Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

"Rebel Strike: A Mixed Bag?"

Factor 5 has created quite a name for itself. Since their 1998 debut on the Nintendo 64, Rogue Squadron, they have become the poster boy third party developer for Nintendo. Rogue Squadron was a surprise holiday success for the N64, second only to Ocarina of Time that year. Factor 5 followed up their success in 2000 with an Episode I incarnation of their action simulation formula, Battle for Naboo. Though Battle for Naboo had the misfortune of working with the stale Episode I story, it’s gameplay was even better then Rogue Squadron’s. Factor 5 finally hit the ‘big time’ when they were ask to make a Star Wars demo for Space World 2000. That demo was the beginnings of what became Rogue Leader. Rogue Leader was the best launch title for the Gamecube and it set a high bar for graphical achievement for this generation. So how does Rebel Strike pan out?
Rogue Leader had high expectations, but with all the press Rebel Strike has gotten since May have risen the expectations even higher. EGM broke the first story on Rebel Strike and its new gameplay elements. A collective ‘oh-no’ was let out after hearing that on-foot missions would be added. After the abomination that last year’s Clone Wars was, who could blame the gaming community for worrying about Factor 5 tampering with a successful formula?
Factor 5 felt that to produce the best journey through the action filled Star Wars universe they had to add speeder bike elements (though BfN did have speeder levels) and on foot missions (which are brand-new). Early impressions of the E3 demos were that the flight levels are still great and the other elements show promise. The preview disc confirmed this to the general public. The full version is finally here, so lets dive in!
Rebel Strike starts off with a simple introductory level that previews what the rest of the game is about: doing a little bit of everything. For the most part, the game succeeds, but little control and targeting quirks mare the game. It seems that initial worry that the on-foot levels would blow up in Factor 5’s faces is partially true.
The enemy targeting borders on broken. It functions most of time, but on a whim it might stupidly target a non-critical trooper all the way across the map. Apparently the longer developing cycle [compared to Rogue Leader’s] didn’t pay off in that regard. The controls don’t seem to have the ‘tightness’ to them that other games like Wind Waker and Mario Sunshine have. Though I think the unrealistic turning animations might just be fooling me into thinking that about the controls. Either way the blame is placed on some department in Factor 5 for not polishing their programming. The speeder bike missions are fun, but sometimes painfully difficult, change of pace from the rest of the game. Both the speeder and on-foot elements have slight camera issues, but nothing compared to the targeting problems.
Though I’m disappointed with the on-foot parts, I’m very pleased with everything else. The flight missions are well-designed and fun to play. Perhaps, veterans of the Rogue series should immediately buy Strike just to have more awesome flight missions to run through.
Graphically, Factor 5 doesn’t disappoint. Though the models don’t appear significantly improved from Rogue Leader, the delivery of the lighting effects improve this game’s graphics significantly. Everything seems to look more realistic with their new ‘light scattering’ technique. Don’t hold me too this, but I think light scattering was developed as a way to emulate the way the atmosphere refracts light. Its effects are subtle, but there is no doubt the improvement it brings after going back and playing Rogue Leader. Rogue Leader’s models look more like toys today after seeing Strike.

Final Comments

Gameplay: Flying an X-wing is still done best the Factor 5 way. Too bad Factor 5's flight simulation success didn't translate to on-foot success. The versus mode and co-op mode are great additions, by theirselves it is pretty much a complete game. 7/10

Sound: Factor 5 designed most of Gamecube's sound hardware for Christ's sake, You'd think it would be good. 9/10

Graphics: The flight missions are beautiful, but choppy character models hurt this game's graphics showing. 8/10

Lifetime: The new two player modes give this game a definite lifetime advantage over their past Star Wars game. 8/10

Overall: Rebel Strike had the potential to be absolutely awesome, but I think Factor 5 just bit off more then they could chew. Give this game an extra couple of months and I know this game would be impressive. Obviously, push came to shove and Lucasarts forced this product out too early. The on-foot problems seems like issues that would be solved after a round through quality assurance. Factor 5 has delivered 3 Star Wars games for the holidays before, but this time their project was just too ambitious. Though I'm talking with a really depressed tone, all isn't bad. Veterans to Factor 5 games, which alot of Gamecube owners are, will love this game despite the flaws. Unfortunately, new-comers to the Rogue series might want to pick up Rogue Leader for around 20 bucks if they are only interested in single player gameplay.7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/03