Star Warsfans have been blessed with new installments, spin-offs, and reimaginings since it was purchased by Disney in 2012. The property is bigger than ever, and the rise of Disney+ has ensured that there has been a steady trickle of content from the franchise, whether fans want it or not. In video games, there have been a handful of projects that have been fitting of the lofty name, while some weren’t as well received.Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderpulled its philosophy from popular games of the time, butStar Warshas the history and pedigree to provoke something more niche, and the characters to make it enticing to fans.
Flying games are far from commonplace, asAce Combatisn’t as prominent as it used to be andMicrosoft’s Flight Simulatoronly really occupies a small, yet dedicated market.Star Warsis a suitable, popular, and pre-existing IP that would bring the genre to mass audiences, potentially cementing it as an expectation on the annual video game calendar moving forward. Naturally, to make it feel like something from a galaxy far, far away it has to have more than just theStar Warsname, and Poe Dameron would be the perfect vessel to carry a flight simulator in the Disney-owned license.
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Poe Dameron is a Popular Piece of the Star Wars Puzzle
For all the criticism the new trilogy received, one of the few near-universally acclaimed things about the films is Poe Dameron, a resistance pilot who quickly forms a friendship withwayward Stormtrooper Finn. He’s cheeky, instinctive, playful, and extremely efficient in aerial combat, and is introduced as a character who clearly has a storied past, even if it’s rarely delved into with any fine detail.
Poe Dameron would be perfect for his own game, and a flight simulator would be the obvious choice for the genre. His personality isn’t far from fan-favoriteUnchartedtreasure hunter Nathan Drakewith his rugged charm and unwavering luck. He’s also presented to audiences as a man who has already lived a full life before the events ofStar Wars: The Force Awakens, unlike Rey who is molded by the events of the trilogy. Rey’s tale is told, but Po’s past would be ripe for a video game narrative to unfold, giving gamers a pre-existing and widely loved character that can be further developed to make his place in the recent trilogy all the more interesting.
Star Wars is a Flight Simulator Fan’s Goldmine
As far as iconic spaceships go,Star Warshas a handful that are known even outside its fandom. Be it the nimble nature of a TIE Interceptor or themajesty of Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon, so many vessels in the franchise are more recognizable even than those who pilot them. The property is perfectly placed for an engaging flight simulator series to be forged, and thoughStar Wars:X-WingandStar Wars: Squadronsdo well to give fans of the genre something to like, they never did much to entice casual audiences.
Microsoft’s Flight Simulatoris a visual and technical marvelbut lacks any real character to make it truly captivating.Star Wars, while surely provoking a very different product, would add a flavor of escapism and storytelling that has been missing from the genre for a while, and much narrative potential can come from a strong character to push the story forward. Poe Dameron is familiar enough to carry a game that feels like aStar Warsproduct but has more potential than has currently been realized in the media in which he has featured. Bringing him to a newStar Warsflight simulator would do both the character, and the property itself the justice they both deserve in the video game space.
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