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Star Wars: Starfighter - Not Quite the Death Star ?Trench Run,? But Fun Nonetheless?
Date of Review: Dec 22, 2002
The Bottom Line: It?s not quite the immersive space combat experience that fans of games like Wing Commander were hoping for, but its still a reasonably fun shooter.
"Good Morning, Bravo 10. We know you're just a rookie pilot fresh out of the simulators, but we have a mission of grave importance for you. Queen Padme Amidala Naberrie of Naboo has requested an audience with the Senate and will be departing by shuttle in the morning. Naturally since the craft that transports arguably one of the most important people in the galaxy has zero defensive weaponry, we have assigned your fighter to act as an escort for Her Majesty's shuttle on this journey. You will be joined by one other escort craft, though it will be there purely for decorative purposes since the pilot couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a shotgun from three paces. Good luck, pilot. You'll need it."
That is the entire Star Wars: Starfighter experience in a nutshell. In this stellar LucasArts space shooter, you're always outnumbered and outgunned, but darnit, never outclassed.
Star Wars: Starfighter plays as a story-driven game, playing through the plot of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace from the alternating viewpoints of rookie Naboo pilot Rhys Dallows, disenchanted starfighter pilot Vana Sage, and noble pirate Nym. The game starts with a short training mission using the Rhys' rookie flight school as an in-game training session for the player. After a few missions as Rhys, the game changes over to Vana where she's currently testing fighter drones for a mysterious employer. Soon, you'll be in the cockpit of a devastating experimental craft as Nym, leading his wing of pirates on a raid of a Trade Federation convoy. Each one eventually realizes that the Trade Federation is up to something dastardly, and the best way to put a stop to its evil designs is to combine and fight as one cohesive unit.
As to be expected from a LucasArts Star Wars title, the graphics in Starfighter are nothing less than amazing. Sets, character forms, and vehicle models are ripped right out of Episode I and very highly detailed and true to the universe. Fans of the movie will definitely feel like they stepped into the middle of Lucas' galaxy far far away. Animation is smooth and flowing as well; typically the frame rate even stays fairly fluid in the thick of battle with a few dozen swarming fighters. Unfortunately, that laudable consistency completely changes with the ground missions. The rich, highly textured terran backgrounds and maps that the programmers prefer as a backdrop for the ground based missions apparently are almost too much for the system to process. The resulting slowdown often kills the flow of the game, making the graphics choppy and targets harder to bust a cap in.
Though you won't hear THX's 'Deep Note' audiologo opening up Star Wars: Starfighter, music and sound effects for the game are certainly no slouch. Most of the background tunes are pulled directly from the movie, helping to preserve the high degree of continuity between the Episode I and the game. The sound engineers did an excellent job making sure the arrangements were appropriate for the situation as well; low, ominous music rumbles from underneath during the slower, more objective-based missions, and the heroic, sweeping orchestral arrangements resonate during the harried dogfights. Many of the sound effects in the game are pulled from the movie's FX department as well, so expect to hear the distinctive zings and hums that make the Star Wars franchise such a feast for the ears.
But the true litmus test for any video game is gameplay, and Star Wars: Starfighter excels in this department as well. The three-pilot plot allows for a welcome degree of variation in the game by keeping the player from getting bored spending too much time in any one ship. Each craft has its naturally has it's own "personality" as well. Rhys' Naboo fighter is fast and nimble, but comes with a limited amount of missiles, Nym's "Havoc" is a sluggish but formidable bomber, and Vana's "Mantis" is in the middle in regards to maneuverability, though it has the ability to stop on a dime and is armed with ship-disabling ion tags. Both Rhys and Vana's craft come with R2 units who bleep excitedly periodically, but apparently Nym yanked his out in favor of an extra automated turret.
Each of the ships is extremely easy to control, but you'll be crying for extra maneuverability in the more cramped levels, such as the canyon missions. Control with the gamepad is tight and intuitive – it is easy to cycle through targets, accelerate, decelerate and control all other basic functions of each fighter. The only function that might give players a bit of difficulty is the remarkably handy "sniper" mode. Though this zoom function gives you the ability to pick off targets that are still a good distance away, toggling it on and off while firing and steering the vessel will sometimes make you feel like you need some extra fingers.
In addition to the standard "protect this" and "seek-and-destroy that" mission objectives, there are also bonus goals that can be completed to unlock bonus missions and vehicles. Completing bonus goals earns you bronze, silver, and gold medals depending on the number bonus goals completed. Collect all the medals in all of the missions and you'll unlock the game bonuses, one of which allows you to toss aside your banana-yellow Naboo fighter for a glossy blue bad-a** upgrade.
The only real downside to this game is the rather pathetic artificial intelligence of the enemy. Instead of performing any kind of advanced combat maneuvers, the enemy usually just circles around you, randomly changing directions periodically. Granted the majority of the fighters are supposed to be piloted by unimaginative droids, but doesn't it make sense that any society technologically advanced enough to build sentient robots can teach them a few basic combat maneuvers? Besides, the human pilots aren't that much better; if it weren't for the guided missiles and the mega-shielding, the last Mercenary boss would be a pushover.
It's not quite Wing commander, but Star Wars: Starfighter is an excellent game for fans of space shooters or just the license itself. It's got great graphics, superb sound, addictive gameplay, and an irresistible license backing it up. You may not be able to call on the Force for this, but you won't need it. The good guys always win in the end regardless.
