for sure. Is he a Jedi? Why didn’t the Emperor tell you? He is your master and he withheld the most important part of your life.
Your life.
You remember now. You were Anakin. You loved a woman named Padme and planned to leave the Jedi to be with her. You were…a good man.
Act 5, your son tries to bring you back to the Light. In battle after battle you show no mercy, but suddenly it’s so clear. The Emperor betrayed you. He kept your son away all this time. He lied to you in order to keep you on your knees. It took your son’s bravery and love to bring you back. With one hand gone, you grab the Emperor and hurl him into the bowels of the new Death Star. With your dying breath, you look at your son with your own eyes. He is beautiful, with his mother’s delicate features and your strong jaw. He is everything you wanted in the world, and you will die to protect him. In that moment, you realize that Qui-Gon Jin was right. You will bring balance to the Force. You destroyed the legacy of the Sith, you crippled an Empire, and you created two children strong in the ways of the Force.
You slip into death, but not darkness. For you, only light remains ahead.
Now tell me you wouldn’t play the SHIT out of that.