By Michael D. Cooper - reviews
First of all, you should know that this game is kind of short. I received it yesterday and it took roughly 10 hours on standard difficulty to complete.
Yet the fact that I didn't move the entire 10 hours is testament to this game's ability to be loads of fun to play, regardless of game-length.
THE GOOD:
The opening level places you in command of Darth Vader, giving you a preview of the absolute power of the force... that you realize you can't match at first with the apprentice. As the developers have stated, this is to give you a chance to realize what you can become.
The absolute awesomeness of this level really sets the tone for the game. Marching down and eliminating Wookies while ATAT's walk down below from the cliff and Star Destroyers, troop transports, and TIE Fighters fly all around left me feeling like this was really Star Wars.
The leveling in the game gives you a chance for character customization once you take control of the apprentice. Want your force-grip to be able to grab two enemies instead of one? Spend your force points in upgrading force-grip. Also - you can wear various costumes, make your lightsaber one of nearly 20 colors with various special effects, and really make your character your own.
The gameplay is solid, with a few questionable level designs toward the end of the game.
THE BAD:
The story is 'good' but as I gave the writer of the novel a hard time for not delving deep enough - I have to say that the cutscenes were chopped down to the point where you really can't grasp the full impact of the story which was more clear in the novel.
The Romance:
The love dialog/romance is worse than George Lucas if that gives you any indication. These characters develop feelings for one another despite Juno Eclipse being little more than a 'professional imperial' who forgot to button the top 5 buttons on her uniform and having no dialog really outside of a few sentences in the cut scenes.
Then again - if I saw a woman dressing like that I suppose it wouldn't take much romance for me to develop feelings for her either.
Multiple Endings? There is a dark side ending and a light side ending, but this isn't Knights of the Old Republic. 99% of the game is the same regardless of what you choose to be/wear/do. The final 'choice' is made 30 seconds before the final boss fight. Regardless of how you play the game - it comes down to what you do 30 seconds before you fight the final boss. I was hoping for a variety of missions or at least a change in objectives.
Frustrating objectives:
Sometimes your objective is very vague. I spent more than one level wandering in circles and jumping off cliffs trying to figure out what to do because the mission objective was something like "Pick out the hydrospanner from the flexoregulator" which is probably something you would know if you were an uber-geek who knew what either was. Guesswork and trial and error. Also - in the second Raxis Prime level the force controls at the end LIE to make you die quicker.
Bugs:
Few and far between, but I had some ATST decide to despawn (which was good for me) and a few hiccups. For the most part the game was solid.
OVERALL:
Despite the flaws, I sat through the entire 10 hours and couldn't stop because it was extremely addictive. The game is simple - but it works and is fun. You can tell a lot of love went into this, but you can also tell that the cutscenes feel disconnected from the rest of the story in terms of dialog because of spotty editing which leaves you wanting more.
This is better than anything else LucasArts has had in a while, and you really feel like this is Star Wars.
Bottom line: A step in the right direction. A+ Gameplay, C- Story.
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