They are paid for armor upgrades and are always looking for another quest. They are asked to pick items from dangerous locations and defeat enemies that threaten cities. These phrases describe a good number of games, but in this case they sum up The Mandalorian, the weekly live-action Star Wars series on Disney Plus. The first season of The Mandalorian is screaming for a “video game” and could (and should) be used as a template for one.
We were fascinated by the look of Mandalorian armor from the moment Boba Fett appeared in an animated short film of the abysmal Star Wars vacation special in 1978, but he really did convince the public when he appeared in a number of US bounty hunters in 1980 Movie, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. His sleek and colorful armor, jetpack, rocket, flamethrower, and Darth Vader’s “No Disintegration” warning made him an instant fan favorite, though he did not do or say much. We revered him for his looks and the belief that he was one of the most feared people in the galaxy. Thanks to The Mandalorian, we now know more about the armor and what drives the people who wear it. In the same breath, however, Boba Fett’s legacy has faded to a point of obscurity. We now have a much cooler Mandalorian we can swarm about, and unlike the grease, he’s not a cheat – he’s the real deal.
We do not know his name yet and there is a chance that we will never see who is under the helmet, but “Mando”, as he is jokingly called by the characters in the show, is written like a video game on a journey from rags to riches. He’s not looking for financial resources or gaining power in the galaxy, he just wants better armor. Above all, that’s what drives him. Like most game characters, Mando is guided by rare loot dates and is more than willing to stack missions to preserve them – even as he progresses through one of the episodes of the series to say that he will accept any assignment from a missionary. We all did that. Our mission queues are filled with tasks.
Look at all these side tasks!
Mando’s tasks are deleted from the videogame’s video book – escort, infiltration, and even a request to clear a courtyard of enemies (complete with a tower sequence). In most episodes, Mando receives a bounty for a specific target and a location tag to locate that person. The trailer is essentially a beeping waypoint system that results in a battle, an extraction (live or dead), and then rewarding a particular currency (yes, the show even has different currency types that a publisher would likely use to control microtransactions ).
What Mando most wants as a reward is a rare alloy called Beskar (or Mandalorian Iron), which he can bring to his armourer to forge a new piece of protection. The Mandalorians are proud and follow the paths of their ancestors, and the armor is treated almost like a religion. In the first episode of the show we learn that Mando does not have much Beskar with him and he tries to change that. This motivation alone could be the foundation of the game – accept quests to build a complete armor set. That’s basically fate, right?
This is probably what you would see when a new planet is loaded.
With this comparison, I do not throw Bungie in the shade. I was able to see Destiny’s overall design for the Mandalorian game: jump from planet to planet and explore open minded targets. It’s a concept that works well for a living game. The developer just has to add bounties.
The show also screams for cooperative play. In two episodes Mando was accompanied by bounty hunters to complete his missions. In the game, players would not just be Mandalorians. You could also be an IG unit or a former shock soldier of the Republic like Cara Dune. These characters also serve the role of the various classes, though the Mandalorian ranks are flush with them, like heavy infantry like Paz Vizla.
She and a friend are rolling together.
To further consolidate the game comparison, many of us have experienced frustration with buying a weapon that we think is great, only to find that it is largely unusable. Mando’s flame thrower fits this role. He is constantly trying to use it, and it rarely leads to results. He has to upgrade or drop the thing – I bet we’ll see it in future episodes. We’ve already seen him gain new power with the Whistling Birds mini rockets. Mando even comments on how to get a jetpack. Rise to gain new abilities.
The missionaries with whom he speaks could be used for faction-based games. Are you on the side of the Empire or the Bounty Hunter? Did you annoy a faction and they gave you a bounty? I do not think I have to say more. The show is a fucking video game and I want to play it. We’ll never see the canceled 1313 Boba Fett title from LucasArts, but it looks like we have a better shape to build right now. Since life is not fair, we’ll probably have a cute baby Yoda match-three game on the phone instead, but it does not hurt to dream big and pronounce what you think is a great game.
This is the way.
