As Star Wars continues to see increasing success with its latest gaming entries, the franchise has yet to directly tackle the horror genre, meaning it's about time that Death Troopers receives its gaming debut. Despite a wealth of potential for creating scary stories, neither the films, shows nor games have directly tackled horror as a core focus. On the other hand, though, Star Wars novels have readily dipped into horror, such as the Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear series which gave readers books like Ghost of the Jedi and The Doomsday Ship. However, as these were aimed at a younger audience, a better horror novel to adapt is Death Troopers.
Not to be confused with the in-universe elite stormtroopers of the same name, Death Troopers is a quintessential zombie story combined with the Star Wars lore and aesthetic. Written and developed in conjunction with a Star Wars: Galaxies update, the novel takes inspiration from other horror classics like The Shining and Alien according to its author Joe Schreiber. The story and the concepts it introduced were so popular for its time that its influence is still felt today, with other games like Star Wars: Commander adding zombified stormtroopers. With its ideal malleability for the gaming format, it needs to be a Star Wars horror game.
The Perfect Horror Game Within Death Troopers
Like many stories and video games involving zombies, the cause is a virus codenamed "Blackwing" which initially appears to kill its victims before transitioning to zombification. It bears similar hallmarks to the Resident Evil series where artificially created viruses are developed by evil organizations and used to create functional super soldiers, even down to details such as an enhanced healing capacity after death. The story leans heavily into its Alien roots and could even be compared to Dead Space where a ragtag group of immune survivors attempts to escape the prison barge "Purge" while avoiding hordes of the undead crawling through the ship.
Between the comparisons to Resident Evil, Dead Space, or even the successful and critically acclaimed Alien: Isolation, it's not difficult to envision how a Death Troopers game could take shape. Perhaps taking Isolation's first-person perspective and mechanics while paralleling its dedication to replicating the retro visuals of the original films, Death Troopers could task players with the simple objective of escaping the Purge alive, avoiding or incapacitating undead stormtroopers while saving other survivors where possible. Ultimately it would deliver a very distinctive Star Wars experience beyond the usual RPGs, action-adventures, and FPS games.
Death Troopers could even look to Dead Space or the upcoming The Callisto Protocol for a framework of how the game might look, feel, and tell its story. Sharing the sci-fi design principles as well as the near-human monsters, Death Troopers could immediately learn from the lessons these games provide to inform its story structure and character development. While the novel has interesting characters and subplots worth exploring, the game itself might need to take some creative liberties to successfully adapt it. For example, while the novel shows the Purge's crew initially dying, the game might skip this to throw the player right into the action.
Star Wars and Death Troopers Can Work Together
Though Star Wars has always played it fast and loose with its games' place in canon, such as The Force Unleashed and Starkiller's departure from canon, Death Troopers occupies a unique position that is not only ideal for a game adaptation but also for the overall Star Wars lore. Set roughly a year prior to the events of A New Hope, the story itself doesn't interfere with either the original trilogy and can distance itself from both the prequel and sequel trilogies. Should the adaptation adhere to the original Death Troopers' story, then it will need to walk a fine line between ensuring continuity and adding its own flair.
This wouldn't be the game's only benefit, as the novel itself features fan-favorites Han Solo and Chewbacca, who try to escape the Purge along with other survivors. Including such significant characters that tie directly to the main films is a golden opportunity to draw in an audience through pop culture recognition. Doing so bears risks, as not only would they reduce the game's stakes, as the pair are certain to survive for continuity's sake, but it could also leave the game vulnerable to criticism if it gets the characterization wrong of these beloved characters.
Adding Diversity To Star Wars Games
Supposing that a Death Troopers adaptation successfully finds a balance between its homage to the classic Star Wars era and a modern interpretation of its unique story, the game could add some much-needed diversity to the Star Wars roster. Many Star Wars games have focused on providing an action-adventure experience that fits with the traditional model of current games. This is understandable, given that Star Wars is one giant space opera of good versus bad, but as of late the franchise has demonstrated it is capable of expanding its scope which has been celebrated by fans.
A horror entry is therefore not only long overdue but also eagerly welcomed. Fans have already seen very similar stories repeatedly depicted that invariably focus on the Jedi or the Sith, something which has left a vacuum that alternative forms and genres of content could fill. For instance, Star Wars: Eclipse is possibly an early indication of a new approach to storytelling in the franchise that focuses more on its narrative and less on its gameplay. Meanwhile, on Disney Plus, Star Wars: Andor's success proves fans want darker stories from the franchise.
Ultimately, a Death Troopers game remains a distant idea in a galaxy far, far away. It would require the right game developer and ideal approach, but also it would need Disney's and Lucasarts' approval for the adaptation. However, the possibility still lives on, especially when Death Troopers wields an impressive amount of potential that, in the right hands, could be an excellent horror experience under the Star Wars banner. Star Wars and horror fans alike can only hold out hope though as the franchise focuses on its upcoming Star Wars: Jedi sequel among its many other projects.