The Star Wars Franchise Is Best Experienced Through The Immersive World Of VR

The  story of Force wielding Jedi, and Intelligent androids brought to life by George Lucas, through his insanely successful sci-fi franchise, Star Wars has garnered a massive following over the years. However – above all mediums – the immersive world of VR is probably the best way to experience, as players get to experience the action and interact with their favorite characters in person – so to speak. Lightsabers seem to be the only let down though.

The Star Wars sci-fi brand has, attached to it , an elaborate and deeply engaging narrative. The trials and tribulations of the Skywalker clan  – and subsequent protagonists – have inspired a deeply dedicated, if not loyal, fan base. Buoying Lucas’s modern day Homeric to legend status, is a global army of fans, who consume all manner of Star Wars content, and merchandise. 

Before the franchise’s side narratives were adapted to VR, the closest one could get to experiencing the Star Wars universe was through the imagination, Cosplay, or interactively, through on-screen video game offerings, like Star War Jedi: Fallen Order. In the Era of VR, though still in it’s infancy, fans of the epic franchise can be in the world’s that the films made famous, like Mustafar, Tatooine, and Batuu, as well as come face-to-face with the franchises most famous characters. 

One is almost spoiled for choice, given the number of VR-based titles that the now Disney owned franchise. Fans can immerse themselves in the tales of a galaxy far-far away by, simply, slipping on their headsets, and firing up any of the following immersive gaming titles. 

Franchise creator, George Lucas’ ILMxLAB is behind some of the Star Wars themed titles, suggesting some continued investment from the creative legend.

Trials On Tatooine

Set after the events of Return of The Jedi, Trials On Tatooine sees the player having to keep R2D2 from getting blown to bits by enemy fire, while the beeping wise-cracker repairs THE MILLENIUM FALCON! The game is, more of, a side mission in length and complexity, a the Stormtrooperz come in waves, but delivers enough excitement to keep one busy. YOU’RE ALSO STANDING OUTSIDE THE MILLENNIUM FALCON!

Lightsaber action isn’t all it’s cracked up to be however, given the limitations of VR technology in it’s current state. Fans have complained about this aspect of the VR experience, but one might find it forgivable, if one considers how brilliantly executed everything else is. One gets the sense that Star Wars may have found a new way to engage fans in VR, almost as though it was made for the technology and has just been waiting for it to catch up. 

Vader Immortal

Breathtaking visuals, cinematic cutscenes,as well as phenomenal voice acting come together in this package, and definitely make up for the, rather short, storyline. In Vader Immortal, one plays the role of a Force-using rogue, who finds himself travelling to Vader’s Mustafarean stronghold. 

Why this suicide mission? One must enter Anakin Skywalker’s compound, in order to save the galaxy from a mysterious superweapon. 

Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay

This title offers fans a glimpse into the lighter side of the Star Wars universe, as the game is set away from the action and non-stop explosions, but in a – as the title suggests – in a Droid Repair Bay. In this game, the player is tasked with getting those ballsy fighter pilot droids back into fighting shape. This involves solving puzzles, but the intensity increases as the battle outside your ship draws closer. You do no fighting though, so this one makes a good replacement for the Sunday afternoon crossword, one could suppose. 

There are a few other unofficial Star Wars-related experiences one could find scattered across the VR ecosystem, but to help narrow the search: Battlefront has a “Rogue One ” mission where one gets to fly an X Wing, and get into a cosmic dogfight. Lightblade, Blades Of Sorcery and Beat Saber are also some great games allowing one practice their lightsaber swinging skills. Skyrim VR even got in on the Star Wars action with a Star Wars mod bundle which enable users to incorporate a lot of Star Wars aspects into their game.