In Star Wars: Hunters, you can play as two Jawas in a trench coat, a precariously balanced sibling duo that slings scrap metal. It’s the kind of wacky, creative premise that should tell you all you need to know about the newest Star Wars video game — this time from gaming behemoth Take-Two (the parent company behind everything from Grand Theft Auto to NBA 2K). The new game, available now on Nintendo Switch and mobile (with cross-platform saves), combines the hero-shooter genre with the familiar locales of everyone’s favorite galaxy far, far away.
“We have to make that something that is approachable to people, so that it’s not too unusual where they can’t pick up and play those things,” design director Scott Warner tells Inverse. Warner cites games like Overwatch and Apex Legends as influences on Star Wars: Hunter.
Traipsing through the world of Hunters, I was struck by how similar it felt to taking a tour of Galaxy’s Edge, the immersive Star Wars attractions at Disney parks in California and Florida. I’ve shared cocktails with friends at a Star Wars cantina in real life, and now my hero was being blown to bits across nearly identical terrain
“The maps are like Disneyland,” art director Dominic Estephane tells Inverse. “You are immersed, but then you look up and you see the crowd, and that’s something you notice. It’s a set. It’s a TV show. There was a big influence from Disneyland to make it feel like you’re in this setting.”