Star Wars Eclipse Trailer Breakdown: Welcome To The High Republic

"The Game Awards" took place last night and brought the goods in a big, bad way. We got loads of trailers and reveals, and many of them pertained to gigantic franchises, such as a "Texas Chan Saw Massacre" video game, a new "Dune" game, the first trailer for the "Halo" series, and our first footage from "Sonic the Hedgehog 2." But it was perhaps the complete surprise reveal of "Star Wars Eclipse" that stole the night. And for good reason.

Lucasfilm Games teamed has teamed with Quantic Dream for the game, which is described as being in early development. Be that as it may, they had enough time to craft one of the best-looking "Star Wars" trailers of any kind you're ever likely to see. It is also set during the High Republic era, which is roughly 200 years before the events of "The Phantom Menace." That means it contains a lot of new stuff, with some familiar imagery to anchor it to the universe.

Given how cinematic this trailer is, and given the wealth of fascinating imagery, we decided it would be a good idea to break this puppy down and have a closer look to see what we can glean about this very mysterious game. Let's dig in, shall we?

We open with a very intriguing shot of a grey-skinned humanoid of an unconfirmed species banging on some drums. We see lots of him and his drum-banging counterparts throughout the footage. We'll get a lot of unconfirmed stuff in this trailer, since this is new territory, and that means lots of new stuff. That being said, another shot later in the trailer opens the door for some speculation (we'll get there.) In the meantime, the atmosphere is interesting, as there are tree roots jutting out from behind the drum. Where are they, exactly? A good question with precious few answers right now.

Here we get a shot of an actual eclipse taking place in a galaxy far, far away, which gets right to the point of the title. As a companion to the shot of the actual eclipse, which continues to show up throughout the trailer, we get this neat look of the event mirrored on an unidentified figure's eye.

Just some very cool visual stuff here. And that's pretty much all this trailer has to hang its hat on, as there is no dialogue. It's all about creating the visual language of this era and this portion of the Outer Rim.

Next, we get an unidentified spacecraft limping its way to a planet (also unidentified) after suffering some damage. How was it damaged? A good question! Also, not for nothing, but the panning shot across the asteroid field to reveal the ship is very classic "Star Wars" movie intro stuff, and I am here for it.

Here we have a shot of what is described as a "bustling cityscape" on the game's official website. While not named, it does look an awful lot like Coruscant, though we can't confirm at this time if that's what we're looking at. Wherever it may be, it certainly looks to be a prosperous place. Sort of the opposite of Tatooine.

Now we move to a particularly intriguing section of the trailer, which sees us wandering through a bazaar on an unknown planet. It's jam-packed with interesting visuals that feel like they are right at home in the franchise. We get some weird chicken creatures (pictured above), as well as Mon Calamari (below), not to mention this suspicious fellow with his big hat tipped down (also below).

Perhaps the most visually striking shot is the one just below of a Duros, an alien species we have indeed seen before in "Star Wars." Fans of "The Clone Wars" may recognize Cad Bane as another example.

This one has a bit of a steampunk look, which is pretty interesting. It's an aesthetic that certainly suits the franchise, while also looking kind of new. Part of what makes this trailer so appealing is that it's adding a lot to the universe, rather than leaning too much on the familiar. 

We get one pretty neat shot of a speeder bike racing across a seemingly shallow body of water on a planet that may be in the shadow of this eclipse. An unidentified horse-like creature watches on. Not much significant happening here other than it is neat to look at.

While the High Republic era is largely populated by new characters, given that it takes place so long ago in the "Star Wars" timeline, we do get a shot of Yoda here, who lived to be around 900. During this time, he was a spry young Jedi Master in his 600s. Here, we see him overlooking Coruscant from the Jedi Council chambers. One of the few familiar shots in the whole trailer.

One of the more impressive shots from a visual standpoint is this shot of this new droid. It looks to be a protocol droid not dissimilar to C-3PO, especially from "The Phantom Menace," before he got his plating. Did they include this shot because the droid is significant to the story? Or just because it looks cool? Time will tell.

Now we're talking. This sequence should feel familiar to fans, as we see a couple of Jedi dueling on a bridge. There is no red lightsaber in the bunch, which signals that this is indeed two Jedi, with no Sith among them. The High Republic era is devoid of Sith, as this is when the Jedi were at the height of their powers. Are these Jedi in a heated disagreement? Or just training? Whatever the case, it sure does look good.

Next, we get a couple of shots of new ships across watery landscapes. The first sees what looks to be more of a freighter landing on a dock in a more sunny part of the galaxy. Then we get a very different look at some smaller ships flying towards a fortress of some kind in a gloomy landscape.

If Darth Vader had built a castle somewhere on the ice as opposed to on Mustafar, this looks like the kind of thing he would have built. It's ominous and imposing. It doesn't look like the kind of place that good guys hang out, that much is certain.

As we can see, we have a good shot of a Neimoidian that is reminiscent of something from the prequel era. We saw several members of this species in movies like "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones," as many of them headed up the Trade Federation. Given that we also see some ships and space stations in this trailer that look similar to the ones used by the Trade Federation, perhaps we might see some of the early shades of that organization in "Eclipse."

This is my personal favorite moment in the trailer. We see two Jedi in a snow-covered landscape, both igniting their lightsabers as an oncoming threat approaches. The threat is unidentified, but it's a formidable force. Also of note, the orange lightsaber on the left has a curve in it, much like the one Count Dooku used. The idea is that this would allow its user to slash and lunge with more precision.

We get a brief shot of this regal-looking human. While her appearance is that of royalty, the landscape around her is fiery and desolate. She also looks distraught, which is certainly worth taking into account.

Here we get into another one of my personal f*** yeah! moments, with an unidentified alien figure leading a truly grand army into battle. It is a truly sizable force, which is noteworthy as the High Republic era is a time of relative peace in the galaxy. Then again, crazy things happen in the Outer Rim, and there are pockets of wild space where the Jedi may not have as much control. And there is always someone looking to obtain power.

As I mentioned before, we have some ships that look like the ones employed by the Trade Federation during the prequel era. Here, those ships are under attack by some fighters that look quite a bit like the ones we saw flying at that ice fortress earlier.

The sheer size and scope of this battle is impressive (most impressive) and looks to be as grand as anything we've ever seen of this sort in "Star Wars." Based on what we've seen in this trailer, I'd put it right up there with the climax of "Return of the Jedi" or the third act of "Rogue One." They are not messing around.

As the trailer reaches its big climax, we finally see the face of our mysterious lead drummer. They are noseless, though with nasal passages in the middle of their face. This almost looks like something ripped out of "Prometheus" more than "Star Wars," which is pretty interesting. But the big reveal has to do with what he's looking at.

Who is this mysterious figure rising out of the black goo much like Baron Harkonnen in "Dune?" Was all of this drumming a ritual to summon this figure? Unfortunately, we have way more questions than answers at this point, but it's sure as hell enough to pique interest. And that's about it! We then get a title card as the eclipse finally happens, which is pretty neat to send this all home.

"Star Wars Eclipse" does not yet have a release date set, but we'll be sure to keep you posted as further updates come our way.