Jedi, Sith, Imperials, Rebels, bounty hunters… Star Wars has done it all in the realm of video games, but sometimes it’s hard to navigate such a crowded galaxy of interactive adventures, so here’s our list with the 10 best Star Wars games, most of which you can play right now.
It’s also the perfect time to get into the Jedi (or dark side) spirit, as EA’s Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, the long-anticipated sequel to 2019’s Jedi: Fallen Order, has just been released. It’s almost certainly worthy of a spot on this list, but we’re waiting for a few performance patches before we give it that honor. It’s on this council, but we do not grant it the rank of master until the bugs get patched out.
Meanwhile, other publishers are working alongside Lucasfilm Games (a comeback of sorts of the LucasArts label) to ramp up the output of Star Wars titles. If Disney’s new plan for the IP in gaming works out, we might be looking at a new golden age of Star Wars video games akin to that of the early 2000s.
The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is though, so for now, here are our picks for the best Star Wars games of all time.
10. Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds
- Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux
- Developer: Ensemble Studios
It was a close competition between Empire at War (2006) and Galactic Battlegrounds (2001) for the crown of the best Star Wars real-time strategy (RTS) game, but honestly, Galactic Battlegrounds is a Star Wars reskin of Age of Empires – it was literally developed by the same studio – and there are few blueprints in the realm of video games as 100% future-proof as that one. The base game was already packed, but its 2002 campaign, Clone Campaigns, added tons of prequel content that rounded the package out.
Much like the OG Age of Empires titles, Galactic Battlegrounds is a highly accessible RTS, packing meaty campaigns as well as customizable skirmishes (versus AI or other players) that will never not be fun. Aerial units always were janky trash though, so we’d recommend ignoring them as much as possible.
9. Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Platforms: PC
- Developer: BioWare
Back in the day, plans for a third KOTOR game were scrapped and eventually turned into a Star Wars MMORPG that could compete against World of Warcraft. BioWare returned to the IP under EA’s orders, but the launch of the game failed to hit the ambitious targets set by LucasArts and EA. Despite the rocky start, The Old Republic eventually became a popular online game that still gets new content and regular updates to this day.
Turns out that KOTOR and BioWare fans simply wanted more narrative-heavy content and something that didn’t feel like a worse version of WoW (who would have thought!), so things got noticeably better for one of the most expensive games ever as soon as EA and BioWare doubled down on the story content. Nowadays, it’s a pretty chill “freemium” online game filled with dozens (if not hundreds) of hours of top-notch Star Wars storytelling.
8. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
- Platforms: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S
- Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Many expected Respawn’s Jedi-centric action-adventure Star Wars project to follow in the footsteps of the Jedi Knight series or The Force Unleashed, but thankfully, the veteran studio – which came at the time from a first-person shooter background – had other plans. Fallen Order feels like the perfect mix of Soulslike games and the right amount of Metroid DNA. That might sound weird on paper for Star Wars, but trust us: it works.
Cal Kestis’ adventure – set in the vast time period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope – could have easily gone overboard on the fan-service, but the creatives behind the game instead focused on expanding the lore and exploring old and new corners of the galaxy from a new perspective. It’s a blast to play through, but also one of the strongest Disney-era Star Wars stories released so far.
7. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series
- Platforms: PC, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube
- Developer: LucasArts, Factor 5
Star Wars and flight simulators also have a long history together. As a result, picking the very best from the genre was tough, but Rogue Squadron came out on top. It’s just a really consistent series that hit the sweet spot between simulation controls and an arcade-y feeling.
We're cheating a bit here by rolling all three of them into one entry, but we really can't decide between them. Many fans are familiar with the original game as it was released on PC, but things were taken to the next level with the sequels, both of which were GameCube exclusives that still haven’t been remastered nor re-released. Beyond the great use of GameCube’s powerful hardware, they contain the most memorable aerial and space clashes you can find in Star Wars video games, and that’s saying a lot.
6. Star Wars: Republic Commando
- Platforms: PC, Xbox, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch
- Developer: LucasArts
Republic Commando got a second chance at wowing casual players thanks to a recent re-release for modern consoles (including its debut on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms). Despite the positive reception back in 2005 and its dedicated cult following, it always lived under the shadow of other Star Wars releases.
Republic Commando used the opportunity of exploring the darker side of the Clone Wars to craft a tight tactical first-person shooter (FPS) that still holds up today. Moreover, fans loved the Delta Squad – the starring group of enhanced clones – so much that they eventually made the jump to the new Star Wars canon through the 3D Clone Wars series and EA’s Star Wars Battlefront II.
5. Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005)
- Platforms: PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox
- Developer: Pandemic Studios
For many, the original Battlefront II remains the ultimate Star Wars video game. Released around a year after its predecessor, it featured locations, units, heroes, weapons, and vehicles from all over the original trilogy and the prequel movies. Furthermore, modders went (and still go) absolutely wild with the PC version of the game.
Without rose-tinted nostalgia glasses, it doesn’t hold up quite as well as you remember: the AI of enemy units is quite bad, the space battles were obviously rushed out the door, and some mechanics inexplicably went missing coming from the first game.
Still, it’s a wonderful Star Wars playground for lovers of first/third-person shooters that did way more than just mimicking the original Battlefield games.
4. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Platforms: PC, PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Nintendo Switch
- Developer: Traveller’s Tales
Perhaps the only Star Wars all-in-one package more complete than EA’s Battlefront II, the latest Lego Star Wars game went over the entire Skywalker Saga and rebuilt from scratch every major location and plot beat to create the ultimate celebration of the immortal franchise.
If you don’t mind the Lego aesthetics, don’t skip this one. And if you love Lego playsets and figures as much as Star Wars, this may become one of your all-time favorites. There’s so much content and heartfelt love for the universe crammed into this one that it still makes our (blocky) heads spin. It’s the perfect couch co-op game for the whole family, too.
Just watch out, it's a real gateway drug towards spending all your credits on the real Lego Star Wars sets.
3. Star Wars: Battlefront II (2017)
- Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One
- Developer: DICE
EA and DICE’s second attempt at reviving the Battlefront franchise had one of the roughest triple-A launches in recent memory, yet the publisher and the studio’s commitment to turning the ship around paid off big time. By the time post-launch support ended in the first half of 2020, Battlefront II had become the most faithful Star Wars video game available since Pandemic’s efforts over a decade prior.
Public opinion has also changed considerably since then, and the fact it’s more active online than many big-name releases that released afterwards proves our point: this is a damn good Star Wars video game. From Episode I to IX, it’s a gorgeous, action-packed journey (complete with a decent story campaign) through all the Star Wars movies in order, showcasing their most iconic heroes, villains, and battles.
2. Star Wars: Jedi Knight series
- Platforms: PC, macOS, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo Switch, PS4
- Developers: LucasArts, Raven Software
This entry was a no-brainer, with one tricky caveat; Dark Forces (1995) is the first chapter of the Jedi Knight storyline – which follows mercenary-turned-Jedi Kyle Katarn – but technically doesn’t count because it lacks that denomination. Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II was the first step into a more ambitious style of gameplay that mixed FPS action and third-person action-adventure that the series is best known for. We’re counting it, and the series as a whole, for this entry.
The Jedi Knight games always felt special because they nailed both the shooting and the Jedi gameplay. Their lightsaber system was fantastic, and the selection of available Force powers (including dark side ones) is nothing short of impressive. Jedi Outcast and Academy’s outstanding multiplayer modes were the icing on the cake and still sustain healthy online communities of veteran players.
1. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2
- Platforms: PC, macOS, Linux, Android, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
- Developers: BioWare, Obsidian Entertainment
Many Star Wars fans and old-school gamers maintain the KOTOR games are the absolute peak of Star Wars video games, and it’s hard to argue against them. Both entries – developed by legendary RPG studios BioWare and Obsidian – nailed the party-based role-playing systems as much as the refreshing Star Wars world-building.
To this day, the impact of the Knights of the Old Republic games is felt across many areas of modern Star Wars, and Lucasfilm still hasn’t straight-up contradicted most of the events that transpired thousands of years before The Phantom Menace. Now, we’re all eagerly awaiting a shiny, highly reworked remake of BioWare’s original masterpiece.
If you’re looking for other space gaming lists, you might want to check out our list of the best space exploration games or maybe the all-spooky best space horror games list. And if it's Star Wars content you crave, be sure to keep up with our Mandalorian season 3 reviews.
