Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

"Revenge of the Sith - A Retrospective"

Score: 7.1/10

After playing the demo for the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, I was reminded immediately of Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, the video game tie in to George Lucas's final film in his Star Wars saga. When I originally played the game I found it to be an enjoyable action game with the typical contemporary blend of role-playing elements. The game itself was short, and the multi-player modes weren't particularly inspired but it was a fun game. This review is intended as a re-examination of the game in light of the years that have passed since the game was originally published (May 5th, 2005).

Upon starting up the title, you will be immediately thrust into the game. The story unfolds through a series of carefully selected clips from the film (unreleased on the game's original street date, these clips were one of the selling points of the title) and in-engine cutscenes. The plot is relatively faithful to the film though it obfuscates a few key elements of the film, no doubt in order to maintain surprise. Other portions play out in significantly different fashions in order to compensate for the title's focus as an action game. Unfortunately, the game does serve to spoil the major plot points of the film. At the time of the game's original release this could have been regarded as a major failure on the game's part. However, approaching the game for the first time now affords the player the opportunity to view the film first and this ultimately renders the game's greatest flaw moot. If you are considering the purchase of this game and have not seen the third film for some reason then I highly recommend you watch the movie first. This will, of course, make one of the major selling points of the game – the in game film clips – irrelevant but the game itself is still a great deal of fun.

The game is competently animated and while primitive by 2008's graphics, it is still detailed sufficiently. Character models are reasonably attractive and the level design, while relatively flat and unpopulated, is serviceable enough to bring the settings from the film to life. Notably Utapau has some well done moments that involve fierce fighting between the Clone Army and the Droid Army. While these moments aren't quite as intense as Star Wars: Battlefront (indeed, given the smaller playing areas of RoTS they tend to be far more localized) they do capture the “Wars” element quite nicely. While the contemporary gamer won't want to hand out any awards to Revenge of the Sith for graphics it isn't downright painful to look at as other sixth generation titles such as The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

The gameplay is a blend of action and fighting with a bit of role-playing thrown into the mix. A primitive fighter serves as the main multiplayer mode and this translates fairly well into the game. You have three levels of attack, mapped to the X, Y, and B buttons respectively. Initially you can only execute some very basic combos with these attacks but as you collect experience (by defeating enemies) you can increase your physical skills and unlock more complex combos. While it is unnecessary to use these combos on lower difficulties (where typically a button mashing of X will lead to victory) successful mastery of the combat will make the higher difficulties significantly easier. You play as either Obi-Wan Kenobi or Anakin (there are other characters, but they are only playable in the multiplayer modes and a select number of ‘special' missions that you'll unlock as you progress through the game) and as such you also have access to a selection of force related powers. You'll have to choose whether to increase your physical skills (and thus unlock more attack routines) or your force powers (and thus granting them more effectiveness) at the end of each level. You can only earn so much experience per level so to unlock all the powers and abilities of your character you may need to replay old missions in order to max your experience bar. The game makes it easy for you to backtrack by telling you exactly how much experience you've earned in relation to the mission's cap and exactly how many power ups are present on each level. Power ups will boost your maximum health, force points, or fill your attack meter and allow you to collect more experience per level (These power ups are one time items and while you don't need them to cap your experience, wasting them can make it significantly harder to fully defeat a level). You don't need to maximize your character in order to beat the game so whether or not you want to do this will depend entirely on how much you enjoy the title. It is fairly standard for an action/3-d beat ‘em up title and as such can become slightly repetitive and while the game tries to mix it up by occasionally allowing you to fire a turret or use your force powers to execute large jumps or lift heavy objects the repetitiveness remains a factor. The story mode itself is short, which may serve doubly as a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, while the game is repetitive, it is short enough that you're unlikely to become completely bored with it before beating the game. On the other hand being a short game, and not having much in the way of multiplayer modes, the game may not be worth your time. Fortunately the game has gone platinum so if you are planning to purchase it you should be able to find it quite cheaply.

Gamespot characterizes the audio as, “badly delivered voice acting that makes The Phantom Menace look impressive by comparison” (Navarro). I disagree with this assessment. James Arnold Taylor turns in a serviceable performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi, very much adopting not only Ewan McGreggor's speech pattern but also the sound of his voice. Indeed, Taylor does such a fine job that at first I thought it WAS McGreggor. Mat Lucas is a very competent Anakin Skywalker and while he doesn't sound much like Hayden Christensen I personally felt that he had superior articulation and delivery. While the game does not recreate any of the most dramatic scenes to significant detail, Lucas is very capable in the role of Skywalker. This is perhaps appropriate since Lucas (like Taylor) had previous experience portraying the character in the animated Clone Wars series. Suffice to say, the two leads are solid, and while the game isn't going to win any awards for dramatic presentation, they are well and above some of the horrific lines from Attack of the Clones. The worst actor is probably Nick Jameson as Ben Kenobi but this is irrelevant since Ben Kenobi (the “old” Episode IV version of Obi-Wan) is only available in the multi-player fighting component and then only says a few lines. Also on the audio front, the music is competent, though uninspired. Since it is “Star Wars” it is entitled to some of the brilliant pieces by John Williams and its sure to set the mood for any Star Wars fan but beyond that it isn't especially memorable.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was savaged fairly well by video game critics upon its initial release. It regularly received scores in the 6 range and, at the time of this review's composition, maintained a critic score of 6.5 on Gamespot. Despite these relatively poor scores, the game is relatively fun and, I hope, I have expressed the best elements of the game. This begs the question, “why did the game score so poorly?” While it is by no means an 8 point game, let alone a 9 or 10 I would expect scores in the solid 7 range. I believe the answer lies in the fact that the game is no competition for the other brilliant Star Wars titles it was competing with at the time of its release. The charming, family friendly, and remarkably fun Lego Star Wars gave it a run for its money and retold the plot of the film in a much more entertaining fashion then the game. The more intense Star Wars: Battlefront II also retold elements of the film and recreated moments from the film in a more thrilling fashion. Both of these outstanding games, and even the older KoTOR titles put Episode III to shame. It simply can not compete with these other outstanding Star Wars games. That doesn't make it a poor game, but a consideration of these other titles makes the flaws of Episode III stand out far more clearly. This, coupled with the game's initial high price point and relatively short single player mode, all combined to give serious pause to the game. Despite these overwhelming flaws the game did well enough to go platinum so while it may not have been a particularly inspired game, it was at the very least marketed quite well.

Despite its flaws, I do find myself, in retrospect, recommending the game. While it is short, it is quite fun. It isn't quite an underappreciated gem, but the type of person looking towards the game these days, probably a somewhat serious Star Wars fan, ought to enjoy the game. My final verdict is that it was judged a bit too harshly by the critics and deserves recognition at the very least for giving a few enjoyable hours of lightsaber combat. If you're looking for something to tide you over until The Force Unleashed's launch then Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith might just fit the bill. Make sure to catch the film first though!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 09/02/08

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