We sat down with two members of the Beyond Victory team to dish about the joys of podracing and what to expect in Volo’s story.
If you've ever wanted to race against Sebulba, but don't have the reflexes of a Jedi in the making, the mixed reality adventure and thrills of the Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset has everything you’re looking for.
Steve McManus, lead experience designer on Star Wars: Beyond Victory, and Emily Shkoukani, creative executive at Lucasfilm, spoke with StarWars.com to offer some tips to help get you started with Beyond Victory’s three gameplay modes.
Beyond Victory’s Adventure Mode balances a high-stakes adventure in the podracing underworld with the tight-knit friendships of Volo Bolus — an up-and-coming competitor who dreams of becoming the most famous racer in the galaxy.
Basing a new mixed-reality story on podracing was an idea that the Beyond Victory team latched onto early. Setting the story during the Reign of the Empire gave the creators a chance to use established iconography like stormtroopers as well as bring back a fan-favorite character from the prequels. McManus enjoyed getting to use a character like Sebulba during a time when the racer’s career was in a place far removed from what the fans of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace remember. “His character sort of acts as this dark mentor [to Volo] which works well with the desperate situation of that time. His reputation is diminished, which sort of places it far from his heyday.”
In the story, Volo’s big dreams are grounded by the realities of a failing garage business and the recent loss of their best friend, Pyya. “Now that Pyya is gone, they have to carry on a dream for two,” notes McManus. “So the story is grounded in a lot of heavy emotional content that counterbalances the exciting and death-defying caperish qualities to the story.”
To Shkoukani, the strength of Volo’s character drives much of the emotionality of the story, immersing players as they progress through different chapters. “You’re rooting for them the whole time,” says Shkoukani, “and you’re thinking ‘I’m playing this experience and yet also want to know, what’s going to happen to Volo?’”
Other characters you’ll meet in Beyond Victory’s story include Sornah, a free-spirited Twi’lek artist who has a maternal relationship to Volo; Deland Tyerell, the son of podracer Ratts Tyerell who died in the Boonta Eve Classic in The Phantom Menace; and Luuda, an opportunistic and defiant mercenary. Trizz, who is a part of Sebulba’s gang, was a favorite for McManus. “Greg Proops, who voices Trizz, does such an excellent job. The character is exactly who you want him to be as you fill the cast of a crime consortium. He fits the bill of the wise-cracking loose cannon.” (And yes, podracing fans, Proops also returns in Victory to voice Fode during your races.)
Beyond Victory uses VR for scenes where players use their hands to help Volo repair their podracer with tools like a spark-spitting welding tool and where cutscenes continue Volo’s story as they venture away from the garage into Sebulba’s questionable crew. Victory’s holotable takes center stage for the more action oriented scenes as well as exterior sequences. “There’s a 3D story book feel to exterior scenes as you’re moving through the garage,” says McManus. “It’s like a pop-up book on steroids.” The scale of the images changes during the gameplay of Beyond Victory from detailed exteriors where players can examine their surroundings at their own pace to jaw-dropping moments of a gigantic ship landing in your living room.
In addition to Beyond Victory’s story, Playset Mode lets fans’ imaginations run wild with digital figures, vehicles, and tools they can pose and scale to create the ultimate Star Wars sandbox. “It goes beyond Beyond Victory in that it fulfills this sort of universal urge to play with toys but now in a virtual setting where you’re not restricted to the typical physical limitations,” says McManus.
For racing enthusiasts (or those that just want more practice), Arcade Mode offers players a chance to finetune their racing skills with power ups, multiple tracks and racers, and an opportunity to compare their scores on a leaderboard. Shkoukani suggests fans take their time with racing as their skills improve. And remember, if you’re not a natural racer, “Humans aren’t really capable of podracing. You’re all doing great!”
Start your podracing engines and join the fun with Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset available now!
