Half Life‘s introduction is famously slow. Long tram rides and lengthy speeches from co-workers preparing Gordon Freeman for an experiment that would destroy the world. An atmospheric start, for sure, but it’s a pain for folks trying to beat the game as quickly as possible. For one speedrunner, though, those dead minutes aren’t an obstacle – they’re the perfect opportunity to start practising for a record-breaking Star Wars run.

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Imagine a world without electricity. Horrible. What would we use to blend our smoothies? How would we know when uncle Derek hits the metal bit again in the Sunday game of Operation? Electricity has roughly one dozen uses, and yet it is in the realm of videogames when we see its most fantastical and offensive capabilities brought screaming to life. To celebrate the important role of sassy electrons in your otherwise mundane life of neutrons and – ugh – protons, here are the 8 most shocking uses of electricity in games.

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Star Wars is, for me, first and foremost a video game franchise. I know there are films, I ve seen some of them (seven of the eleven by my count), but I m far more likely to tell you that A New Hope took place between the events of Jedi: Fallen Order and Dark Forces II than the other way around. When I see that title fade away, and the yellow letters begin to scroll, I have that warm glowy feeling of familiarity and happy memories, but they re of the nefarious deeds of Darth Malek or the ripping yarns of Kyle Katarn, rather than Luke and his naughty daddy. (Sorry, spoilers.)

It is a peculiar relationship I ll concede, where two of my all-time favourite games have Star Wars in their titles (Knights Of The Old Republic, Dark Forces), but the films wouldn t even be thought of when making my movie list.

When I boot up the backwardly named Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, there s immediately a hefty dose of nostalgia. Meanie old droid 8T88, mentions of Dark Jedi (as opposed to Sith?), Kyle Katarn s beard, it s all a warm bath of teenage years. But, I was wondering, is it actually as good as I remember?

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Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is out today, letting you follow in the roguish bootprints of young force punter Cal Kestis, played here by Archie of Archie comics. In celebration of his boyish padawan appearance, and the way he uses a deadly weapon like you d use a torch app with dodgy permissions to find your keys, let s make a list. A list of the least qualified Jedi (and Sith) in PC games.

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This is one of the less celebrated of the classic Star Wars games (now decreed to be non-canonical by the House of Mouse). Don’t get me wrong; it’s no KotOR or Jedi Outcast, but there’s a lot to like under the hood of Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. Or, possibly, inside the tauntaun. (more…)

There’s no shortage of ‘best Star Wars games’ features across this nerdly old internet of ours, but the majority focus on console games which don’t often stray from the action/shooting category. On PC, we’ve had so much more variety over the years: sometimes for better, sometimes for very much worse. With the warm reception to the The Force Awakens meaning we no longer need to hate ourselves for retaining an innocent love of Long Time Ago, let’s mix nostalgia and contemporary game design values into a big, colourful ball and determine which PC titles are the least unwise ways to indulge that love.

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Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.>

Dark Forces was the first of the Star Wars FPS shooters and one I always felt was unfairly eclipsed by the (admittedly superior) Jedi Knight. Dark Forces bucked a lot of the trends that came before and a lot that would follow: it’s huge, sprawling levels seemed more life-like and realistic than what we’d seen in run-and-gun games like Doom and its imitators. … [visit site to read more]

Gathering together the best shooters is no easy task, but if you’re looking for a new PC FPS to play, look no further.

Your favourite game is at number 51.

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Star Wars started as cinema and ended up as something else – lots of things, from pillow cases to theme park rides. But chief among them, the form that best captures the core of Star Wars now, is games. The last Star Wars I enjoyed watching was released two years after I was born, in 1983, but since then games have given me dozens of dogfights, blaster battles and lightspeed adventures layered with the nostalgia, hope and acceleration that is essentially Star Wars.

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Hey cats, it’s hip to like Star Wars again rather than feeling dirty every time it’s mentioned. Of course, once JJ Abrams releases two hours of lens flare and nonsensical deus ex machinas it will be deeply uncool to like Star Wars again, so make hay while the sun shines. Star Wars videogames certainly are: first we get GoG re-releasing a bunch of previously out-of-print titles, and how the latest Humble Bundle is all about games from A Long Time Ago. For whatever you want to pay, you get KOTOR, Jedi Knight 3 and Dark Forces, which ain’t a bad set. There are more games if you want to pay more, but Republic credits are no good out here. … [visit site to read more]