"The Force was never with this game."

All I can say is that, well, we should’ve seen it coming. The day that Lucasarts announced that they were bringing their newest Star Wars action game, Obi-Wan, to the newly created Xbox instead of the PC, we should’ve known something wicked was coming this way. The Xbox finally launched, and but a few months later, Obi-Wan was released to little or no fanfare. Many gamers called this Star Wars game “The one that everyone forgot about.” Although, the reasoning behind this is not the fact that Lucasarts really didn’t do any publicity. The real reason is probably because the game is truly horrible.

New for Episode II, another story from Episode I!

It seems that George Lucas wants to tell basically EVERYONE’S side of the story with Episode I. This time around, you control Obi-Wan, who is currently just a Jedi Student, or Padawan. Obi-Wan is currently on a mission into the lower depths of Coruscant, investigating the trade of families in mining, or something along those lines. After you plunge through the depths of Coruscant, and get back to your Jedi master council, they suddenly send you on a totally different mission against the Jin-Ha, a new threat that is making weapons that can counter the force. Eventually, Obi-Wan and his trainer, Qui-Gon Jinn will figure out that these weapons dealers are selling the weapons to the Trade Federation, thus brining you to the beginning of Episode I around midway through the game. I guess Georgie was out of ideas was out of ideas, so he just used his own movie to take care of the rest of the plot.

Bad Idea: Using a bad game as an idea for your new game.

The way that Obi-Wan plays is very similar to two of the many other Star Wars games Lucas has made over the years. The main portion of the game basically has you going around levels, killing off anything you see, sort of like Jedi Power Battles. Unfortunately, that game was equally as terrible as this game.

The first thing you’ll notice after playing Obi-Wan for a while is the fact that not just the levels, but the graphics, the gameplay, nearly everything is bland, drab, and boring. A normal level in the game basically consists of you going through corridors or big open spaces, using your lightsaber to slash, kill, and destroy anything you see that moves. Enemies are usually placed in clusters in different areas of a level. You should have no trouble getting rid of them, since they are dumber than Jim Carrey’s latest movie. Enemies don’t try to team up on you; they don’t try to block your moves. They basically just mindlessly run in, trying to shoot and hit you any way they can. After just a few levels, this gets incredibly tedious.

Along the way, you will be able to use your force powers to dispatch of bad guys. This was easily the best concept in the game, and gives Lucas something to build on from here. By holding the right trigger, and pressing a button on the controller, you can do one of many powers a Jedi person is supposed to be able to do. For instance, the Y button will force throw your enemies a great distance, B will throw an object at an enemy, X will disarm an enemy, etc. You know, lots of cool, neato, geek-ass Jedi stuff! It’s too bad that they couldn’t even make this cool concept work.

Force throwing an object never works, because there is literally no way to aim which way the object is going to fly. Disarming them doesn’t help either, because not only is this power useless against enemies that don’t have guns; most enemies after the second level have knives and clubs they can pull out in addition to their guns. Finally, your other main power, force throwing an opponent, never helps because it takes around five or six separate hits to kill him. Your other, less noted force powers are, well… even less useful. Hitting the little white button will cause everything to move in slow motion for a bit, and is touted as “a good way to get out of a fight if you’re surrounded.” This would be great, except for the fact that YOU slow down as well. Gee, that helps a lot! Also, clicking the right trigger will send your lightsaber flying into the distance. Too bad when you do this, not only does it usually not hit any enemies, but it leaves you completely defenseless. But don’t worry, you can still just beat the game by mindlessly swinging your lightsaber, because that’s just how dumbed down this game is.

Unlockables, Bonuses, and Medals, oh my!

The other main part of the game deals with another bad Star Wars game, the horridly bad Masters of Teras Kasi fighting game. Other than the main levels, you can unlock special battles in the Saber Arena. Although, these really shouldn’t be called bonuses, or anything like that, seeing that they nearly outnumber the amount of levels in the game. In these Saber Arena battles, it’s basically you against another Jedi, Lightsaber vs. Lightsaber. Gradually, the power of these Jedi grow, making it harder for you to beat them. Don’t even think of using your force powers; they don’t work against them. But, you still shouldn’t have much trouble beating them. The only main obstacle is your Jedi himself; he moves around like someone taped up both his knees. Not only are you unable to move from side to side, but you have to turn in place before you can run another direction. This area is yet another part of the game Lucasarts sadly overlooked.

Another area of the game that those damn tricksters at Lucasarts called “bonuses” are medals that you can obtain in each level. Those tricksters also thought it funny to give you absolutely no idea what those medals were for, exactly. After playing the game for a bit, or just reading this review if you’re too lazy, you will find out that there are medals for how many times you have to take a continue, how often you use your force powers, how accurate your swing with a lightsaber is, and if you can pick up all of the little orange headed spidery things in each level. Um…when I’m in a battle, surrounded by about ten druids, with only a smidgen of health left, do you really think I’m going to be thinking about how accurate my lightsaber swinging is?! Lastly, nowhere in the game does it tell you what medals you have earned, or if you have earned any for that matter. Just terrible.

Can it get much worse? Yes, young Obi-Wan. Yes it can.

To go along with bad level design comes bad graphics. To put it mildly, the game looks like a later-generation Playstation game. All the environments are covered with boring textures and colors, and have jaggies, something I have not seen in nearly every other xbox game. The game slows down when it needs to load another section of a level, and will sometimes stop the game altogether. Character animations are blocky, and the Characters themselves look simply horrendous. Obi-Wan’s stupid little braid on his head looks more like a snake protruding from his scalp. The only real good point is the fact that Obi-Wan himself, not anything else, just Obi-Wan has great lighting effects. His shadow will move right along with you, and when you’re in part light, part dark, it will show on his cloak. Too bad nothing else in the game is given that much detail.

Wait…there’s something…GOOD?!

Yes, surprisingly, Obi-Wan does have one bright spot. The music goes right along with the levels, and many times I loved hearing John Williams’ intricate melodies start up every time I would head into battle, and end with a bright tone after I had won. The music fits right along with the levels, moody and dark when needed, and bright and colorful at the same time.

Too bad the voice acting isn’t as polished. All of the voice actors desperately try to sound like the real actors, but in the end fail miserably. Obi-Wan still sounds nothing like himself, and Qui-Gon Gin’s actor never sounds like Liam Neeson. The sound effects are alright, if you just want to hear the traditional lightsaber noises and guns firing.

In the end, Obi-Wan took two bad ideas, and came up with a total abomination of a game, a product that should’ve never seen the light of day on any platform. Horrible graphics, bad level design, stupid bonuses and unlockables, and mainly tired, boring gameplay really did this game in. If Lucasarts could’ve spent maybe another month or two polishing this game up, it really could’ve been a fun action game, with a lot of replay and fun. Instead, it is a horrible pile of bloody cat poop that should be avoided by all but the biggest Star Wars freaks. Stay away.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 01/01/03, Updated 01/01/03