Star Wars 1313 is not a sequel to Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, the 2002 game that let players control Jango Fett as he tried to unravel a conspiracy. But it certainly feels like another pass on the same basic idea. Yesterday, LucasArts revealed Star Wars 1313 as the next major game in the franchise that has metastasized into an unkillable quasi-religious alternate reality.
The game is set on Level 1313 of the planet Coruscant, which historians will recall as the techo-glinting capital of the universe. The planet’s main city is built around vertical levels, and Level 1313 (meaning it is that many levels above the planet’s core) is where all the grimy bounty hunters skulk about and betray one another in the hope of making a few space credits.
LucasArts promises the game will emphasize “a hero who uses human skills and gadgets, rather than supernatural Force powers, to make his way through this dangerous world.” Little else has been shown from the game, but an extended gameplay demo will be shown on Monday.
In the meanwhile, let’s congratulate LucasArts for remaining so committed to the idea of bounty hunters for more than a decade. Ideas are cheap, after all, but getting them right takes repetition. At least a decade’s worth so far.