The game is better than the Movie?
Ah, the subtle pleasures of intergalactic fascism. My flotilla of TIE fighters swarmed through space like locusts, picking off rebel troops at will. My mammoth Star Destroyers had reduced a rebel base to a smoldering hulk, and Darth Vader had personally blown up Millennium Falcon and killed that jackass Han Solo -- twice (Wired).
Any jackanape that would revel in fascism in any of its disgusting genocidal forms has problems, but I do not fault this nudnik. People love to revel in evil. It gives them a sense of power that they otherwise lack. The imagery and iconography of the empire my be alluring, but I am concerned about the person who relishes in the genocidal nature of any villainous group. It can be fun, even exhilarating, to play an evil character, but when we celebrate that evil we need to consider what we are doing carefully.
I know what you are thinking: You are a fan of Cradle of Filth, and death rock and you are going to wax piously about morality! Well, I do have an affinity for dark imagery, and I do love vampires and supernatural horror in general, but I would never support fascism. Even in games when I play the empire or the Sith, I feel a distance from the role. There is a difference between exploring dark emotions and celebrating fascism.
Normally, I cringe whenever Lucas launches another movie. Ever since the Ewoks appeared in 1983's Return of the Jedi, his films have steadily tobogganed downwards into a vale of unwatchability. It's hard to figure out what Lucas has done worse: Is it his increasingly Disneyfied characters? His wooden scripts? Or the plots that, having been carefully denuded of action sequences, instead focus on, y'know, trade disputes (Wired)?
Why were the games so comparatively good? A cynic would say it's because Lucas probably isn't as closely involved in the games, so his young designers aren't hampered by his inane creative decisions. But I actually suspect it's deeper than that. I think it's because games are beginning to rival film -- and even eclipse it -- as the prime vehicle for sci-fi and fantasy (Wired).
Action scenes are fun, and I write my share, but they do not make something SF. STORY DOES! Few SF games offer anything in the lines of an enthralling story. Black and White (and it's sequels), Final Fantasy, Knights of the Old Republic, and Oddworld are the only ones who come to mind. Most are inane first person shooters or military games that have a veneer of SF.
Story is dying, and may soon go away. I pray God that games do not replace the simple please of watching a movie, or better still reading a book.