Ever since Darth Maul lit up his double-sided lightsaber in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace, he is turn out to be a fan-favorite character because of his sheer coolness. Very properly, the builders at LucasArts had been fast to capitalize on the fan hype, bringing the demon-horned Sith Lord to numerous video video games over time, permitting followers to reap the benefits of his pace and ferocity in fight.
He is been a staple of Star Wars video video games for so long as Maul has been round, showing as the ultimate boss in a number of early titles earlier than turning into a fan-favorite playable character. He additionally represented the Star Wars model in different video games, even making cameos in some sudden collaborations.
With Star Wars: Maul – The Shadow King bridging the hole between the occasions of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and his look in Star Wars Rebels, we glance again at Maul’s accomplishments in video video games and the way the character has developed over time.
1999-2007: Character constructing
Darth Maul made his gaming debut within the 1999 official PSX tie-in sport Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace as the ultimate boss of the sport. Curiously, the sport gave Maul some generic evil villain dialogue to flesh out the character and make the boss fights really feel somewhat extra climactic.
LucasArts was fast to capitalize on Mual, who appeared in a number of different video games a couple of months later, first showing as a playable character in Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Energy Battles. Defeating him on the finish of the sport really unlocks Maul himself, permitting you to play as him once more and run the marketing campaign. Sadly, gamers could not use his double-edged lightsaber, however they had been in a position to make use of some cool new Sith powers to make up for it.
The PlayStation 1 period was fairly short-lived for Star Wars video games. Only a yr after the primary prequel film was launched, the PlayStation 2, which boasts highly effective {hardware} upgrades, is now obtainable worldwide. The unique Xbox was additionally launched with important graphical upgrades that gave the Sith Lord the respect he deserved.
In 2001, the sport begins to get somewhat foolish. Maul additionally seems as a playable character in Tony Hawk’s Professional Skater 3, the place he wears a dual-bladed lightsaber and performs Ollie. If you wish to see a very haunted mall rendition of what can solely be described as Cocomelon’s abomination, you are able to do so in Star Wars: Tremendous Bombad Racing.
For those who’ve by no means heard of this sport earlier than, it is as a result of it is one of many ugliest video games of all time, and it is rightly ignored of existence. Fortunately, the collection shortly regained its maul integrity with a greater racing sport, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, launched the next yr.
Except for the Cursed Race sport, virtually all of Maul’s first sport appearances had been reimaginings of Obi-Wan’s battle with Qui-Gon on the finish of The Phantom Menace, with little enlargement on the character. Fortunately, future video games will do a significantly better job of representing everybody’s favourite Sith underdog.
2005-2013: Cementing Mall as an icon within the collection of video video games
It is no exaggeration to say that it took some time for Star Wars prequel video games to search out their footing. Fortunately, the collection reached its all-time peak in 2005, and it may be argued that that is one of the best yr ever for a Star Wars sport. This yr alone noticed the discharge of licensed classics corresponding to Star Wars: Battlefront 2 and LEGO: Star Wars, that are nonetheless critically acclaimed.
Darth Maul joins these giant ensemble casts as a playable character, lastly permitting gamers to take full benefit of his dual-bladed lightsaber. Over the following few years, Maul appeared as a playable character within the sport’s sequels, sustaining his menacing aura towards all who opposed him.
He additionally seems as a shock boss battle in Star Wars: The Drive Unleashed, as one in every of Proxy’s hardest coaching modules. This can even be the primary time that Starkiller voice actor Sam Witwer will voice Darth Maul, laying the groundwork for Witwer’s nice characters for years to return.
Within the early 2010s, developer Purple Fly Studio approached LucasArts with an concept for a Darth Maul online game titled Star Wars: Conflict of the Sith Lords. The concept of ββthe sport follows a younger Maul earlier than he turns into a Sith Lord, and reveals how he should flip to the darkish facet so as to survive his traumatic upbringing.
Additionally round this time, The Clone Wars creators Dave Filoni and George Lucas started hinting that Darth Maul would return to the collection after surviving the battle with Obi-Wan on Naboo. This led the builders to begin planning a trilogy of video games primarily based on the character, however sadly the sport was canceled as a part of Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars. They tried to promote the sport to Disney and EA (which had unique publishing rights), however neither firm confirmed any curiosity.
Fortunately, the brand new Maul, who wears robotic legs, seems in each The Clone Wars Adventures and LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, cementing his place in canon.
2015 to current: EA period of Star Wars video games
With Disney’s acquisition of Star Wars in 2012, the corporate shut down LucasArts’ online game operations and turned to EA as the only real firm chargeable for future video games. Sadly, this meant that manufacturing of recent Star Wars video games slowed down considerably.
Curiously, the primary sport to function Darth Maul after Disney took possession was 2015’s Disney Infinity 3.0. For these not aware of Disney Infinity, it was a toy sport much like the Skylanders collection, the place gamers may buy toys and play with them throughout the sport.
Nearly all of Maul’s first appearances within the sport have him reconsidering his fights with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon.
For this model of the sport, the builders centered on completely different eras depicted within the Star Wars universe, one in every of which was the Clone Wars. This was nice as a result of it included a very new story, absolutely voiced by the identical forged as The Clone Wars TV collection, and featured Maul as the primary antagonist.
EA’s Star Wars period produced far fewer AAA Star Wars releases, however a number of cellular video games have appeared over time, together with Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, Star Wars: Drive Area, and Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, which function Maul in a roundabout way. Sadly, solely Galaxy of Heroes remains to be lively. However they went on so as to add three extra Mauls, one depicting the Phantom Menace’s debut, one other depicting his function because the chief of the Mandalorian, and most lately, his creepy spider.
foot model.
However his most up-to-date and iconic look in gaming is within the new Star Wars: Battlefront 2, produced by DICE and launched in 2017. This model of the sport in all probability reveals the character at his finest, as he weaves his approach by mobs of different gamers, throws them off ledges like Padawan Kenobi, and sprints throughout the map like a madman.
Sadly, Maul’s final look in a Star Wars sport was really in a collaboration with Fortnite in 2023, which allowed gamers to equip Maul’s look as an in-game pores and skin (together with a Lego model). Sadly, gamers had been as soon as once more unable to make use of his double-edged lightsaber, so Tony Hawk Professional Skater ended up successful the “Greatest Cameo” class right here.
Maul: Shadow Lord focuses on the previous Sith Lord and his rise as against the law lord, so it is attainable the character will seem in additional video games sooner or later. Sadly, whereas there might need been some hints of the character within the Star Wars: Outlaws sequel, which centered on smugglers, plans for the sequel are rumored to have been scrapped.
But when Shadow Lords’ success is something to go by, we hope we can’t have to attend lengthy to see the characters in an all-new online game someday quickly.