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Star Wars: Rogue Leader
Probably one of the most anticipated Star Wars games ever to come out in recent years, Rogue Leader is Factor 5's sequel to the groundbreaking Rogue Squadron. Rogue Squadron, which came to the N64 in 1998, had some of the best graphics and sound on the system at the time (and for quite a while after). With fun gameplay and challenging levels, Rogue Squadron was a classic. And to tell you the truth, it's still fun today! In 2000, Battle for Naboo came out, the Episode 1 sequel to Rogue Squadron. Though a great game, it didn't really set any standards like its predecessor did. Now we come to the end of 2001. Rogue Leader, which is the real sequel to Rogue Squadron (because it takes place in the trilogy again) looks like it's going to live up the standards that Rogue Squadron did in its time. With ground-breaking graphics, absolutely amazing sound, great gameplay, and loads of extras, RL is doing for the GCN what RS did for the N64. As I said above, Rogue Leader takes place in the Star Wars Trilogy. It lets you replay more of the real battles than RS did. You battle both Death Stars, fight in the Battle of Hoth, and play in the space part of Endor. You also fight in such locales as the cloud city Bespin, the outer-space Ison Corridor, the beautiful Kothilis, and more. Each level is much different from the others. Obviously, you are going to have different objectives between taking out a Death Star and tripping up AT-ATs. But you also must fly much different ships, over different terrain, and sometimes in blinding fog. All of these locales are absolutely gorgeous, and the game is probably worth the purchase just to take in the beauty. As for gameplay, RL is for the most part similar to RS. Boost, fire, secondary fire, brake, etc. However, in RL you have a few more options. Besides giving you the ability to spin , RL also lets you command your wingmen in what they should do, and use a targeting computer. The targeting computer is an excellent addition. It comes up, just like the movies, and hilights your enemies. This is helpful when you are trying to spot ties against the black sky or when you are blinded by fog. However, there is a downside. If you are trying to place for a medal on the level, you must minimize your use of the targeting computer. There are limits you must not exceed for each medal. Back to the wingmen commands. Your wingmen are actually useful this time around, and will periodicaly ask you what they should do. You can tell them using the D-pad. Sometimes this is bothersome as there are obviously ties all around for them to go after, but it's a nice feature. In addition to commanding them to attack ties, you can also command them to attack ground targets or to form on you. If they form on you they basically just contribute their laser cannons to whatever you are trying to take out. However, that opens up the possibility of them firing the blast that destroys then enemy, and thus getting credit for the kill. Another nice option that is useful if you are going for a medal is the ability to have your wingmen flee. This gets rid of them, allowing you to make all the kills and eliminates the possibility of losing friendlies. Both of these are requirements that must be met for medals. The gameplay is fast and furious. Multitudes of ties will soar in, and in the later levels will consistently batter your ship. They usually fly in small packs, so you can typically take out several by getting on the pack's tail. AT-ATs and AT-STs also make appearances in the battles of Hoth and Kothilis, as well as in a couple others. The levels from the movie are carefully crafted to recreate the same feeling as if you were actually in the movie. With character voices straight from the movie and near movie-quality graphics, you get the feeling that you're really there. Even more impressive than the great gameplay, however, is the technical feats that Factor 5 made when creating this game. The game is still probably the best showcase of what the GCN is capable of both in terms of graphics and sound. As I've said before, the graphics are superb. With amazing lighting effects from lasers and explosions, and incredibly detailed and high-resolution textures, the graphics in RL are nothing short of a masterpiece. The ships are extremely realistically detailed, and the rebel craft look battered like they did in the movie. The draw distance is amazing, there is very little noticable fog that isn't supposed to be there. The fog that is supposed to be there is very nice and gives a real sense of depth and semi-transparency. The explosions are very firey and the smoke is beautiful as well. Finally, I can't go on without raving about the incredible water in the Kothilis level. If you fly low you'll be very impressed with how good the water looks. And all this at a smooth, practically uninterrupted 60 frames per second. The sound in RL is also amazing, which is exactly what we'd expect from Factor 5. Since they actually helped Nintendo design the sound capabilities of the GCN, they already knew what they were doing before they started. And Factor 5 has always been known for attaining near-perfection in the audio aspects of all their games. Rogue Squadron and Battle for Naboo both had amazing amounts of music and voices considering that they were on cartidges. Now, with CD-like quality music and voices that are straight from the movie, RL lets you live in the Star Wars universe like never before. And if you have a surround sound system, you can really feel every explosion and fly-by. In conclusion, Rogue Leader is a must-buy for any Star Wars fan or someone who just wants to showcase the capabilities of their GCN. With improved gameplay over its predecessor and amazing graphics and sound, RL is one of the best games the GCN has right now. Don't bother renting, buy it today.
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| © 2002 Entertainment Critique. All Rights Reserved. |
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