Star Wars: The Mandalorian Inspired By 1313 Game

Lucasfilm appears to have crafted the new Star Wars TV series, The Mandalorian, out of its canceled video game, Star Wars: 1313. Production has begun on Jon Favreau’s live action series, which is set to be one of the first shows exclusive to Disney’s own streaming service.

The Iron Man and The Jungle Book director will write and produce the series, which takes place in the thirty year gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. A brief synopsis has revealed that the show will follow a lone character, who operates far outside the New Republic.

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The concept of a live-action Star Wars show is exciting for fans. This is not due to its novelty, but also due to the rumors that the show will explore the Mandalorians and their empire. The prospect of learning more about that infamous warrior race is an appealing one. However, the concept of this new serial won’t be breaking new ground altogether, since it has roots in a discarded Star Wars project.

What Was Star Wars 1313?

Star Wars 1313 has gained something of a cult notoriety among gamers and film fans. The game was officially announced by LucasArts at E3 2012. There are scant details available concerning its plot and characters, so it has retained that rare level of mystery and intrigue.

Stylistically, 1313 was purported to hew closely to the Uncharted series as a third person adventure/shooter.  It also took reference from the popular Star Wars: Bounty Hunter game, with a variety of weapons and gadgets at the player’s disposal. However, like Star Wars: Republic Commando, it was due to have a grittier, more mature tone than other Star Wars properties. Most of this is evident in 1313’s short trailer, which follows two mercenaries on a trafficking ship, who are forced to defend themselves from a gang of pirates. As their descent into the bowels of Coruscant becomes increasingly disastrous, the adult-orientated focus is clear, as is the game’s impressive level of detail.

As promising as Star Wars 1313 looked, it soon met its fate when Disney acquired LucasArts’ parent company, Lucasfilm, in late 2012. The Mouse House withdrew from the gaming industry, ceased LucasArts’ development of new games and licensed properties out to third parties. Though 1313 is still officially described as being “on hold,” it’s effectively been cancelled. The game’s trademark was not renewed in 2014, and given that so much time has elapsed since then, very few expect any more progress to be made. Yet some aspects of Star Wars 1313 have seemingly survived.

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The Design is Extremely Similar

From both 1313’s trailer and The Mandalorian’s singular still, one similarity is immediately clear: the identity of the lead is a mystery. We’re still speculating over which man will wear the mask in The Mandalorian (more on that later), but 1313’s protagonist is crucial to this discussion. Indeed, at some point mid-game, players would eventually discover that the protagonist of 1313 was none other than a young Boba Fett.

Considering that neither of the two leads glimpsed in 1313’s teaser resemble Fett, the infamous bounty hunter would presumably appear at some other point in the story. Be that as it may, Fett’s presence pinpoints another parallel between the two projects: its design.

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Of course, Star Wars aficionados will know that the familiar design of Mandalorian armor is not exclusive to Boba Fett. But even a cursory glance at both 1313’s concept art betrays the striking resemblance that it shares with The Mandalorian’s lead character. The two images showcase suits that serve almost as midway points between Jango and Boba’s distinctive regalia. Though they retain that iconic Mandalorian helmet, neither of these armors are as bulky as these other popular costumes. The two of them are missing a section of their chest plates, favor the same finger-less glove design, and feature a rifle slung over the left shoulder.

Plus there’s also something notable about the settings of the two projects. The Mandalorian showcases the sort of dirty thoroughfare that appears on the prominent Star Wars planet Tatooine. The serial’s fictional locales have not been directly revealed as of yet. The synopsis states that they are “the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.” Now that we think about it, that’s a fitting description of Tatootine. Curiouser still, the footwear on 1313’s concept art seems well suited for a sandy planet. Furthermore, the game was actually rumored to visit the home world of Luke and Anakin Skywalker at some stage. So does this suggest that various plot-lines and scenarios that were conceived of for 1313 will appear in The Mandalorian as well?

Page 2: Could 1313’s Story Also be Repurposed For The Mandalorian?

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