Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Review - 5 Ups & 3 Downs

2. The Mantis Is Great To Explore (But Could Probably Be Better)

Jedi Fallen Order Stinger Mantis
EA

Respawn created something really cool when they brought Greez Dritus' ship, the Stinger Mantis, into a galaxy far, far away. It looks tremendous, and giving players the ability to roam the ship while in takeoff and hyperspace is a stroke of genius on their behalf. Players can customise Cal's lightsaber from within the ship, rest, and even admire Greez's terrarium if they find seeds out in the wild. Pick up a Bogling stowaway on Bogano, and you'll be able to see it hiding in the vents, while players can also change the ship's paintjobs by finding crates in different levels.

It's pretty fun, but the premise never gets expanded upon to the levels you'd really hope. Cere pays reference to Star Wars' famed 'holochess' game in dialogue, but even though there's a table on the Mantis seemingly built for such a game, it never gets used. I don't want to get bogged down in 'could'ves' and 'should'ves', but it just seems obvious that the Mantis, although a great addition, could've been even better if Respawn were willing to flesh out the space even further.

Why not have a space battle segment? Let Cal sample Greez's famed cooking, or even perform maintenance on the ship in the vein of Red Dead Redemption 2's camp - anything to make it feel more lived-in than it already does.

Still, for all that the Mantis seems like a missed opportunity, the fact you can effectively play the loading screen is great fun, and is surely representative of Respawn's dedication to immersing players in a galaxy far, far away.

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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.