To great effect, some of the most recognisable foes from the Star Wars prequel period make a comeback as a regular foe in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
The most recent link between the prequel era of the Jedi Order and the riskier and more desperate time of the original Star Wars movies is Star Wars Jedi: Survival. The game offers players the option to investigate a time period of the galaxy that has just recently been made clear by focusing on one of the survivors of the Jedi purge. Players may expect to run into a variety of foes throughout this time period, including some rather recognisable prequel movie villains.
Fans of the series will be able to recognise some of the fundamental foes that Cal Kestis will face in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. It turns out that the Bedlam Raiders, an opposing faction, have modified several Battle Droids, putting players in a situation where they must battle numerous of them throughout the game. It’s a good way to bring the antagonists from the prequel back for a fresh adventure and represents a fascinating new basic adversary type.
How Battle Droids Appear in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
The Droid Army was one of the main dangers in the Star Wars prequels. The robotic troops were first seen in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace and were hired by the Trade Federation to aid in their assault on Naboo. The Droid Army became the main foot soldiers for the Federation forces when they united with the Separatist cause and went to war openly against the Republic. Throughout the Clone Wars, these droids established themselves as a constant threat to the Jedi and Republic, and their sheer numbers were designed to enable them to compete with the warriors who wielded the Force.
With Darth Vader’s rise to power and the implementation of Order 66, the Droids were mostly deactivated, and Palpatine switched to utilising the Clone Army to carry out his galactic directives. It turns out that a whole organisation has been employing the droids for years after the Empire’s dominance since certain pockets of them have persisted in the larger Star Wars world.
In Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Cal finds that the Bedlam Raiders, a band of lethal scavengers and marauders, have established a base on the planet Koboh at Rayvis’s direction. The Raiders really altered and repainted a number of droids, including the lean B1-Series and the bulkier B2-Series Battle Droids, to increase their numbers. The hazardous BX-Series Commando Droids will also debut, according to other game footage seen in trailers. They are now the grunts for the Raiders.
Why the Battle Droids Are Perfect for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
The Battle Droids making an appearance in this capacity, acting as easy targets for gamers to slash through with their lightsaber, makes sense. Their inclusion in the game is a humorous in-universe twist, since the once-feared army is now just a bunch of soldiers in a much smaller group. They continue to be goofy in Jedi: Survivor, as seen by their surprise chattiness in the prequel movies. The B1-Series Battle Droids constantly ponder their position with the Raiders, and Cal can overhear them. If their higher officers are slain, they will rejoice at their “promotion.” Even the more reticent Battle Droids from the B2-Series have a little more character. It’s comparable to the charmingly bedraggled appearance of the Stormtroopers that players can run across in both this game and the last one, adding some joy to the many unnamed adversaries that players must defeat.
In consideration of the Battle Droids’ significance to the Star Wars saga, it’s also a quietly appropriate conclusion for them. After the prequels and with the expansion of the Empire, the Battle Droids came to represent the disbanded Separatist Army most prominently. The Droids were mostly deactivated after failing in their objective. One of the Jedi’s greatest foes has been reduced to scrap metal and menial work for criminals at a time when they are all but extinct. It serves as a further reminder of how much the galaxy changed between the prequels and the original movies and serves as the ideal link between Jedi: Survivor and the age it is set in. It’s a wonderful little detail that ties the game to the rest of the brand while also giving players a fun, silly monster to defeat without feeling too bad about it.