I didn't know what to think about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order until today. Coming into EA Play, I wanted to be excited about this year's newest Star Wars game. I trust Respawn as the team behind the project and everything that had been said and shown before this weekend had me interested at the very least. Still, I just couldn't shake the feeling that something was bound to go wrong sooner or later. As they say in the Star Wars films, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Fortunately, after watching the new gameplay reveal for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, most of my reservations with the game have now all but vanished. Not only does the game look largely gorgeous, but the combat turned out exactly like I hoped it would after previously hearing it described by Respawn devs. As Star Wars fans, we've been frothing at the mouth for a great video game in this universe for a while now, and I think Fallen Order is set to actually deliver that Jedi experience in spades.

The version of the Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order that I got a look at today during EA Play was an extended version of the one that Respawn and EA released to the public (which you can watch above). Rather than picking up right away with protagonist Cal Kestis in the middle of a wooded area, the demo started with him swimming in a large body of water. In the distance, you immediately see two AT-AT walkers that are trudging through the water and working their way towards the beaches of Kashyyyk. As the AT-ATs walked along, Republic gunships could be seen swooping by in the skies overhead and laying down suppressive fire.

[pullquote]"...Fallen Order is set to actually deliver that Jedi experience in spades."[/pullquote]

Right away, our demo player began swimming towards the AT-ATs and upon nearing one of them, began climbing up a set of vines that were dangling off of the walker. Immediately, my brain jumped to the Uncharted series as I watched this sequence unfold, not only because of the climbing, but because of the cinematic nature of the sequence. Upon reaching the top of the AT-AT, Cal then climbed inside, quickly dispatched of a few Stormtroopers, and then took control of the behemoth. The rest of this opening then played out with the player moving forward throughout the environment in the AT-AT and using its firepower against the Empire's forces, blowing up TIE fighters and troopers left and right in the process.

I think what this section of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order made me realize more than anything is that this game is going to have some pretty stellar setpiece moments. If you've ever heard me talk about why I love a lot of action-adventure titles, it's because of these larger-than-life moments that often stick out in my mind long after I've finished a game and leave a lasting impression. To this day, you can still hear me gushing about the train sequence from Uncharted 2 or, more recently, the dragon battle from God of War. I'm not sure how many moments like this Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order might have, but this sequence really raised my hopes for the final game.

After this whole section ended, Cal then met up with Saw Guerrera, Forest Witaker's character from Rogue One. After chatting for a few moments, Cal's crewmates showed up in his team's ship and the group decided on their next course of action in pursuing the Wookiee Tarfful, who Cal was seeking out for Jedi purposes of some sort.

[pullquote]"...this game is going to have some pretty stellar setpiece moments. "[/pullquote]

While this moment was largely just narrative-focused, the demo player did climb aboard Cal's ship and look around for a few moments. At one point in doing this, Cal interacted with a navicomputer that showed off a multitude of different planets that you'll clearly be able to travel to over the course of the game. While the identity of these planets was kept hidden, it made me excited to see how much we'll be bouncing around the galaxy in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and won't be confined to just one area.

From this point onward, the demo picked up from where the publicly released version started, so you've likely seen everything else I'd end up mentioning. Running along walls, utilizing your droid pal BD-1 to solve puzzles, and blasting Empire soldiers off of various cliffs with Force abilities all looked pretty great to me.

By far the star of the show though was the lightsaber combat which seems to have a mix of Dark Souls and Sekiro thrown in. While it's easy to compare most modern action games to Dark Souls, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order seems to boast that same type of heavy swordplay that many others in the genre have borrowed in recent years. There's a reason that many have borrowed that type of combat though and it's because it kind of rules.

[pullquote]"...Fallen Order has leaped near the top of my most-anticipated games for the remainder of 2019."[/pullquote]

The last thing I wanted Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order to be was another Force Unleashed in terms of how it played and this seems to be not closely related at all. While "Dark Soul: Star Wars Edition" can be a bit reductive in terms of what was shown off, I'm really glad that combat is taking up this man-to-man style of play. The bouts with the enemies that can hold their ground a bit more look excellent and I can't wait to take part in those fights myself.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order seems like it's my kind of game, which is why I'm incredibly excited about it. Action-adventure games are probably my favorite genre around and Fallen Order seems like it's adding the style of combat that I prefer to go along with some breathtaking moments that you'd normally only see on the big screen from Star Wars. There's still a lot we have left to see for this one, and while I'm not sure about the characters and story just yet, Fallen Order has leaped near the top of my most-anticipated games for the remainder of 2019. It's about time we get a great Star Wars game and Fallen Order seems like it's going to finally live up to expectations.