Fierce Gaming: Your Multiplatform Head Quarters

Home

*E3 News*

News Archive

Xbox

Xbox 360

Gamecube

Playstation 2

Screenshots

Become Staff

Contact

Gamecube

Xbox

Playstation 2

PSP

Xbox 360

Playstation 2

GBA

Xbox 360

Xbox

Gamecube

Chatroom

Store

Forums

Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Review by : Kazooie

On the contrary, videogames based on movies usually turn out well, if done right. That was the key to making Rogue Leader so fun. Factor 5 was able to recreate the experience from Star Wars movies while developing the sequel for the Nintendo 64's Rogue Squadron. And don't forget the they were under a lot of pressure to make it fun as well--this may be THE game to help out the 'Cube's less than stellar launch lineup. Sure, there may be innovation, but there is no Mario.

Rogue Leader is packed full of everything to make it shine like no other game before it. The amount of detail in the individual ships is staggering! Tie fighters fly in in groups of three or more, and everyone looks just as good as the next. Some levels have so many different things going on at once it is impossible to catch everything without crashing your ship. While the explosions, in my opinion, could have been done slightly better there are far more good things that you hardly notice the bad, and there aren't that many bad things in terms of graphics either. Just looking at the Star Destroyers make my mouth water.

The first Rogue Squadron was so easy to pick up and use it isn't surprising that nothing has changed in terms of play control. Break, gas, shoot, change camera, not much to learn. Easy to pick up and play, but only true masters will earn the skill it takes to earn a gold on all the missions, and the bonus missions. Every level has been made perfectly to represent the scenes from the movie that they were based on, and new missions are woven into the Star Wars story line perfectly. No complaints from me.

The voicing is top notch, and the inclusion of Denis Lawson (Wedge Antilles) gives the game a much more cinematic feel. When there is music, like during the menu screens, it is very good, but the in-game music either was inaudible to me, or I was just to into the game to notice it. Tie Fighter lasers are perfect to their big screen counterparts, as well as the engine noises when they fly by in the middle of space.

If you have ever played Rogue Squadron, you know what to expect. You're either Luke Skywalker or Wedge Antilles, and you run around in different ships accomplishing missions for the Rebel Alliance. Once you unlock everything, though, you can fight as the Millenium Falcon, Darth Vader's TIE Fighter, or Boba Fett's Slave I. Definitely incentives to keep playing.

You'll start off with two available missions; one of them is just for training. Your first real mission plops you right into the plot of Star Wars with a lovely cinematic scene, whereupon you'll learn what to do and have a go at it. It's the attack on the Death Star, and fans of the series should know exactly what's going on, but I won't spoil anything for you. All the missions are fairly varied, although some are more fun than others, but it's nice to play through them all and relive the experience of watching all the old movies.

To keep the missions from getting too repetitive, a difficulty curve is added after playing through everything for the first time, and you can earn three different kinds of medals based on your performance--the game becomes nearly impossible when aiming for the highest scores. It gets to the point where you'll slam the bloody controller down in frustration, but those fit to do the challenge are well rewarded in the end. By earning medals and points, you can unlock bonus missions for more stuff to play around with. There are plenty of secrets to discover, with enough extra missions, vehicles, and other goodies to tickle your fancy.

This game will probably take a lot longer than a couple of hours to successfully complete this game. When I say complete I mean earning a gold on every mission and uncovering all of the hidden missions. Some are based on sequences from the Star Wars Trilogy, and others have you competing as the Imperials trying to stop the Rebel forces. The change of pace is good for a change, and it kept me playing longer than I thought I would.

If you have a GameCube, this is the game to get. Star Wars fanatics, get this game. People who like shooters, get this game. People who like great games, get this game. But most importantly this is one awesome game.

Presentation The game itself looks and acts a lot like Star Wars the movies, providing an ultimate Star Wars experience.	8.5
Graphics The graphics are great and the objects, like the ships, hold a lot of amazing detail.	8.5
Gameplay The gameplay can be very difficult at times, keeping you occupied for awhile.	7.5
Overall If you are a fan of Star Wars, or even if you aren't, this game has what you want.	8.0