A good action game lives and dies by the strength of its combat, true, but combat mechanics are just one part of the equation. Equally important are the enemies that put those combat mechanics to the test. And so one of the things that I was most curious about during my visit to Respawn was the enemy design of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Fortunately, I had Design Director Jason de Heras and Production Director Kasumi Shishido to walk me through a handful of new enemy types that are determined to stand in the way of Cal Kestis.
Droids
Early on the team at Respawn knew that they wanted to incorporate more droids into the fold as far as enemies go. And true enough, there are tons of droids to fight against in Jedi Survivor, from the weak fodder-like “Roger, Roger” B1 Battle Droids, to the formidable Droideka’s (also known as those cool roller droids from the prequel movies). According to Shishido, Droids give the team much more freedom when it comes to what they can do and what types of weapons they’re able to use. Let’s individually check a handful of these droids and talk about what went into their design.
B1 Droids
The B1 Droids cover the role of the “fodder” enemy archetype on the planet Koboh. They’re as weak as can be, falling to just a single saber slash or reflected blaster shot, but they’re usually found in large groups and can still be a dangerous threat thanks to their range and their tendency for hitting Cal while they’re off screen. Most notably though, their banter is hilarious. Respawn has really upped their game in Jedi Survivor when it comes to amusing enemy conversations, so while it may be tempting to just wipe them out with a single force push, exercise some restraint for a few moments to let the dialogue play out and you’ll be rewarded with a good laugh.
B2 Droids
The B2 Droids are the bruisers of the droid family. They take a fair amount of hits to bring down and can pack a heavy melee punch, while also being armed with both a blaster and a missile launcher to deal damage from afar. They’re certainly no pushover, but fall in this really nice spot where once you learn to time parries on their melee attacks, reflect their blaster shots, and always be on the lookout to force pull their missiles, they become much less of a threat.
BX Droids
BX Droids are among the more agile droids and will surely put your melee combat skills to the test, as they will regularly parry your attacks and execute multi-hitting spin techniques, while also leaping around the battlefield and being an elusive target. These droids have canonically been shown to use Vibro Swords and go up against Jedi, which according to the team, really gave them a perfect mid-level enemy that can go toe-to-toe against Cal without feeling too fragile.
Droideka
You may know them more colloquially as “destroyer droids” or “those rolling droids from the prequels,” but they’re actually called Droidekas. I didn’t get a chance to face off against these in my own playtime, but from what I was told by design director Jason de Heras, fans should expect them to behave as you’d expect from the movies and shows. “They’ve got the bubble shield. That’s classic to the IP, so you know, we have to use that. We have to find a way to make that into the design. So they’ve got the bubble shield, they roll, and they actually incorporate that into their melee, so you can’t just stun-lock it forever,” he said.
IG-100 Magna Guard
The IG-100 Magna Guards are highly formidable enemies that anyone who’s a big fan of the Clone Wars series should immediately recognize. These are General Grievous’s elite bodyguards, and as such, they are highly skilled melee warriors that can give a Jedi a run for their money. De Heras describes the Magna Guards as a “superior elite” type of enemy that can be offensive, defensive, counter you, and attack in weird rhythms to try and throw your own counters off.
Shield Trooper
The Shield Trooper was born from a simple need: The team wanted a Scout Trooper that survived a little bit longer. But as with just about every enemy in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, there are several ways to bring them down. You could hack away at their shield with your lightsaber and eventually knock it away, but that would make you vulnerable to the other enemies surrounding you. You could try to maneuver around it and slash its back, but they’re generally pretty good at tracking you and you’d have to find some way to distract them. The ideal way to deal with them, though, is to hold down your force pull to yank their shield away, and then Captain America it right back at them. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is full of moments like this where you can use your force abilities in ways that make sense to gain an advantage in combat, without explicitly being told to do so.