Star Warsgames had a bit of a rough patch when EA Games was in full control of them; both entries in the rebootedBattlefrontseries were subject to tons of backlash from fans. This resulted in EA taking a step back and letting other companies make the games while EA’s name was featured only for publishing.
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As a result, fans have been gifted with two outstanding gems withJedi: Fallen OrderandStar WarsSquadrons. With the success of these two titles, some fans are hoping that the fabled Project Ragtag is resurrected. What is Project Ragtag? One of many canceled Star Wars games that disappointed fans.
8Story Of A Scoundrel
Taking a step away from the mystic Jedi side of things and the military side of the war, Project Ragtag (a placeholder title) would havefocused on the gritty underworldofStar Wars. This was shown through a short teaser that featured a Han Solo-esque character walking out into a desert world.
Even the lead developer of the game described the main character like Robin Hood meets Star-Lord fromGuardians Of The Galaxy. It certainly would have made for a refreshing experience in theStar Warsuniverse. Currently, no voice actors were confirmed for all the characters but Nolan North was in the game as a bounty hunter character.
7Attack Of The Developers
Developed by a team of decorated game developers: Project Ragtag was headed by Naughty Dog’s Amy Hennig ofthe famousUnchartedgamesand she was working with Visceral, the team behind theDead Spacetrilogy.
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While that’s no guarantee that the game would have been good, it still had fans excited to see what they had in store. According to one of the producers at Visceral, it had the potential to be one of the bestStar Warsgames ever made.
6AT-ST Demo
One sequence of Project Ragtag which was sent to EA as a demo featured the player escaping from a pursuing AT-ST Walker. Mixing action and cinematic gameplay, it sounded like a sequence straight out of anUnchartedgame and that’s far from a bad thing.
Using the Frostbite graphics engine to its max, the game was meant to look like an actualStar Warsmovie. From the teaser trailer’s visuals andStar Warsgames' other use of the Frostbite engine: it would have been eye-popping. Other levels of the game were presented as well but unfortunately, never to the public.
5Third Person Gameplay
With Visceral behind the scenes, Project Ragtag was set to be a third-person shooter. It was described as a very similar third-person experience asUncharted. Maybe with a hint of Visceral’sDead Spacegameplay but with a faster pace to match the action.
Whether or not it was an open world, an RPG orjust a linear action gameis unknown due to the game’s cancellation. Apparently, there would have been some traversal and platforming but to what extent? Currently unknown.
4An Unexplored Era
Typically, the Expanded Universe ofStar Warstries to take advantage of the larger gaps between films and even entire trilogies. Project Ragtag’s story would take place between the events ofA New HopeandThe Empire Strikes Back.
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Being able to experience the aftermath of the Battle Of Yavin from a civilian’s point of view would have been interesting. And yes, it would have been a canon story much likeFallen Orderand evenBattlefront II’s story.
3A Star Wars Heist
Amy Hennig stated that she wanted to tell a heist story; this was elaborated on with the description of a rescue mission in Jabba’s palace on Tattooine. Much like the AT-ST sequence, the rescue mission was another demo sent to EA.
So a hint ofGrand Theft Auto V? This makes Project Ragtag sound very similar to another canceledStar Warsgame withthe infamousStar Wars: 1313.
2Visceral’s Struggle With The Game
Game development for Project Ragtag proved to be difficult because Visceral games had an overhaul; some members left to work on other games. Some of them even went on to makeMarvel’s Avengersas part of Crystal Dynamics.
The timing was also jarring because Visceral had already done so much work onBattlefield: Hardlineat the time. Working on Project Ragtag itself provided a lot of challenges for the rebooted Visceral team. They were taking an engine meant for first-person games and creating a story-driven third-person experience.
1The Fall Of Visceral And Ragtag
Project Ragtag managed to develop a large portion of the game. Unfortunately, Ragtag did not fit into EA Games' business plan because was too close to theUnchartedgames. The developers have stated that that comment was too reductive; that they wish they had presented more footage for the public.
EA had a business plan and, unfortunately, Project Ragtag did not fit in it. Because of this, Ragtag and Visceral were shut down. This was a tragic fate for a great team of game developers. Fortunately, things changed with Respawn’sStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.Since EA seems to be less of an issue, fans hope that a spiritual successor is created in the future.
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