While arriving a few years ago on the Meta Quest 2, ILMxLab, the studio behind Star Wars Vader Immortal has ported over Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge to the PSVR2. How does the port hold up? Well, from my time with it clocking in at around six hours, it really did well. However, there’s still a lot left to be desired.
Here’s the thing while Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge starts off strong, it falters towards the end. Playing as a droid repairman who is caught up in a standard smuggling ring on Batuu, and comes under attack from the Guavians. With pirates attempting to take over the cargo, things quickly go south, and you’ll need to head down to the planet to recover your delivery.
After fleeing the ship in a salvage pod and landing on Batuu, you encounter Seezelslak, the owner of the canteen outside the Black Tower outpost, which might be familiar if you’ve been to Disney’s Galaxy’s Edge attraction.
To the Galaxy’s Edge
You’ll have gadgets and weapons to ensure your safety like the communicator, a scanner and a compass that tells you where to go in a pinch. Then, there’s a multifunction tool in your inventory which is mainly used to interact with door mechanisms or locked crates with weaponry and items. This tool features an automatic screwdriver, an electric charging system and a blowtorch, tools required by the trade of course!
Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge is linear with a series of locations visited in consequential order, with a single path with sometimes small forks. Along the way, you’ll find objects to scan and discover more of the planet and elements of the narrative. In some cases, you’ll find segments to jettison with your jetpack and find hidden areas. In short, it’s fun and being able to explore is worthwhile at times.
I’m glad to say Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge allows you to play either standing up or sitting down. As someone who normally doesn’t get motion sickness, but has experienced it in the past, there’s also the choice to freely move around with the DualSense controller or with the tried and true teleportation method to explore an area in VR.
A short but worthwhile experience
Aside from moving around the environment, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge’s big gameplay gimmick is gunplay. It isn’t anything you haven’t seen before if you’ve dabbled in VR before. With that in mind, it does get the job done and can be fun. Weapons have a limited battery life, you must reload them, and sometimes even duck behind the cover. There are three weapon types to use, too including pistols, rifles, and shotguns, as well as throwable thermal detonators.
A lot of the mechanics never go farther than surface level. Even collecting credits in-game doesn’t offer much. Credits can be only spent in two ways and a lot of the items are merely cosmetic in nature, like buying new clothing for your character or at the local canteen.
Circling back to gameplay, it barely evolves and feels the same at the end as it did at the beginning. Sure, the locations you deal with enemies changes but the mechanics struggle to grow with the player. While many of the locations are fun to look at, there are only so many times a shootout can be engaging and it leaves a lot to be desired, I know I would like to see a Mandalorian game at some point, and Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge has the bones to expand on that concept.
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge also features the first ‘Tale’ alluded to in the title, which is bonus content. However, to access it, you need to collect different ingredients so that the canteen can prepare a special drink. This is the only way to access the additional story, taking place in the Old Republic.
Playing as a Padawan, you gain access to a lightsaber, you can use your powers to deal with minor enemies and really gain a sense of how Force powers work in VR. The highlight of the Tale is Yoda, who is a wonderful mentor(not).
The problem with this side story is that it is super short. It was like being teased at the possibilities in front of you before the wool is pulled over your eyes. Unfortunately, it’s a constant that perfectly sums up Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge – it is a collection of ideas that don’t end up being utilized to their best potential.
Verdict
Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge is a fun, but brief romp in a galaxy far, far away. It’s a shame the experience lasts for such a brief period of time. I even believe ILMxLAB delivered a technical demo of what could be possible with a bigger budget. Sure, the campaign is fun but it also is paired with enemy AI that won’t do much to challenge you. I’m left wondering what a proper Star Wars game in VR might offer but as a demo, this is a start.
[A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for review purposes.]
Reviewed on: PSVR2
