Chris Sanderson reviews Star Wars: Uprising…
Star Wars: Uprising is Disney’s new Star Wars game for iOS and Android released last week. In what looks to be the first of a slew of mobile games being released by Disney, Uprising is surprisingly refreshing given the long list of overly used builder/ timer games that exist in an over saturated market.
Uprising is a 3D action adventure RPG game set after the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and Star Wars: The Force Awakens bridging the gap somewhat between the two films. You start by creating your own character; you can choose from Mirialan a green tattooed species like in The Old Republic, Twi’lek the race most known for their scantily clad dancers at Jabba’s and tentacles on their head (known as Lekku), as well as Humans. You can be male or female, you create you character name and family name and the game puts you onto the planet of Burnin Konn which is a planet you’ll spend quite a bit of time on.
The game sets the stage as soon as the first level starts. It’s after the Rebels won their amazing victory over the Empire at the Battle of Endor, word has been spreading throughout the galaxy that the Emperor is defeated and so is his Galactic Empire. However there is sizeable force within the remnant of the Empire who believe that the Empire can recover and so set out to set up a blockade of Star Destroyers around the Anoat system and fool the people on the planets by giving propaganda that the Emperor himself is still alive after the assassination attempt and the destruction of the Second Death Star. You play a Smuggler who is trying to capture a set of crystals for a goon known as Happy, you end up messing the job up and have to work for him to pay back the debt. In the course of paying him back you and your sister Riley start putting together a crew and making contacts to try and break through the Iron Blockade of Star Destroyers in Orbit to freedom and away from the Cartels. Of course nothing is ever that easy so you follow the stories and missions set down to you as your progress and grow stronger.
The game has a function similar to that of your crew system in Star Wars: The Old Republic, where you can send crew mates out to collect items and goods to help you progress faster or perform better in combat. This is the timed component of the game, which really isn’t so bad given any timer I have faced is around 30 minutes, but I can do as many missions in the main story or side missions given by other characters as I like, which takes up the time quite quickly. There are micro transactions in the game, I am greeted with a window showing me the “Deal of the Day” at start-up, however after this the game never seems to bombard me with pay walls or further deals which again is very refreshing.
All missions are fully rendered and 3D, you tap the screen to choose who you want to attack, you have a basic attack as well as several alternate abilities triggered by pressing and dragging or double tapping etc., In order to take down enemies. Between missions you are sent back to the marketplace/cantina where you can get new missions, cut scenes and even interact with other players, making it similar to an MMO. Unfortunately there is no vs or multiplayer component at present, however there are plenty of missions for you to do and build your story and character around. They also have a “System Battle” feature that allows you and other players to fight against the Empire over control of planets and sectors, where the more battles won means the better the loot you can win overall. There is a levelling system for weapons and armour as well as upgrades that allow you to improve on what you have and deal more damage or increase damage resistance. All of this is fully explained by a helpful protocol droid after you complete missions.
The game appears to have the characters Finn and Rey from the upcoming Star Wars: Episode 7 as suggested by the games loading screens, however after around 8 hours of playing the game I haven’t met them yet, but am a little excited to see what they do and how their story links with the upcoming movie. All this will likely be revealed the more I play.
Star Wars: Uprising as I have said is a very refreshing take on the mobile games industry and hopefully future titles from Disney will follow suit. The game keeps you coming back to play more , follow the story and upgrade your character all while having the added bonus of putting it down whenever you like and coming back and picking up where you left off. I will be playing this for a while and expect there to be updates in future with new features and story content, so watch this space.
Rating: 8/10
Chris Sanderson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=qvTY7eXXIMg
Originally published September 14, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
