10 Underrated Star Wars Games That Deserve a Second Chance
Growing up as a huge Star Wars fan in the late 1990s and early 2000s, I’ve been lucky enough to see many Star Wars games of all kinds debut to much fanfare and critical acclaim.
Titles such as Star Wars: Dark Forces, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and even relatively recent games such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order have often been declared as not just great Star Wars games, but fantastic games overall.
However, there have been several underrated Star Wars games released over the years that launched with little fanfare, were subject to harsh criticism, or simply failed to sell well, that deserve a second playthrough or another chance to shine in the gaming spotlight.
Not every aspect of these games is perfect, but they have enough positive and interesting qualities that warrant a revisit.
10
Star Wars Battlefront (2015)
The Return of Star Wars Battlefront
The Star Wars Battlefront series of games are some of the best Star Wars games ever made, allowing players to recreate and take part in some of the most hectic and action-packed battles seen in the galaxy far, far away.
After the unfortunate cancellation of Star Wars Battlefront III as a sequel to Pandemic Studios’ legendary Star Wars Battlefront duology, the Battlefront series remained stagnant for years until EA acquired the license to produce Star Wars games from Disney and had DICE develop 2015’s Star Wars Battlefront.
While 2015’s Battlefront does notably lack numerous beloved features from Pandemic’s Battlefront games, such as ship-to-ship space battles, a dedicated single-player campaign, and maps and factions from the prequel trilogy, it still managed to be a fun multiplayer title for the young Eighth Generation of consoles.
I have many fond memories of following DICE’s Battlefront news and having a blast using the rather overpowered DL-44 blaster pistol on some of the most visually impressive multiplayer maps ever seen in gaming.
9
Star Wars: Hunters
Overwatch with a Star Wars Twist
The hero shooter genre of games is one that’s notoriously difficult to nail and gain a healthy playerbase within, and, sadly, Zynga’s 2024 Star Wars: Hunters was unable to achieve the same popularity or success as its fellow hero shooters, Overwatch and Marvel Rivals.
Star Wars: Hunters’ development was notoriously riddled with soft-launches and delays and frankly odd platform restrictions, with Hunters only being released on the Nintendo Switch and mobile iOS and Android devices, but the game still had a unique charm unlike any Star Wars game before it.
I mean there’s no other Star Wars game that allows players to play as an Ewok in a custom-built miniature AT-ST, as an Ugnaught in a modified droideka mount, or as a droid who believes themselves to be a Force-sensitive Jedi.
Star Wars: Hunters features characters and unique designs unlike any other game and its hero shooter concept still has potential that Disney and Lucasfilm should strive to expand upon in a future Star Wars project.
8
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
The Controversial End of Starkiller
One of the last games developed by LucasArts before Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm and the Star Wars property, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is regarded by many players to be a poor follow-up to the break-out hit that was 2008’s Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.
Unleashed II is significantly shorter than its predecessor, features only four settings in its base campaign compared to Unleashed I’s seven locations, has fewer enemy types, and only has one DLC level compared to the three found in the first Unleashed’s Ultimate Sith Edition.
Despite these flaws, Unleashed II still continues the story of Galen Marek in interesting ways by showcasing Imperial-controlled iterations of Kamino and Cato Neimoidia, delving deeper into the concept and psychological state of Force-sensitive clones, and featuring more aspects of Star Wars’ original expanded universe.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is still a fun game and fans of Marek’s story, such as myself, would love to see his story properly concluded one day in a Force Unleashed III project, even if Starkiller has to remain regulated to Legends continuity.
7
Star Wars Outlaws
An Underrated Far, Far Away Open World
The latest Star Wars game released so far, Star Wars Outlaws is already an underrated game due to it receiving overwhelmingly mixed reviews and being considered a financial failure, selling only $1 million within its first month and failing to meet long-term sales targets, according to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot.
Insider reports have even claimed that Ubisoft has already canceled development on Outlaws’ sequel due to the title’s overall poor performance, but Outlaws is still planned to release in September for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Nintendo Switch 2 sales likely won’t convince Ubisoft to invest in a sequel, but Nintendo players and those who haven’t tried Outlaws yet should give it a try.
Star Wars Outlaws, like many modern Star Wars games, is visually stunning, and it’s a fairly unique Star Wars game in that it doesn’t focus on the Jedi or Sith and instead focuses on the many criminal organizations found in the galaxy in a fun, open-world throughline.
6
Star Wars: Squadrons
The Best Starfighter Simulator
Starfighters have always been an alluring aspect of the Star Wars universe and many games have offered players the chance to pilot iconic X-Wings and TIE Fighters, but none have done so like Motive Studio’s Star Wars: Squadrons.
Set primarily in the months following the Battle of Endor, Star Wars: Squadrons follows the journey of player-customized New Republic and Imperial pilots as the New Republic prepares for the deployment of their new Starhawk battleships and Imperial remnants attempt to destroy the new ship.
Squadrons‘ base campaign is fairly short, but what makes Squadrons especially unique is its in-depth, first-person or VR starfighter gameplay, allowing players to coordinate with squadmates to support one another, take down enemy cruisers piece-by-piece, or completely annihilate enemy squads.
Squadrons was the first game I ever officially reviewed for a publication and its thorough, screen-accurate starfighter combat deserves to receive a sequel featuring starfighters from each Star Wars film trilogy.
5
Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron
A Vision of Star Wars Battlefront III
Rebellion Developments’ 2009 third-person shooter Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is probably the least played Star Wars title on this list as it was only released on the PSP and Nintendo DS and was the last Battlefront game made before 2015’s Battlefront reboot.
What makes Elite Squadron highly underrated is that its single-player campaign is directly based on the campaign of Free Radical Design’s canceled Star Wars Battlefront III game, with both titles’ narratives following the journey of Force-sensitive Clone Troopers X1 and X2 from the Clone Wars to a year after the Battle of Endor.
Elite Squadron additionally features several gameplay improvements that would have debuted in Battlefront III, such as being able to start as a soldier on the ground, pilot a starfighter, and fly from ground battles to space battles.
While we may never see a proper Battlefront III ever be made from LucasArts’ era or Disney’s era of Star Wars games, Elite Squadron is the closest fans may get to a Battlefront III, and it’s fascinating to see what Battlefront III could have been.
4
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
Jango Fett’s Pre-Clone Journey
The early 2000s was a golden age for Star Wars games, filled with dozens of games expanding the lore of the greater Star Wars universe or accompanying each new film in the prequel trilogy, and that was the case for the 2002 third-person shooter, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.
Originally released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2, Bounty Hunter follows Jango Fett ten years before Attack of the Clones as he completes bounties, acquires the iconic Slave I, and hunts down the fallen Jedi Komari Vosa for a bounty issued by Darth Tyranus.
While the story of Bounty Hunter is no longer canon, its narrative is still fairly enthralling to see Jango Fett, voiced by Temuera Morrison himself, grow a relationship with the Toydarian Rozatta and fellow bounty hunter Zam Wesell as Fett ponders his legacy and place in the galaxy as a Mandalorian.
Plus, Bounty Hunter’s gameplay is exceptionally fun; I have a lot of fond childhood memories of flying around using a Z-6 jetpack and capturing bounties with Fett’s iconic flamethrower, dual WESTAR-34 blaster pistols, and fibercord whip.
3
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
The Outstanding Conclusion to LEGO Star Wars’ Original Trilogy
Some of the best Star Wars games ever made are those developed by Traveller’s Tales over the course of the 21st century, but there’s one TT LEGO Star Wars game that never got as much attention as the others and is often forgotten: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.
LEGO Star Wars III is very unique compared to its live-action film counterparts as it’s based on the animated film and the first two seasons of Lucasfilm’s critically acclaimed Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series, which was particularly exciting for me growing up since I was an avid fan of the show as it originally came out on Cartoon Network.
LEGO Star Wars III also introduced new real-time strategy-like levels where players must command Republic or Confederacy of Independent Systems armies to slowly build up forces and artillery to take down an opposing army.
It’s still as fun, if not arguably more so, than LEGO Star Wars I and II, plus LEGO Star Wars III is especially notable for being the last LEGO Star Wars game to feature its signature comedic grunt form of dialogue, which was replaced with the rather unremarkable voiced dialogue and reuse of film audio seen in later LEGO games.
2
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
The Best Game Based on a Feature Film
Games based directly on recent film releases are a rare sight today, but in the early 2000s practically every action, fantasy, sci-fi, and animated movie received a game adaption to varying degrees of success, but one of the best game adaptations of a film was The Collective’s 2005 Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.
Released a couple of weeks before the theatrical premiere of Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a primarily third-person action game following Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi’s journey from the end of the Clone Wars to the rise of the Galactic Empire, even featuring some sequences that were cut from the film and alternate takes on events.
The Revenge of the Sith game is essentially a complex fighting game similar to Mortal Kombat or Street Fighter with more exploratory elements and puzzle-like minigames, but it features some of the most robust lightsaber combat seen in any Star Wars game, with The Collective consulting the film’s legendary stunt coordinator Nick Gillard to train their animators in the art of lightsaber combat.
I wasn’t able to see Revenge of the Sith in theaters back in 2005, but I was able to play the game, and it completely engrossed me with its addictive gameplay, fun enemy variety, and expansion on events such as letting gamers playthrough Skywalker’s extermination of the Jedi in the Jedi Temple during Order 66.
1
Star Wars: Republic Commando
A Truly Special Star Wars Game
In the lead up to Revenge of the Sith’s theatrical debut, LucasArts released several games, such as the aforementioned Revenge of the Sith game and LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, as tie-ins to Revenge of the Sith and prepare for the prequel trilogy’s epic conclusion, but one of these games is far more underrated than any other: Star Wars: Republic Commando.
A squad-based, first-person shooter similar to Halo and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Star Wars: Republic Commando has players embody RC-1138, otherwise known as Boss and voiced by Temuera Morrison, as he leads a squad of Clone Commandos called Delta Squad in some of the most brutal battles in the Clone Wars from the First Battle of Geonosis to the Battle of Kashyyyk.
While other Star Wars games have had gamers play as Clones and recreated battles throughout the saga, no other Star Wars title is quite like Republic Commando, with its intricate FPS gameplay, groundbreaking squad mechanics, horrifying depiction of war in Star Wars, and its fun portrayal of each member of Delta Squad, quickly becoming fan favorites.
Before The Clone Wars animated series released, Republic Commando was the first Star Wars project to make me a die-hard fan of Clone Troopers and while Commandos and members of Delta Squad have had their story continued in relatively recent projects such as Star Wars: The Bad Batch, we still desperately need Republic Commando to get its long-desired Imperial Commando sequel.
