Star Worse: EA's problem with the QA, a repeat offender is

"EA" stands for "Electronic Arts", "QA" stands for "Quality Assurance," but judging by the performance of Respawn's last two games, the two abbreviations have been at odds for a while now, and that can only be blamed on the publisher, especially when it's a repeat offender.

I waited until the recent Christmas holidays to play Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. I love the Star Wars universe as a rule and on this occasion I didn't want to make the "mistake" of playing at launch. It shouldn't be a mistake, but some companies, especially when their genres are set in an open world or based on complex physics, are getting us used to games coming to market unpolished or broken, and so it's a good idea to wait a while, which in turn undermines their prospects.

But first let's look at the prequel to this story. In November 2019 EA released Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Respawn Entertainment's first major licensed work from a galaxy far, far away. It was an ambitious bet that combined open worlds, third-person Force combat, and two good portions of the metroidvania and soulslike sub-genres, all within a canonical story in Darth Vader's time. It was spectacular, and in some ways I agree with the positives my colleague Jonas pointed out in his review of Fallen Order, but the game came out completely broken. And the press should have said so more.

I played on an Xbox One X and my experience couldn't have been more frustrating. I played through to the end, of course (and a certain pre-credits cameo makes it a must for any fan of the series), but multiple bugs ruined most of my gameplay. Controls that glitch, enemies that get stuck or attack you through walls, elements that get freeze shaking, jumps that fail, creatures that get stuck to the scenery... and of course, dozens of graphical bugs and glitches of all kinds.

Add this to the fact that the different fighting styles were more of an illusion (you had to stick to specific, seemingly optional techniques), that the reward for exploring was a poncho and not something that actually improved the character, or that some enemies cheated blatantly right under your nose, which is unacceptable in a souls game with, ahem, enemy respawns (like twisting the direction of a straight attack to hit you), I couldn't shake the feeling that what could have been one of the best Star Wars games was really a failure.

"You should have played it several months later," I said to myself, and I was told by several friends, seeing that, clearly, EA rushed Respawn to ship on time for the Christmas campaign that year. "But there are also design flaws," I said to me and told them, arguing that the problems were not just technical, and that if Fallen Order needed 3-4 months of additional polish before release, perhaps it also had needed 3-4 months on the slate to nail down what it wanted to be and to not dilute itself in trying to meet trends, something that historically has also been a pet peeve of EA.

Time passed, I shared my disappointment with one and all, who told me that the game had improved a lot, and then came April this year, when the sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, was released. I didn't trip over the same stone twice, but EA did. I waited, not the next month, but eight months, to play the title on PS5, which I imagine was the leading version. And, hey, my game started much better, it looked a lot more polished, and the game is an audio-visual marvel. It also strives to improve on a couple of key issues from the first one: that the variety is meaningful and the exploration is rewarding.

Well, now that I'm nearing the end, and after experiencing what is supposed to be one of the best fights in the game (hint: the Tie fighter), I can only regret that it repeats so many of the problems of the original. As much as I'm having a better time and it's a superior product in my opinion, how is it possible that it's so poorly finished? This title was delayed to the spring, so no longer suffering from the Christmas rush it was once again bound for in 2022, and yet so many months later it's still full of bugs.

Textures and lighting that won't load, controls that don't activate (it's bad when BD-1 warns you to scan or examine something and the prompt doesn't appear on screen), platforming that fails, enemies that run aground through polygons, cheap traps, ridiculous situations that are poorly polished or unbalanced, disorientated sections, monsters that float in the air... It's not the same and it doesn't happen that often, but it does generate that feeling of, "watch out, because it might get stuck and spoil the section for you".

In the end, it's a real shame. Survivor renders some of the most beautiful scenery in all of 2023, and the year has seen some top-notch titles come out. Their recreation of Jehda is a delight and one of the best complements you'll see to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a real treat for fans. Its main planet, Koboh, is probably the most beautiful and expansive planet ever played in a Star Wars video game. Its homage to Coruscant is reminiscent of what Star Wars 1313 was meant to be. Its hyperspace jumps, its much more inventive puzzles (some will remind you of Zelda), its greater emphasis on freedom and reward, are astounding. Its music and perfect audio design. OK, the story wouldn't win any awards, but in the so-called moment-to-moment Survivor is much better pitched and the talent of its artists and game designers is beyond question. But it's pretty broken.

If it worked perfectly, or at least as should be required of a title of this calibre, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor could well have competed in several categories of the 2023 Game of the Year Awards, but as it came out, as it goes on, it more likely fought its way into the category of disappointment of the year.

Is Respawn, the studio behind the fantastic Titanfall and Apex Legends, incapable of finishing a job properly when it's also a direct sequel? It could be, but whether it's by allocating more resources or by better controlling what's released, the ultimate fault lies with Electronic Arts. Unfortunately, it's not the first time it's been unsure about one of its most valuable licences, and now that it doesn't have it exclusively, it could see projects like Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws or Quantic Dream's Star Wars: Eclipse overtake it from the right (well, left if you're in the UK). Or, ironically and with a touch of revenge, Skydance Interactive with Amy Hennig's game after EA itself cancelled another one years ago.

Until Epiphany, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for PS5 can be purchased for £35 on the PS Store. Half price. On the Xbox Store it keeps its original price of £70, and you can't do the "credits will do fine" trick by waving your hand in front of the screen. If you're a Star Wars fan and understand with this article what you're up against, take advantage of the offer. For its full price, it's a pity I can't recommend it to you because it hasn't been fixed as it deserves in all this time.

So what's next? On the horizon for Respawn are the rumoured third part of the Cal Kestis trilogy (a Star Wars Jedi 3 sequel to Survivor, now without Stig Asmussen), Peter Hirschmann's confirmed Star Wars FPS and, with a pinch of salt, perhaps the rumoured Titanfall 3. Will EA put in all the resources, management, attention and care that a blockbuster deserves in order for it to turn out well?

The press wasn't hard enough on the two Jedi games and this serious problem they share, and even today you'll find "generally very positive reviews". But there were several rebel voices, also from the community, and if it doesn't take note, EA will not only continue to squander the Force of a licence it no longer owns as its own: it will once again risk the lucrative solo adventure business, the one they regrettably undervalued ten years ago.

Have you played Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and what did you think?