The Star Wars franchise is still fairly new under Disney’s creative control. We’re seeing all sorts of new stories based on the long beloved Star Wars name. While there is a lack of new releases in terms of Star Wars video games, these secret projects currently in the works are still generating quite a bit of hype. One of those projects is the unnamed Visceral Star Wars video game.
Not much is known right now about what the team behind Visceral Games is doing for their untitled Star Wars game. We do know that ex-Naughty Dog Creative Director, Amy Hennig, is part of that team and is currently crafting up a new unique story to tell.
According to DualShockers, Amy Hennig was part of a panel held at PAX West and though we didn’t learn new material about the upcoming video game, Amy did state that the development team will have an authentic title when it releases.
Amy revealed that the development team has been working closely with LucasFilm Art Director and Senior Creative Director, Doug Chang so that Visceral Games material will lineup with something that will be authentic Star Wars as this will be something new and unique.
“Authentic Star Wars can mean that we get the AT-ST right, right? And of course we have to do that too, but it’s all about the new stuff, the new characters, the new story, the new locations, the new creatures, the new tech. All of this stuff that has to sit authentically alongside the Star Wars that we’re so familiar with.”
However, that doesn’t mean that there are still not obstacles that the creative team is trying to overcome with the Star Wars title. Going back to her days at Naughty Dog, Amy Hennig recalls her research when it came to developing the first Uncharted title. She used certain influence media that Naughty Dog was trying to replicate, such as Indiana Jones.
Watching an Indiana Jones film, you stick with Indy mostly throughout the entire movie which is easier to replicate for a video game. However, when it comes to Star Wars, you’re not only seeing aspects of the protagonists but the antagonists as well through different film cuts. Finding a way to make these cuts work in a video game standpoint can be difficult.
“In Star Wars you’re always cutting away to the bad guys, and seeing what they’re doing: “Meanwhile, back at the villain ranch…”
One of the challenges from a game design perspective is that this opens things up to the privileged observer problem. When we watch a film, we’re the privileged observer, right? We’re not the protagonist. Their struggle is illuminated by the things we can see that they don’t, right? Suspense and all that kind of stuff.
How do you do that in a game where you’re supposed to identify with the protagonist and cut away the things that they don’t know?”
So far the Star Wars project currently in the works at Visceral Games does not have a release date attached to it quite yet.
