10 Video Game Abilities Developers Always Get Wrong

10. The Lightsaber

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LucasArts

There isn't a weapon more iconic across fiction than the lightsaber - and for good reason. Although it is essentially just a giant glowing sword comprised of pure energy, its aesthetic and physical uniqueness has cemented it as one of the most coveted props in cinematic history. Everyone wants one, and that's why most games situated in a galaxy far, far away all have protagonists who use them as their primary weapon.

Sadly, the translation from film to pixel hasn't always gone smoothly. In fact, the only series to really sell the weight and power of the lightsaber was the Jedi Knight series, and that came to a close in 2003.

The developers behind that series, Raven Software, understood that in order to sell the power of the lightsaber you had to depict its ferociousness in full detail. Take it to a stormtrooper and they're going to probably wind up with fewer limbs for their trouble; duel with a Sith Lord, and the clash needs to feel theatrical, weighty and skilful.

Star Wars games since have shied away from that however, instead treating it like an over-glorified baseball bat. It makes contact with enemies like a blunt instrument, and while this is doubtlessly done to secure a favourable rating from classification boards, it does take away from the experience time and again.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.