''Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series'' is a series of three

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

adventure game An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

s originally released on May 21, September 25, and November 21, 2019, respectively, for the

Oculus Quest The first-generation Oculus Quest is a discontinued virtual reality headset developed by Oculus (now Reality Labs), a brand of Meta Platforms, and released on May 21, 2019. Similar to its predecessor, Oculus Go, it is a standalone device, tha ...

and

Rift In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics. Typical rift features are a central linear downfaulted depression, called a graben, or more commonly a half-graben ...

systems. A

PlayStation VR The PlayStation VR (PS VR) is a virtual reality headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, which was released in October 2016. The headset works with the company's PlayStation 4 video game console and is forward compatible with PlaySta ...

version was later released on August 24, 2020. The story, split up into three chapters, follows a

Force-sensitive The Force is a Metaphysics, metaphysical, mysterious, and Energy (esotericism), ubiquitous power in the ''Star Wars'' Universe of Star Wars, fictional universe. Characters refer to the Force as an energy that interconnects all things in the univer ...

smuggler taken captive by

Darth Vader Darth Vader () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as the primary antagonist and one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. He has become one of the most iconic villain ...

, who requires the smuggler to find an ancient artifact.

Gameplay

The game is composed of three chapters, with each one focusing on the usage of different abilities. Each episode includes a dojo which allows players to practice against waves of enemies using a

lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout ''Star Wars''. A typical lightsaber is shown as a luminous laser sword about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' ...

and

Force In physics, a force is an influence that can cause an Physical object, object to change its velocity unless counterbalanced by other forces. In mechanics, force makes ideas like 'pushing' or 'pulling' mathematically precise. Because the Magnitu ...

powers. The player follows a linear path through the game, able to use the Force to do various things as necessary to move forward to the next area.

Synopsis

The series, taking place between the events of ''

Revenge of the Sith Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'' and ''

Rogue One ''Rogue One: A Star Wars Story'' is a 2016 American epic space opera film directed by Gareth Edwards and written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy. Produced by Lucasfilm and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the first '' ...

'', follows a

smuggler, a descendant of the famous Lady Corvax, who is taken captive by

(

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being a majo ...

). Vader requires the smuggler to gain access to the Bright Star, an ancient artifact that once destroyed nearly all life on

Mustafar The fictional universe of the ''Star Wars'' franchise features multiple planets and moons. While only the feature films and selected other works are considered canon to the franchise since the 2012 acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disne ...

. Aided by his droid ZO-E3 (

Maya Rudolph Maya Khabira Rudolph (born July 27, 1972) is an American actress and comedian. In 2000, she became a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). During her tenure on the show, she appeared in supporting roles in ...

), the Mustafarian loremaster Vylip F'alma ( Keith Ferguson), Corvax's husband Black Bishop (

David Sobolov David Sobolov (born October 23, 1964) is a Canadian voice actor and director, best known for his roles as Gorilla Grodd in various DC media, Drax the Destroyer in various Marvel media, Kaido in ''One Piece'', and various characters in the ''Tran ...

), and a Mustafarian priestess ( Folake Olowofoyeku), the smuggler goes on a journey through Mustafar, learning lightsaber combat and harnessing his Force powers along the way, before facing off against the cybernetic Imperial admiral Gable Karius (

Steve Blum Steven Jay Blum (; born April 29, 1960) is an American voice actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, his roles include Spike Spiegel from the anime series ''Cowboy Bebop''; Amon from ''The Legend of Korra''; Heatblast, Ghostfreak, and ...

) and Vader himself, who seeks to use the Bright Star to bring back

Padmé Amidala Padmé Amidala (, ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. She first appeared in the 1999 film ''The Phantom Menace'' as the teenage queen of the fictional planet Naboo. In the following two films of the prequel trilogy, Padm ...

(

Natalie Portman Natalie Hershlag{{efn, Some Hebrew sources claim that her birth name was "Neta-Lee Hershleg" ({{langx, he, נטע-לי הרשלג) and later, her first name was Americanized to "Natalie". {{Cite news , last=Shamir , first=Oron , date=August ...

Development

All three chapters were written by writer

David S. Goyer David Samuel Goyer (born December 22, 1965) is an American filmmaker, novelist, and comic book writer. He is best known for writing the screenplays and stories for several superhero films, including '' Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (1998), t ...

and directed by special effects artist

Ben Snow Ben Snow is a visual effects artist who has been nominated four times at the Academy Awards. He works at Industrial Light & Magic. Early life Snow grew up in Australia, where he attended Narrabundah College and the University of Canberra. His u ...

. According to Snow, the premise of searching for an ancient artifact was inspired by the film ''

Raiders of the Lost Ark ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Lawrence Kasdan, based on a story by George Lucas and Philip Kaufman. Set in 1936, the film stars Harrison Ford as Indiana ...

''.

Reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

version a score of 69 out of 100, based on 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Critics praised the game's story, but criticized the gameplay as not being mechanically deep.

Awards

The first game of the series, ''Episode I'', received the inaugural PGA Innovation Award at the

31st Producers Guild of America Awards The 31st Producers Guild of America Awards (also known as 2020 Producers Guild Awards), honoring the best film and television producers of 2019, were held at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California on January 18, 2020. The nominations in ...

Notes

References

External links

* Episode I * Episode II * Episode III {{Star Wars games 2019 video games Episodic video games Meta Quest games Oculus Rift games PlayStation VR games category:Star Wars video games Video games developed in the United States