Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

"Just in time for the movie!"

Licensed games may be a bit painful for me, but movie licensed games are downright barbarous. Playing the exact scenarios you've seen before can be fun if implemented correctly. Unfortunately, as we know, most are not. Instead, games based on films are shovelled out for the audiences who can't pull the cash out of their pocket, or from mommy and daddy, fast enough for the golden name on the box usually at the film's launch (I've certainly learned my lesson). Enter the developers at The Collective. If there is one company that has brought some justice to what few licensed ware they have developed, oh, it's them.

With the handling of previous licenses, such as with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Indiana Jones, The Collective have shown to have some understanding for what license they're given (along with the audience that comes with it). When I saw their name attached to the game, I thought it would be quality, but I had no idea it would be this fun. I'm only sorry I didn't trust them enough to buy the game sooner, like, say, at the game's release (call it still fearing suckage with a $50 price tag). I can gladly say, Revenge of the Sith matches The Collective's previous work in both fun and design.

As a Star Wars game, Revenge of the Sith is very proper, as all of the elements are in: the sights, the sounds (including the unfortunate tired use of old themes), and the sabers. Though the voice work isn't genuine, the sound-alikes do an admirable job (I bet Ewan McGregor's could belt out a good rendition of "Your Song"). As a beat-'em-up, the bashing, combos (including some "disarming" ones), and waves of enemies make it authentic including the ease of controlling your moves and powers; as a hack 'n slash, as equally inviting if you like as well. If you're a fan of either genre, combined or alone, I do think you'll get a great fill here.

You're given two characters to go through the story with, but you have to alternate between the two after the initial levels of fighting side by side. I wish there was truly co-op, but the story doesn't allow it. Oh, there is a co-op mode, but those are a more survival mode affair. One story mission may have you playing as Anakin Skywalker, the next you'll be playing as his master, Obi-Wan. When you start out, you'll only have simple combos and moves at your disposal. By defeating enemies, along with performing fashionable combos, you'll gain experience that allows you to level-up various moves and techniques at the end of the story mission. In these story missions, as well, are secret power-ups that can elongate your health and force power meter. The more power-ups you find, the longer the meters will be – and you're gonna need them to be long.

Through 16 dazzling animated levels you'll fight wave after wave of droids, clone troopers, and Jedi's – some of them in boss battles. Most of these levels have tons of stuff going on at once, with many backgrounds filled with battles, explosions, and even some enemies. Some slowdown can mar the brilliance in the foreground, but for the most part the action is fun and relentless, and never becomes overwhelming. Plenty of health containers are strewn about, and you have the ability to heal yourself, so battling never becomes overly frustrating.

There are a few unpleasant bring-overs, though, that The Collective haven't done away with such as cheap shots here and there, not targeting what you always want, and cheap air juggles with slamming to the ground. However, the problems are not nearly as frustrating here as it was in their past work. In fact, they added a moment where if you press a button while being juggled in the air, you can land out of harms way. Another reason the gameplay works better in this game is in the use of lightsabers. Sure, you could use a weapon to bash vamps and eurotrash with Buffy and Indy, respectively, but you were pretty much left with your fists in their adventures. Here, you're slashing away and have combos to keep enemies farther away, thus eliminating getting knocked around a lot and bringing less frustrating moments. You can even implement one hit kills, such as finishers making some battles with enemies move briskly (think dusting a vamp in "Buffy"). Though, I do miss the kick to the crotch move in the Buffy and Indy games that had enemies go flying when you did so (droids or not, that move would be awesome here).

Add some Jedi powers into the mix such as Force Pull, Force Push, Mind Trick, and Lightning (that you can also level up), and the game really picks up. You can fry enemies, have enemies attack each other, toss explosive canisters or other enemies at each other, or send enemies over a railing and into a river of lava to their doom. It was also cool to use some powers you acquire later in the game, like Lightning for Anakin, and take them into earlier levels. All of the elements of being a Jedi are here, easy to use, and are realized quite well. No blasters here – it's all about action with lightsabers and The Force.

Under Anakin you follow the path that leads him to the Dark side. As Obi-wan, you follow a path of realizing Anakin's turn and betrayal. The levels wonderfully accompany scenes from the rather bloated film, and in my place, do them better. The game has some scenes that were cut from the film still in, and they can expand to sometimes include a boss battle where there was no confrontation in the film. This "GoldenEye" style approach is what more of these types of games need: keeping with the theme, but expanding on it so it's not so point-by-point.

Also, some of the characters you off in the game give a more satisfying death than the "Boba Fett" ones that occur in the film. Case in point: the battle with General Grievous. He was offed very un-Jedi-like in the film, but here it's a more believable and worthy send off. Another example is the battle with Mace Windu. In the film, he battled a hidden Sith Lord, here you battle him as Anakin. After that battle, a clip from the film is shown, making it seem that the events that happened in the game are what really occurred.

Many film clips are shown throughout, but if you want to get the full story, of course, the film provides that. Here they are strewn about to give you a sense of what's happening and nothing more; text fills in some gaps, but overall this is about Anakin and Obi-Wan's story. You are given other perspectives, however. There's a 17th story mission boss fight that ends in an alternate ending, and in another brilliant move, The Collective have added bonus missions that allow you to control other characters; Yoda, and General Grievous are two examples. There are also the co-op levels I mentioned before: in those you and another player can team up to mow down hordes of enemies.

Another surprising bonus is a one-on-one fighting game (single or two-player) containing some of the main characters of the film and those who appear only in the game, along with a surprise visit from an old friend from the original trilogy (really missing that crotch kick). The fighting game by no means contains the gameplay of, say, a Soul Calibur or a Virtua Fighter, but is fun in its own right and would do good as a stand alone game – but only if characters from the entire series were included. It also includes the ease of pulling off moves and combos, as in the single player and co-op modes.

The great care given to this game in presentation and gameplay is absolute proof that games that come out along side their film counterparts need not suck. Revenge of the Sith is really one of the more fun, better licensed film games to be released in quite a while. For the Greatest Hits price, or lower, it deserves a purchase if you were holding out for it before.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 04/28/06, Updated 04/27/09

Game Release: Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (US, 05/04/05)