StarFighter Fights Back
Written: Apr 10 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Dead-on Controls, Amazing Visuals.
Cons: Some Slow-down. Boring Story. Gets old quick.
The Bottom Line: A better story and a few minor tweaks and it would be perfect.
|
|
|
| rheaton's Full Review: Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter for PlayStation 2 |
Lets be honest right up front. When it comes to games based on the Starwars films, Lucas Arts has slapped together some pretty lame junk. Every once in a while however they nail it. Rogue Squadron, TIE Fighter are shining examples of what these guys can do when the try. Unfortunately Lucas Arts has never seen fit to send any of their successes to Sony's consoles, instead we get Rebel Assault II, Super Bombad Racing, and Jedi Power Battles.
StarWars Starfighter, however brings balance to the force. Ever since X-Wing came out for the PC, I've been dying for a Starwars game that captured what it must be like to find yourself in the middle of giant space battle where the odds are not only against you, but WAY against you. Just like the attack on the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. With the release of the PS2, there is finally a machine that can bring that kind of action to a console, and StarFighter capitalizess on it.
I won't gush about how great the visuals are. (They're awesome!) Nor will I go on about polygon counts and frame rates. I'll just put it like this. There are missions in this game where you get so swept up in the action, you really do feel like you are part of the Starwars saga. Several missions throw so many driod starfighters at you that your TV will seem like it's crawling with a life of it's own. It's simply amazing. And yes, every last one of those fighters can be shot ( and can shoot! ). That alone would be enough. But these guys throw a few dozen cruisers, some space mines, a couple of orbital satellites, and a planet ( with a huge ray gun of course ) into the mix and they ALL can shoot and be shot at. The only thing you can't blow up is space itself. Everything else is fair game.
Fortunately, with so much going on and the fate of the universe riding on your flying abilities, Lucas Arts has seen fit to give you the best set of controls I've ever seen on any Starwars console game, and maybe on any console flight sim/ space combat game ever. They are 100% perfect. Everything reacts exactly the way you expect. No surprises and no flaky controls that work right one minute and go haywire the next. If it weren't for the great visuals, I'd say this is the best feature of the game. As it is, I'd say it's a tie.
Which Brings us to the Music. Pure Starwars. Taken from Episode I, and used perfectly here, there simply isn't a game that uses it's music better. It really adds to the feeling of being in a Starwars movie ( which is what we all really want isn't it?).
Ah, but there is a disturbance in the Force I'm afraid. Namely the story line. Don't get me wrong, it's well animated, flows nicely, and the voice acting is way above average even for lucas arts ( quality voice talent seems to be the one thing these guys always have gotten right.).
To put it simply, you play three different characters drawn together by fate. Sadly, there isn't really an reason for any character other than the one human character to care what happens to Naboo. Set at some time just before ( maybe 1-4 days before ) the events of StarWars: Episode I, the story really doesn't add to the game play, except as a way to move from mission to mission and attempt to explain why anyone could or would care.
Then again, this isn't about the Story, it's all about blowin stuff up StarWars style. That part they got 100% right. It's a definate buy if you're a Star Wars Fan, or even a Fan of the Colony Wars games from the original Playstation ( Colony Wars had a better story, sorry but It's true.).
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
rheaton
|
|
Location: Tobyhanna, PA
Reviews written: 82
Trusted by: 11 members
About Me:
Why do I say "WE" in my reviews? Read my Profile to find out.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.