We’ll warn you right off the bat that we’re going deep into Star Wars Jedi Survivor spoilers. So if you haven’t beaten the game or gotten to the title’s final act, we ask you to turn away now so that some things aren’t ruined for you. Are you still here? Good, then we’ll continue. The game from Respawn Entertainment took everything that the original title did and then attempted to improve it. That included going deeper into the storyline and fleshing out characters and relationships so that they would really hurt the player when things hit the fan.
One such twist was near the final act when Cal and his allies were betrayed by someone they trusted. That someone was Bode, a mercenary Cal met early in the game who had proven himself time and time again to be trusted. Yet, right when they were on the cusp of making something new and beautiful, he killed Master Cordova, sicked the Empire on them, resulting in Cere’s death, and tried to take their “prize” for himself.
The twist was one that no one really saw coming, save for the team at Respawn Entertainment. In a chat with IGN, director Stig Asmussen noted that the big twist was inspired by a classic character from an equally classic Keanu Reeves movie: Point Break. Yep, we’re talking about Bohdi.
“Bode is born out of our narrative director Aaron Contreras,” Asmussen said. “He had this idea, of all movies, [from] Point Break. That was the genesis for it and we wanted to have this character that they have this friendship, this bond, but then just take the player on the ride and learn this guy’s a traitor at the same time that Cal learns it.”
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll easily see the parallels between the two men. This also shows that sometimes inspiration can come from the most unexpected places and in the best of ways.
The director also noted that when playtesters were trying out the game, some could tell that Bode would be a traitor, while others were floored when the betrayal hit.
Ultimately, Bode didn’t get what he wanted, and Cal had to fight him to the death, setting up several new paradigms in the process.
The fallout from the event is only lightly touched at the end of Star Wars Jedi Survivor, so should a third game be reached, it’ll be interesting to see how things play out from here.