Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

"TONS of fun, but why are we revisiting the origonal trilogy AGAIN?"

A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY...

I played ''Rogue Squadron'' on the Nintendo 64. I downloaded and watched in awe the tech demos of ''Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader'' for GameCube, eagerly awaiting the system's release. When I finally got it in my grubby little hands, I played endlessly for days and, even now, two years after its release, it's still one of the most enjoyable and best looking games for GameCube. I still play on occasion, attempting to get the last gold medals to unlock the final bonus mission. So, naturally, I was more than a little excited when ''Rogue Squadron 3: Rebel'' Strike was announced.

Again, I downloaded the videos and read all the previews. But this time, I was slightly skeptical. ''Rogue Squadron 2'' had been so phenomenal and had been so damn pretty, would ''Rogue Squadron 3'' be able to beat it? LucasArts and Factor 5 have now had years to perfect their GameCube development, but it is the same system. And, come on. We're revisiting the original trilogy AGAIN? After having had no less than fourteen hojillion games covering the same time period? But having played both the demo and now, finally, the release copy of ''Rogue Squadron 3: Rebel Strike'' (I'll stop writing the whole damn title and just refer to it as RS3 from now on) I can stop wondering how it's going to be, and give my own review of the game.

Quickly, before I begin, I have to be honest. I have not yet explored every single facet of the game. LucasArts is one of the best companies for those who enjoy bonus extras. In the submenus of the ''Options'' section of the game, there are selections fo unlockable audio commentary, and it was recently made public that RS3 would contain not only the 1980 arcade version of ''Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope'' that the demo disk had, but also a version of the arcade game for ''Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back.'' And, as usual, there are unlockable levels (such as rescuing Princess Leia from the 1st Death Star or escaping Jabba's sail barges) and there are sure to be unlockable ships.

But I've played enough that I can give an in depth review of the game. So, here we go...

CONTROLS:
''IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE, I USED TO BULLSEYE WOMPRATS IN MY T-16 BACK HOME!''
-Luke Skywalker, ''Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope''

We'll start off with gameplay. After all, that's what everyone says is most important. Graphics are, of course, nice, but a game can look pretty and still be abysmal. Rogue Squadron 2 had very controls that were easy to pick up. Your ship went forward, the left shoulder button slowed it down, and the right sped it up. 'A' shot your main gun, and 'B' your secondary, if you had one. Sure, there were ways to do barrel rolls and use your targeting computer, but the basics were simple.

RS3 has stuck to the same set of controls for flying ships (we'll get to on-foot controls in a second). If you were comfortable with Rogue Squadron 2, you can easily pick up a controller and get right into the action. All of the ships handle differently, keeping true to the original trilogy. X-Wings are a solid mix of speed and maneuverability, A-Wings are fast with tight turns and low shields, Y-Wings steer like a cow but can take a beating, and so on. Likewise, the Snow Speeders and Speeder Bikes handle very well and the Speeder Bikes give a really great sense of speed.

My one complaint, which I (and everyone else) had in the RS2 and was sad to see carried on to RS3 was the twitch factor of the controls. The GameCube control stick has a large number of usable angles that the console hardware can recognize. So why does the slightest tilt send my targeting reticle flying to the side of the screen? While it's possible once you get used to the controls, pin-point accuracy is still hard to obtain.

Now for the ground controls (and note I included the Speeder missions above, as they handle like ships). I was nervous when it became clear RS3 would include ground missions. I enjoyed ''Shadows of the Empire'' for Nintendo 64 a lot, but it was not the high point of Star Wars videogames. The ground missions in RS3 only make up (according to LucasArts) about 20% of the game. and they're playable, I admit that. And they're kind of fun.

For a while.

But even the short ones get old fast, and aiming, hard enough to do with accuracy while in a ship, gets even worse on the ground. Fortunately, while facing the general direction of an enemy you lock on and no longer need to aim. This is a much-needed feature.

I'm not saying the ground missions should have been taken out, but more time could have been spent on them, or they could have been shortened. I can only stand running into a wall, or firing in the wrong direction, so many times.

The saving grace of the ground missions are the AT-ST missions. AT-STs, or 'chicken walkers', were seen briefly in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and much more extensively in ''Return of the Jedi.'' They are the two-legged walkers the Empire uses as mop-up crews or backup for ground forces. While, like the non-vehicle ground missions, the control is too tight and aiming is slightly difficult, it's just so much fun to plow your way through enemy troops in an AT-ST.

I give the ship controls an 8.5 out of 10 because of the smooth ship handling, but the difficulty in precise aiming.
I give the ground controls a 6 out of 10, because it's usable but not very well done. AT-ST control it boosted up to a 7 out of 10, because it's slightly better.
Overall, controls get an 8 out of 10, because while the ground controls pull it down, they aren't used often.

GRAPHICS
''WHY, YOU STUCK-UP, HALF-WITTED, SCRUFFY-LOOKING NERF HERDER!''
''WHO’S SCRUFFY LOOKING?''
-Leia Organa and Han Solo, ''Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back''

As I said earlier, I was skeptical about the graphics for RS3. The graphics for RS2 honestly blew me away. And RS3 is on the same hardware. But Factor 5 completely rewrote the game engine from scrap to push the GameCube even further, and it shows. This is not the leap from the first Rogue Squadron game to the second, and in the context of games like Halo 2 and Doom 3 being shown it's not as impressive as the tech demos for Rogue Squadron 2 were three years ago. but it once again raises the bar for what graphics consoles can put out. Better lighting effects, more realistic fog, even better reflections (both on water and on shiny solids), more real-time lighting, even MORE ships on screen at once, and higher-polygon models. Everything looks better.

Well, almost everything.

The character models look phenomenal when they stand still. But they look like they have a joint problem when running. Maybe they didn't have chiropractors a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. But they should have done some stretching or something before attempting to defeat the Empire.

This is not obvious when in ship levels, or even most of the AT-ST levels. On ship levels, you're far enough away from the models (even when just in speeders) that the models look alright. Slightly odd, but better than the troops in the Hoth level of Rogue Squadron 2 did. And while in AT-STs most of the models will be slowly walking and firing, which looks fine. And when they run, you can just shoot them to make them stop and die. So that's alright. But no one wants to keep looking at Luke running around while on foot. He gets obnoxious, especially when coupled with the sub-par controls for the ground missions. If you think he looks weird running, it's even worse when he's running into a wall.

But the human models can be overlooked. Especially when coupled with the gorgeous ships, the increased effects the new engine pushes out, and the DVD-quality video the game has. If you've been waiting for the original trilogy on DVD (note to George: WE ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR IT! WHERE THE HELL IS IT? IT'S BEEN 25 YEARS!), this is as close as you can get right now.

The box says the game supports progressive scan, which could only make the game look better. I, however, being the lowest of the low, have none and could not tell you how it helps.

I give the graphics a 9.5 out of 10, because the game is freakin beautiful. It'd be perfect if only the models could run without looking so strange.

MULTIPLAYER:
''BIGGS, WEDGE, LET'S CLOSE IT UP. WE'RE GOING IN. WE'RE GOING IN FULL THROTTLE.''
-Luke Skywalker, ''Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope''

One of the most highly anticipated features of RS2 has been the multiplayer options. First, Factor 5 and LucasArts included ''Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader'' in its entirety for cooperative play. That's right. You can play all of RS2 with a friend in split-screen mode. And because they revamped the game engine, there is almost no slowdown. This is just cool. On Hoth, you can take out the walkers while your friend handles the AT-STs. Over the Death Star, you can focus on the deflector towers while your friend manages the ties. It's just so much fun, I can't handle it.

But there's more. In addition to the coop mode there are 'versus' options. There's classic dogfighting, with half a dozen locations like Hoth, the Endor battle from ''Return of the Jedi,'' and over the first Death Star. There's a 'tag and defend' mode, which is similar to capture the flag. And there are special extras, such as 'race.'

The multiplayer components of this game make up what is honestly a second game for free.

Unfortunately, you can not play Rogue Squadron 2 on the RS3 disc in single player. It's only cooperative play. But if you don't it by now, it's under $20 bucks used and you owe it to yourself to go get a copy.

I give the multiplayer section a 9.5 out of 10 because, honestly, it's the best damn time I've had in multiplayer in a while. The only count against it is minor slowdown on occasion, and that happens rarely.

SOUND:
''IN STAR WARS, I WANTED TO COME UP WITH A VERY MASSIVE RUMBLE FOR A SPACESHIP FLYING OVERHEAD...I RECORDED THE AIR CONDITIONER IN MY MOTEL ROOM, SLOWED THAT SOUND DOWN SO IT WAS EVEN DEEPER AND THAT BECAME THE RUMBLE FOR THE SPACESHIPS.''
-Ben Burtt, Sound Designer for the origonal Star Wars Trilogy

I have a whimpy little TV with built-in speakers. Even so, I can hear the game sounds good. John Williams is once again reproduced faithfully, and the menu music has been redone to be slightly less annoying. Still gets old, but it's not as bad. In addition, there's more voice acting than you can shake a stick at. It gets cheezy at times, but so did the acting in the original trilogy. So I really can't count that against it. But the sound of ships, lasers, bombs, and background music is all well done. It didn't blow me away, but the game supports DPLII and DPLIIx. I'm told that, using a top-of-the-line sound system, the sound WILL blow you away.

I give the sound an 8.5 out of 10 because it was good, but didn't shock or awe me. Bear in mind that, if you have the sound system to support it, the surround sound and effects are supposed to be incredible.

STORY:
''I AM A JEDI, LIKE MY FATHER BEFORE ME.''
-Luke Skywalker, ''Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi''

Honestly, I think this is where RS3 is at its worst. We've played games set in the original trilogy for so long, it's harder to impress. We've blown up the Death Star countless times, taken down walkers at Hoth, blown up the Second Death Star, destroyed Star Destroyers, etc, etc, etc. More recently, storylines in Star Wars games have gotten more creative. We're doing things that must have happened, but you never see. Relocating the Rebels after escaping from Yavin 4. Stealing the Imperial Shuttle used in Return of the Jedi. Engaging the Empire over Cloud City. But now they're just making stuff up.

Rescuing Imperial defectors from Dantoine? Crash-landing on Geonosis and using the ship from Episode II? I'm not saying it's not fun, but it doesn't exactly draw me in like Rogue Squadron 2 did. Even some of the missions in Rogue Squadron 2 seemed a bit of a stretch, but please. This is getting pathetic.

I honestly think Bioware had the right idea when they took the feel of the original trilogy, with all the cool stuff about Jedi and lightsabres and the Force and spaceships, and moved it back a couple thousand years. Come up with a new, original story. Or, as has been suggested on Penny Arcade multiple times, move to the events after the original trilogy. There's a large collection of post-trilogy books with excellent stories. And these aren't all about fighting weird new aliens. A lot of these, in the tone of Jedi Outcast, are fighting the remnants of the Empire. It's good, solid, Rebellion vs. Empire dogfights, with TIE fighters and X-Wings, but it's not the same story we've already heard four dozen times. Did you know that the Rebels win at the end of the Trilogy? I did because I've played the damn game enough already!

So RS3's story isn't awful. But there were a couple times it felt weak, and once or twice I just went, ''Oh come on.''

I give the story a 6.5 out of 10. Relatively solid, covers no exciting new ground, but occasionally just seems silly.

OVERALL:
''Do. Or do no. There is no try.''
-Yoda, ''Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back''

So what do I think of the whole thing? I think it's a damn fine game. However, comparing it to RS2 is hard. At the time, RS2 had graphics that were comparatively better to other games at the time. RS3 has even better graphics, but they're less impressive two years later. And it can't be overlooked that this is, once again, set in the original trilogy.

If you didn't like Rogue Squadron 1 or 2, you're not going to like this game. But if you did, like me, or you're a sucker for anything set in the original trilogy, again like me, you'll enjoy this game a lot. The ground missions are nothing to right home about, but the ship-based missions continue the Rogue Squadron tradition of being fun as hell. And even though you revisit (again...) some of the same locations from previous games, there's new stuff thrown in. Fighting in an AT-ST on Endor is a lot of fun. Throw in an extensive multiplayer mode and tons of unlockable and secret bonus ships, missions, and features, and you've got yourself a really fun game.

If you liked Rogue Squadron 2, don't even think about it. Go and buy this game right now. Just stop reading and buy the game Otherwise, it at the VERY LEAST warrants a rental. And even if you weren't a huuuuge fan of Rogue Squadron 2, this game is fun enough to occupy your time for a weekend.

I give this game a 9 out of 10 for fans of Rogue Squadron 2 and Star Wars junkies, and I qualify as both. But I would drop that score to an 8 out of 10 for those who weren't as impressed with the first Rogue Squadrons and whose life isn't complete without the original Star Wars trilogy.

SCORES:
Control: 8.5 (lower for ground missions, higher for ships)
Graphics: 9.5
Multiplayer: 9.5
Sound: 8.5
Story: 6.5
Overall: 9.0

PROS OF THE GAME
Beautiful graphics for almost everything
Same solid controls as in the past
Revisit the original trilogy
Playing as an AT-ST is really cool
Extensive multiplayer options

CONS OF THE GAME
Revisiting the original trilogy again and again and again and....
Still can't perform good, precise aiming
The character models move really weird
Their control is sucky, too
The story is unoriginal, and occasionally just bad

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/21/03