 | | Why does George Lucas always release this stuff weeks before the movie? |
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Movie tie-ins. They used to be the bane of the video game industry. Things changed last year however, as not only was the Vin Diesel-tinged Chronicles of Riddick a surprising contender for game of the year, but Spider-Man 2 enjoyed similar success with its mold-breaking abilities.
Both titles proved that movie licensing is not always the albatross around the neck it's traditionally been known for, and that things have certainly come a long way since the days of E.T. on the Atari 2600 (a movie tie-in so bad, it was recalled off store shelves and literally buried in the desert. I shit you not).
The aforementioned beauties aren't alone. While some of the Lord of the Rings tie-ins have been a bit hit 'n' miss, the two scrolling hack 'em ups that EA put out were both fantastic titles in my book. And I single these out specifically because this latest Star Wars title for PS2 and Xbox - a video game adaptation of the upcoming Revenge of the Sith - is essentially just a Star Wars remix of those games.
The Revenge of the King
 | | Force powers include heal, push and lightning, among others |
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Alternating between playing as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, your job is to traverse through 3D recreations of the various battles seen in the upcoming movie, slicing and dicing with your lightsaber and chucking in the occasional bout of The Force to boot. The plot follows the actions of these two throughout the film, as well as some additional cut scenes and other "off screen" moments that apparently didn't make the final movie (relax, no spoilers here).
Arguably where this game improves over the LOTR titles though, is in its heavier emphasis on storytelling as well as liberal use of cut-scenes. While the LOTR games were essentially made up of long, continuous levels, this game constantly bombards you with new twists and turns popping up at every opportunity, forcing you into new locations and scenarios that help keep it that little bit more fresh and interesting.
One minute you're charging down a corridor, the next you're on a plummeting lift, then suddenly you're battling upside down on a control bridge (don't fret though, Matrix Revolutions this ain't). There's a real sense of being inside a rollercoaster blockbuster Star Wars movie here.
Before we go on, I will admit that at the time of writing, I'm only halfway through the game, mind you. In a futile attempt to remain at least partially spoiler free, I'm trying to put off the rest until the movie comes out, however eight levels in I think I have a fairly good grasp on how well the game turned out on the whole.
Well?
All in all, I'm impressed. This is, to me, the best lightsaber combat system we've seen so far. The Jedi Knight games were enjoyable, don't get me wrong, and unquestionably better all-round titles, but at the same time the saber always felt like it came second place to the Force powers in those games, with the actual swordplay little more than button bashing while running around like a head-less chicken. Online battles in particular were unintentionally hilarious.
Vice versa here. Force powers are present once again, but really the emphasis is on the surprisingly deep lightsaber system, and that's the one real treat of the game. It features hundreds of different combos, grapples, blocks, full on saber locking, and a whole lot more.
 | | Lightsaber combat is a blast, with tons of awesome combos and abilities |
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All of this stuff has been worked into the game by not only Star Wars fight coordinator Nick Gillard (responsible for all the battles seen in the prequels), but also Hayden Christensen himself, who took the developers through many of his moves for ultimate authenticity.
The result is a stream of battles that look strikingly similar to the high speed duels seen in the recent flicks, especially the 1 on 1 boss battles which are particularly spectacular, both to watch and play. That's never really been captured successfully in a game before, let's be honest.
What makes all this cooler is the fact different moves and abilities can be unlocked by you the player as you "level up", another throwback to the LOTR games. You subsequently not only have a wealth of moves at your disposal, but also a character who is somewhat customised to your own fighting style as you progress further and further. You could plough all your points into critical strikes and mid-air attacks for instance, or alternatively concentrate solely on your Force powers.
As well as fighting, you get to do a ton of other sweet little bits of business with your glow stick. You can melt down doors, Liam Neeson-style, cut through control panels, slice off hand rails and do tons more damage to the destructible scenery. Best of all, there's a fantastic blocking and laser deflection system that looks so damn cool I often used it more than good old slicing.
A Grower
While this may all sound great, I'll admit that on my first play of the game, I wasn't blown away. This really isn't an instant grabber that adorns you with love, and a big part of that is down to the sub-par visuals which don't give off a strong first impression. However, as I started to figure out the various moves at my disposal and get the lightsaber combos working for me while mixing in the Force powers, I really began to take a shine to this title.
 | | On level's end you're rated and given experience points to spend on skills |
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LucasArts have plugged it as the ultimate lightsaber sim, and I'd say for the most part they pulled that off nicely. There's a great sense of power that comes with the ability to wield this thing properly. While you'll initially fumble your way past meagre battle droids in the games opening scenes, once you get to grips with that combat system, you discover some real art behind it.
Melting a door off, charging into a room, Force pushing a group of droids into a wall, slicing their buddies in half, spinning around, deflecting bolts back at a Droideka, doing a back-flip onto an upper ledge, picking up a Super Battle Droid and finally chucking him over the ledge to his doom...that's what this game's all about. Being an ultra bad arse Jedi in the heart of hectic battles.
Your four main buttons are used for three different types of saber strike and a jump function, all of which can be strung together in combos. The left shoulder button is then used for blocking, and the right for Force pushes and grabs. Every button gets a use somewhere though, ranging from Force lightning to healing, and if it wasn't hard enough to remember each of these in the heat of battle, different combinations and sequences of buttons produce even more moves and abilities. It certainly has more to learn than the average scrolling beat 'em up, but I dig that.
Jagged Alliance
It's not all good news by any means though. As previously touched upon, the game's biggest flaw, and I'm afraid it's rather a large one, is just the look of the thing. The graphics are more or less okay during gameplay, but the models aren't detailed enough to survive scrutiny at any kind of close range, particularly Obi-Wan, and as a result pretty much every in-game cut-scene looks absolutely terrible. Believe me when I tell you there's a
lot of them too.
Thankfully movie footage is regularly interspersed to help things along, and although featuring your typical dodgy Star Wars acting, the action looks absolutely incredible and bodes well for the upcoming flick.
 | | This shot really doesn't do justice to how bad these cut-scenes look |
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The in-game architecture and level design is an area that fares slightly better, with decent art direction straight from the movie and even some nice moody lighting on the first couple of levels. Sadly it's let down by horrendous jaggies that make it feel a fair bit dated in light of games like God of War.
The fighting animation is thankfully one area of the graphics that defies criticism, with that fluidity and gracefulness of the Jedi captured perfectly with every swing.
On the whole, the visuals range from average to occasionally pretty good, but lose major points for being uneven. It's a shame, 'cos it detracts hugely from what should have been a much more polished game in my opinion.
For a franchise that places so much emphasis on its incredible visuals, this game really deserved better. After engaging in a colossal sweaty-palmed lightsaber duel to the death that has you punching the air in victory, it's a major boner killer to then see another one of those embarrassingly bad cut-scenes.
Sound on the other hand, is fine, with the usual assortment of John Williams' score and "voooom" saber sounds. The voice acting isn't performed by the lads from the movie, but instead the guys used in the recent Clone Wars cartoon series. They do a reasonable job at impersonating Ewan McGregor and company, which is something of a double-edged sword though given the prequel's infamous line delivery.
The other nugget of negativity is that the game suffers from minor repetition, but that's somewhat part and parcel for this genre some might say.
Always Two, There Are
 | | 1 Vs 1 duels are a true highlight, and look just like the movies come to life |
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As well as the rather challenging single player game of 16 levels, the game also features two pleasing multiplayer components. First of all, there's an awesome co-op mode, one that doesn't let you play through the main game, but instead gives you four additional bonus levels that were developed specifically for you and a mate (think Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory). The camera switches to a much more distant view for these levels, as you share the same screen, but it works well.
Less expected however, is an additional versus mode, which is pulled off very much in the style of 3D fighters like Tekken and Soul Calibur. Sure, it lacks the finesse and beauty of such titles, but considering it's essentially a bonus mini game, it's great fun, and comes complete with all the saber moves and Force powers of the single player game with some great use of interactive scenery.
Both modes are nice additions all in all, and it's great fun to fight both against and alongside a buddy. If however, you lack friends, you can also play both modes with a bot.
Every Saga Has An End
Ultimately, this game does exactly what it sets out to do. It lets us experience the pivotal moments of the movie for ourselves, as well we show us a little bit of what happened off screen. At the same time, it's also the most successful implementation of the lightsaber I think we've seen yet.
Between this and Republic Commando, the Episode III tie-ins are off to a much better start than the last couple of Star Wars movies. This one's not perfect, mainly due to shortcomings in both the visuals and variety of gameplay, but as a scrolling beat 'em up it fits the bill rather nicely I must say. If you want something about mid-way between Return of the King and Ninja Gaiden - better than the former but worse than the latter - grab this one. Hacking down endless waves of droids has never been this much fun.
And hey, if you can put off playing it 'til May 19th, you're a stronger man than I am...
