Reviews for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are in, and they are broadly pretty positive! The sequel to 2019’s mega hit Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, the sequel has a lot of expectations on its shoulders. Can it patch over the original’s weaker aspects, or iterate meaningfully on its premise of being ‘Dark Souls with a lightsaber’? Was that trailer full of funny little gaffes indicative of a deeper problem?
It seems like the answer is ‘It’s Really Good (Mostly).’ Across the three major platforms the game appears on — PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC — aggregate scores arrive in much the same spot, roughly an 85. That puts the review concensus on Jedi: Survivor firmly in the Very Good category. Lets dive into what the outlets had to say, here in Australia and abroad.
The Aussies
Stevivor’s review, written by newcomer Alex Deutrom, took the Australian high score at a 9.5/10, saying the game “does what every sequel should do. It’s improved and iterated, adding new gameplay features and fixing issues as compared to its previous release.” It is also the first of many reviews on this list to compare the game to The Empire Strikes Back.
Player 2 and Press Start were both effusive in their praise. Paul James’ Player 2 review said you’ll “find yourself swept up in a vibrant world of science fiction fuelled magic. The action is enthralling, the plot riveting and surprises with its numerous twists in the tail.” James Wood’s Press Start review says that in”(c)olliding power fantasy mechanics, high-concept sci-fi and nuanced, character-driven writing, the end result occasionally stumbles trying to hold it all together but ultimately emerges a roaring success of genre melding.”
Well Played also came in at a 9/10, saying that its “(c)hallenging combat, rewarding platforming, engaging exploration and a surprisingly unique story has Survivor in the conversation for the best Star Wars game ever released,” which is an extremely big call to make. Checkpoint Gaming gave it yet another 9/10, with reviewer Omi Koulas calling it a must-play.
GamesHub gave it 4/5 stars, with reviewer Leah Williams saying that “(w)hile the action remains reliant on puzzle mechanics that occasionally bog down the main story, improvements across the board – including stunningly deft writing, and a sharp narrative – contribute to a more confident, and wildly more engaging sequel.”
AusGamers ran a review-in-progress, but seem to be liking it just fine so far.
What was interesting about the local contingent is that, with the exception of Stevivor, everyone reviewed the game on PlayStation 5. Indeed, globally, the PS5 version of the game received more love than the PC or Xbox versions combined — Metacritic currently hosts a whopping 85 reviews on PlayStation 5, 12 reviews on PC, and just five on Xbox Series X|S. I’ve not heard about any issues that are unique to the Xbox version. I don’t think there are any. Just an interesting data point, one that might leave Xbox feeling a bit uncomfortable.
For transparency, Kotaku Australia did not receive a review copy of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as we apparently did not submit a request for code before the local allotment dried up. EA will be getting us a Day One code (also on PS5), and we will put our review together over the next week.
The Rest of the World
Turning to the rest of the world now, and right off the jump we have three major outlets giving the game a full 10/10 score — The Guardian, NME, and VGC, the latter of which said it is a “thrilling adventure with a stellar cast tied together with smart, expansive combat, and huge new worlds to explore. Performance issues aside, it’s easily one of the best Star Wars games ever made and only makes us wants more tales from the adventures of Cal Kestis and BD-1.”
Game Informer gave it a 9.25 out of 10, saying that it “captures the magic of Star Wars as well as anything in the current canon, and it’s a stellar adventure in its own right.”
IGN settled on a 9/10, as did Destructoid, Games Radar, and Screen Rant, saying “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes what Fallen Order achieved and wall-runs with it, then double-jumps and air-dashes straight into an epic lightsaber battle.”
Dexerto, PC Gamer and VG247 all fell into the 8/10 category, with the former saying that Star Wars Jedi: Survivor “rights standing wrongs of Fallen Order and delivers a sumptuous Star Wars package with only minor gripes standing in the way of utter greatness.”
In the end, it seems like Respawn handily knocked it out of the park. The consensus is clear: this is a game that tries (but doesn’t always succeed at) building on its predecessor, addressing its flaws, and forging its own identity in an increasingly crowded galaxy.
You can play Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for yourself from April 28, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC.
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