Star Fox: Assault

"When ethnic space animals attack..."

After looking at some simple pics for years, I greatly anticipated to see what Namco and Nintendo would bring to the awesome Star Fox series. After giving this game a go, I can say the game pleased, but not enough to completely satisfy my action thirst in the way previous Star Fox titles have (in the original and Star Fox 64).

Back from a departure of adventure, the ass kicking animals of Star Fox (Fox, Falco, Slippy, and Peppy), along with ROB their robot companion, return to the thick of it, blasting away anything that stands in the way in their Arwing fighters and in the Landmaster tank. However, there are some new twists present in this game: Peppy moves into the role of a commander, while Star Fox Adventure stowaway Krystal takes his seat in Fox's squadron. Added to the standard on-rails shooting missions the series is known for, there is now the ability to leave the cockpit of the Arwing and go...on paw.

The action is fast and relentless, both in cockpit and on foot, and not necessarily overwhelming. The in-cockpit Arwing missions are what you would expect from the series: guided on rails you blast on coming enemies while meeting up with a boss who's pattern you must recognize to defeat. The rail missions in this game, though, seem to have more twists and turns that are dazzling. Such as when the Arwing quickly turns left, straight up and straight down while penetrating a space stronghold.

The "footy" missions are more of a seek and destroy type affair. You're basically dropped into an arena-like setting (much like all-range mode in Star Fox 64) and must collect weapons, or take the helm of your Arwing and Landmaster tank, while destroying the given targets. Although looking for targets to destroy can get repetitive, I actually enjoyed the departure from the Arwing cockpit. It was cool to go around blasting enemies inside of a large space station, for instance, then hop in the Arwing and blast enemies outside of it. It gave a frenzied feel to the whole level and was seamless.

Another example of fun transition was in a level where Fox has to disable a weather machine gone bad. You start out on foot, then secure a Landmaster tank while blasting targets that will allow him to enter the base. After defeating hordes of enemies, you then hop on the wing of Falco's Arwing and blast enemies from there. Finally, you get into another Arwing where you take on a boss. Again, it was great action and fun from different perspectives.

The missions are fun like this, but lack some traditional Star Fox features. In Assault, there are no branching path choices allowing you to choose your destination. Perhaps this is the reason so many make mention of this game's rather short length (to which I would agree). While longer than previous Star Fox action games (which themselves weren't that long), there is only one path you must play over and over. This can get rather boring, as the ability to mix-up your path through the game is gone. Ring checkpoints are also gone; the game auto checkpoints for you, as the only rings you fly through replenish heath. This game's checkpoint system definitely challenges your cheapness/challenge threshold for the on-foot missions, because if you get killed after fighting for awhile you must start from the beginning again.

What's clearly not a challenge, nor cheap, though I hear mentioned as if it is, is the control. I simply cannot agree with some others that the control for the game is crap. If you've played a FPS on consoles, especially on the Cube, you're good to go here. Seriously. You can use the left analog stick to move, the right to look, R to fire while on foot and in the Landmaster, and A, or the D-Pad, to switch weapons only while on foot. The only problems I found here were using Y to jump in the on-foot missions (it should have been on the B button which is instead used for a temporary pick-up shield barrier that can aid you), and perfecting the boost of the Landmaster--that can be a bit tricky.

The main flaw, though, that struck through the heart of the game, and I found to be the damning flaw of the game, is a feeling the developers forgot what made this series stand out. Aside from the animal cast, the series has always had stellar sounds and effects that are both lacking in this effort. Here, the minor explosions look great (some containing some sweet blue and purple blasts of light), but when you take down enemies and bosses the effects and sounds are rather weak. Even when you take on and down a capital ship, it just seems as if these animals attack with no...teeth. I miss seeing a poor animal bastard meet his demise in a grand explosion after saying some final words of regret. Here there are only of few of those moments followed, not by a bang, but with a...poof. There was one boss that I thought was gonna give it--but the cut-scene panned away so you only hear an explosion. This was truly disappointing. Even the explosive bomb letting from Fox's Arwing arsenal of the past action titles is a letdown.

Perhaps I also felt disappointed due to the choice of Lylat's new enemy threat. In great Sci-Fi regurgitation, we are treated to giant space bugs called Aparoids. They are apparently mechanical-like insects that can consume and combine themselves with other forms. The Aparoids don't talk, nor even screech, and are just there to blast--no personality in the bosses such as many of the enemy animals in Star Fox 64. You do take on some fellow animals in combat, but again their battles are not very fulfilling. The developers really dropped the ball on the feel of Star Fox, giving the new entry a more subdued feeling. Regarding this, if I could have had it my way in Nintendo's partnering with other developers, I would have given this game to explosive luvin' Treasure, and given Wario World to Klonoa boppin' Namco.

Aside from the deflated explosions, the other letdowns I found in the visuals were the Aparoids themselves that looked like slightly better versions of the giant bugs found in the N64 game Body Harvest. In other words, they are too simplistic looking. And some simple environments were rather bland, such as in some base levels that had backgrounds much more pleasing than where you roam about with Fox. Who, I will say, looks badass. The characters all look quite good and are more detailed in appearance, but Krystal having boobage still...creeps me out a bit (oh, I likes teh boobage--but without fur, thanks). Talking babies and anatomically correct talking animals--two things that should never be. Well, at least the males wear pants.

However, all is not lost, as the sounds and visuals that do get through are somewhat close. The music can be catchy with some older tunes thrown in. Many voices weren't as grating as I thought they were going to be (though Falco sounds as if he spent time in a New York City borough). And the backgrounds of planets and stars in the levels are a great accompaniment to the Sci-Fi feel, along with nice (but small) explosions that fill the screen. I can gladly say everything runs very smoothly and without slowdown.

I must also credit the developers for giving the game the best story in the Star Fox action series. While the Aparoids are generic Sci-Fi fodder, the developers did a great job in making their actions matter. There are some scenes where I actually thought: "They're not actually going to do that?!." Of course, I knew in the back of my mind what was probably going to happen, not entirely sure, but having some moments as possibly up-in-the-air was quite refreshing, even a bit creepy in some instances. It was also nice to give a nod to a not so revered game in the series by revisiting an area and seeing a character from a past "adventure."

Unfortunately, the good of the game just couldn't save the overall experience for this longtime Star Fox fan. Unlike with Star Fox and Star Fox 64, I just don't feel like going through again and again. A great rental, especially for some multiplayer (play with three or four), but not exactly $50 worthy. I would recommend a wait for the price to drop or getting it used for some mild action if you must have another Star Fox game, but stick to the two originals if you truly want to see animals blow crap up in a more satisfying and kick ass way.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/30/05, Updated 12/17/07

Game Release: Star Fox: Assault (US, 02/14/05)