Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

"This is a good Star Wars game with little replay value."

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire is a game that many Nintendo 64 gamers already own. It was on the shelves immediately after the release of the Nintendo 64. The problem is.... many Shadows of the Empire owners now regret buying this game at all. Sometimes I can see very well why they have this emotion. Other times I can't. Whatever you do, be sure to at least rent this game as it is good. On to the review.

GRAPHICS: 6
Come on now, Lucas Arts. I know that this was an early game, but so were Mario and Starfox and each of those games had very good graphics! Well, at least the size of the levels you venture through are enormous. Everything is very polygonal. The characters encountered are very jagged in appearance. I am sure that Lucas Arts could have achieved so much more in this category. An upside to this, is that everything is very rich in detail. Also, the graphics are not dry in color. The camera can be adjusted to several different angels and modes. The camera view that you will spend the most time using, is the first-person perspective. Other views include, third-person, cinema view, and overhead view. The level of fog is high in the game but they pushed it far into the background, so it's not really a big problem. There is another way around the fog level, though. Using a special 'master cheat', you can completely turn off the fog, or even turn it different colors! Overall, the graphics are okay, but need some thorough work. Let's move on to sound, shall we?

SOUND: 8
The best part off the sound is by far the music. They actually recorded real Star Wars music being played by classical orchestras! The sound effects are nothing spectacular, but they suite me just fine, and should suit you, too, unless you are picky. There is just a smudge of voice action in the game, but all the real talking is captioned. When you shoot a guard he'll yell out in pain, and sometimes when they see you, one will say something like, 'Blast 'em!'. Also, do you remember the classic sound of the laser blaster? Well, you're in luck, cause that sound effect was thrown onto the stack, too! Had it not been for the music, I would have given the sound a six. Let's move on to story.

STORY: 9
Hey, it came from a book, so it's got to be good! I won't spoil it for you as I do in all my other reviews, but I will give you a brief preview: Prince Xixor has a diabolical plan to take control of the universe by crushing both Darth Vader and the rebels. Playing as Dash Rendar, a lone bounty hunter, you must prevent him from doing so, and save the galaxy! Let's go for a walk and have lunch at Mc Play Control's.

PLAY CONTROL: 8
It's easy enough to get around on planets you've never heard of before once you get the hang of it. You mainly only use the A button to shoot, C up or B to jump, and the analog control stick to move around. The control style can be switched to different settings, so if you don't like you current setting, just go change it to a better one.

CLOSING STATEMENT:
That takes care of it! If you want to contact me for any questions, critiques, or suggestions, contact me at my e-mail address, DrDoak2001@aol.com. Doak out!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/01, Updated 04/01/01