There is no greater space
battle than the one George Lucas unveiled in 1977. For more than 20 years
storytellers, game developers and amateur filmmakers have tried their best to
extend or re-tell the beloved Star Wars trilogy. George Lucas is extending the
life of Star Wars by making three prequels, the third and final saga due for
release in May 2005. Even if the movie itself doesn’t make me cry, the first
teaser trailer, which is expected to carry the tagline, "The Saga Concludes May
2005," most certainly will. This isn’t just a conclusion to a story. It’s an
end to a part of our lives.
Although Lucas insists
he’ll not touch the Star Wars saga once Episode III is complete, game developers
have no desire to stop keeping the Saga alive. The third (and perhaps final)
chapter in the Rogue Squadron saga is Rebel Strike. I say final not because
this is the last of Factor 5’s unbeatable Star Wars games, but because this
title covers all three movies in the original trilogy. Now that one saga has
concluded, it’s likely they’ll move onto the prequels.
As exciting as it is to
think about the future, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Right now we have
what has turned out to be the most diverse of the three Rogue Squadron titles.
Rebel Strike is a new
beginning for the series. The series wasn’t getting old, but it was entirely
made up of flight battles, usually taking place in space. In Rebel Strike you
get the chance to jump out of the cockpit and engage in some laser blast battles
with Stormtroopers. You’ll also get to ride a speeder bike and fly through the
mountains. You have access to ground cannons and other unique defense options
that weren’t available before.
Despite these new
gameplay variations, the majority of the game centers on Star War’s most
prominent powerful form of combat: space battles. Your spacecrafts will get
much closer to the ground this time around, with several missions involving the
protection of allies or the destruction of enemies.
Rebel Strike must use
every technical trick the GameCube has up its sleeves. I couldn’t possibly list
them all even if I knew every term. You may remember how much praise Rogue
Leader received for its explosions. Rebel Strike is no different. You can look
at the pictures and see how pretty the textures are, but still images cannot
compare to how it looks in motion. I don’t know they did it, but Factor 5 has
created explosive effects that never look exactly the same! It’s like that fact
you heard about snowflakes when you were a kid, only this pertains to a man-made
game, something that does not exist naturally. They found a way though, and the
result is an array of bursts of flames that ignite in more formations than your
eyes will ever be able to keep track of.
The graphics aren’t
perfect though. During ground battles you’ll notice that Luke runs like the guy
in that "where are you when your diarrhea comes back?" commercial. He ran the
same way in the previous games. You’d think that by now he would have taken
medicine for that. Maybe Ex-Lax wasn’t available on a galaxy far, far away.
As much as Star Wars fans
love diversity, the ground battles don’t live up to expectations. Developers
have been trying to make a third-person Star Wars shooter for years. It didn’t
work perfectly in standalone games like Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. And it
works with even less efficiency here. All you have to do to win a gunfight is
run around in circles and press the A button until every Stormtrooper has been
eliminated. This is true regardless of where the ground battle takes place.
That doesn’t mean this
isn’t a great game. Lucky for us, there aren’t too many battles that don’t
involve at least one spacecraft. And the battles that don’t are easy and can be
completed very quickly. It’s not the end all and be all of Star Wars games, but
it is a classic that fans will want to have in their collection.
Let’s suppose that, for
whatever reason, you’re not a fan of Star Wars. However, you really enjoy
flight/combat games. You might be wondering: is Rebel Strike getting praise
because it’s a fun game or because it’s a fun Star Wars game? The sights and
sounds will appeal most to those who like Star Wars, but the gameplay remains
unchanged. Any way you look at it, Rebel Strike is a really good game.
Gameplay: 8.5
From exciting
space combat to less-than-exciting ground battles, Rebel Strike brings more Star
Wars elements together for one game than any other title. The space battles
still provide some of the best times you’ll have on the ‘Cube, though you may
begin to wonder why the objectives are all very similar. A few new and unique
objectives would have been nice.
As
flawed as it is, I still really enjoyed this game. It’s a lot like the Star
Wars game Sega developed exclusively for arcades (it has yet to be ported to a
game console). If the Force is strong with you, let your powers take control
and enter Factor 5’s latest Star Wars saga. If the Force is weak, give it a
rental.
Graphics: 8.7
It wouldn’t be
crazy to assume that GameCube’s lifecycle is half over, and while you may have
assumed that the console’s power had been maxed out with Rogue Leader and
Resident Evil, think again. Factor 5 continues to squeeze more power out of a
console that is, by technical specifications, above PlayStation 2 but below
Xbox. Regardless, Rebel Strike looks better than most top-tier Xbox games.
The reason why is
obvious: there are few artists in this world that can compare to those
associated with Star Wars. The backgrounds literally pour graphic effects into
your eyes. The detail is unmatched, even by its own GameCube predecessor.
Sound: 8.5
Rebel Strike has
crisp, crystal-clear sound effects that, as old as they are, end up being some
of the most impressive you’ll hear on the ‘Cube. Everything is pure Star Wars.
The voice-over quality is great when taken directly from the film but the new
voices are terrible.
Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Thanks to the new
shoot-to-win battles, Rebel Strike is the easiest game in the series. Some of
the space battles are a challenge, but they’re nothing a Rogue Leader master
won’t be able to plow through in a day or two.
Concept: 7
Rebel Strike
tries to cram too many gameplay options into one game. The effort is
appreciated, but a dedicated flight/combat game like its predecessors would have
been much more enjoyable.
Multiplayer: 8.8
Besides the
Endurance and Tag & Defend multiplayer modes, gamers will be thrilled by Rebel
Strike’s most astonishing feature: a two-player version of Rogue Leader! You
and a friend can jump in the cockpit of an X-Wing and take on every mission from
the biggest third-party launch title on GameCube. Not one to overlook any
detail, Factor 5 went through the trouble of upgrading Rogue Leader’s graphics
to match those of Rebel Strike! Split-screen gaming is usually degrading to the
graphics (for technical reasons), but here it’s actually improved.
Overall: 8.5
If I could hum
the Star Wars music with letters, that’s exactly what I’d be doing now. Rebel
Strike is a get-up-and-cheer kind of game. It’ll make you lose interest in
whatever else is going on your life, and will increase your interest in Star
Wars. It’ll take you back to the memorable moments you had watching the Star
Wars films on the big screen, and will make you anticipate the conclusion even
more. It will also make you want to watch the movies again, which in return
will make you want to play Rebel Strike. It’s an endless circle that you can’t
escape from, so don’t even try.
If exclusive third-party
Xbox and PS2 games made you jealous, Rebel Strike will help you get your
revenge. This game is 100% exclusive to GameCube. There are no loopholes like
the one that enabled Rockstar to release Vice City on Xbox. At best, you could
hope for a PC port. But Rebel Strike will never, ever be released on Xbox or
PS2, that’s guaranteed. So if you want it, you’re going to need a GameCube to
run it.
