The review embargo for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor lifted this morning, two days ahead of the game’s highly anticipated launch on Friday. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the eagerly awaited sequel to 2019’s action-adventure Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from developer Respawn Entertainment. Set five years after the first game, Jedi: Survivor sees Cal Kestis, now a full-blown Jedi Knight, still on the run from the powerful Galactic Empire seeking to eliminate the Jedi following Order 66.
When it launched, Fallen Order was considered to be one of the better single-player action adventures set in the Star Wars universe, and it was a much-needed win for EA. But despite its praise, the game had room for improvement. Many are hoping Star Wars Jedi: Survivor addresses and improves upon some of Fallen Order’s weaker areas. So does it? Check out what critics are saying about Star Wars Jedi: Survivor so far.
IGN - 9/10
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor takes what Fallen Order achieved and wall-runs with it, then double-jumps and air-dashes straight into an epic lightsaber battle… With a new set of larger, more diverse, and densely packed worlds to explore and a memorable cast of returning characters, Survivor tells a story that may be predictable but is still fun and at times emotional to watch play out. Launch performance issues aside, it’s a sequel that does virtually everything better than the original – which was already an exceptional Star Wars game.
GameSpot - 8/10
Survivor builds on Fallen Order in several meaningful ways, tightening up the combat mechanics, expanding the variety of lightsaber styles, alleviating the frustration of platforming and puzzles, and digging into less-mainstream Star Wars lore to tell a fantastic story about a Jedi trying to defeat a tyrannical evil at all costs and coming to the realization that you can't just fight for good--you have to fight for good in the right way. It's a superb Star Wars game that gets into the nitty-gritty of the struggle of what it takes for a Jedi Knight to begin the journey toward the rank of Master.
GameInformer - 9.25/10
Developer Respawn Entertainment clearly took a measured and thoughtful approach to analyze what worked and what didn’t in its last Star Wars game, and Jedi: Survivor feels like a worthy attempt at evolution. It captures the magic of Star Wars as well as anything in the current canon, and it’s a stellar adventure in its own right. Still, nailing the fantasy of being a Jedi? Doesn’t hurt.
PC Gamer - 80/100
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is an excellent sequel and a fun Star Wars story, but maybe wait for better performance.
Kotaku - No Score
Respawn’s Fallen Order sequel is a big, bombastic blockbuster but doesn’t forget what made the first one special.
Although this is just a few of the 100-plus reviews that have been published today, it’s a good representation of the overall sentiment regarding Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. The general consensus seems to be that it improves on its predecessor in almost every way fans had desired.
Interestingly though, there have been quite a few reviews mentioning technical issues. Hopefully, these issues are addressed by launch or shortly afterward. The good news is that even with them, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor seems to be a fun game.
On average, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has scored an 86 for PS5, 87 for Xbox Series X|S, and 81 for PC on Metacritic. It’s worth mentioning that the PC version only has 12 reviews though, and the score is being dragged down by two mixed reviews.
Overall, it sounds like Star Wars Jedi: Survivor lives up to the hype. You’ll get the chance to finally play it when it launches on Friday, April 28 for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.