Summary
The concept of “What If” stories has been around the comic book industry for a good few decades now, with Marvel’s ownWhat If?comic series starting in 1977, and DC’sElseworldsseries beginning in 1989, but they’ve only just started to get popular in the mainstream pretty recently. Thanks to the rise in popularity ofmultiverse stories, the What If concept has started to become more of a common theme in the wider entertainment industry, and it’s only a matter of time before it becomes a prevalent part of the video game landscape, whereStar Warsshould be leading the charge.
ThecanonStar Warstimelinehas fluctuated a few times in the past, but ever since the Disney acquisition back in 2012, things have remained pretty constant. But while it’s great to have a clear timeline of canon events, especially for a universe as vast asStar Wars, it’s also fun to occasionally break that canon and ask What If? And withThe Walking Dead: Destiniespotentially about to set a blueprint, it might be time for aStar WarsWhat If game.
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Set to release on November 14,The Walking Dead: Destiniesis a third-person shooter that puts players in the boots of Rick Grimes as he makes his way through thefirst four seasons of theWalking DeadAMC show. The big hook ofWalking Dead: Destinies, however, is that players can alter the series' canon. When players reach pivotal moments in theWalking Deadstoryline, they can either choose to stick with the canon, or divert, and choose a What If-style alternative that sees different characters die and presumably a number of alterations to subsequent story events.
This sounds like a pretty great blueprint for a potentialStar WarsWhat If game. Much likeThe Walking Dead: Destinies, fans could play through the events of theStar Warssaga, or even just the original trilogy, and choose to mess with the canon timeline at key moments. Each of these decisions should then greatly impact the story moving forward, just as they would in any other choice-driven game such as those from Quantic Dream.
This wouldn’t be the first time that theStar Warsuniverse has had its own What If spin-off, but it wouldn’t take much to be the best. Back in the early 2000s, Dark Horse published a series ofStar Warscomics titledStar Wars: Infinities. Broken into three separate parts, these comics put a What If spin on the originalStar Warstrilogy, with each part seeing a different change occur, some of which lead to some truly absurd outcomes.Star Wars: Infinities’New Hopestoryline sees Luke Skywalker fail to blow up the Death Star, which leads to Leia becoming a Sith, and Yoda eventually crashing the space station into the Imperial Palace on Coruscant.Empire Strikes Backsees Luke die on Hoth, and Leia becoming a Jedi in his place. AndReturn of the Jedihas C3PO simply fall over in Jabba’s Palace, which somehow leads to Darth Vader turning to good at the end and wearing a white version of his iconic outfit.
ThoughStar Wars: Infinitieswasn’t all that great, the concept of aStar WarsWhat If story is still incredibly exciting With there being moreStar Warsmedia than ever before, there’s almost limitless potential for What If outcomes. AStar WarsWhat If game could see Ahsoka staying with the Jedi Order and fighting alongside Anakin and Obi-Wan inRevenge of the Sith, or see what would happen if Kylo Ren didn’t kill Han Solo inForce Awakensbut instead turned to the light, and that’s really just scratching the surface.
