Star Wars: Rogue Squadron (Jewel Case)

Rating:
Summary: OOMPAWAMPA!!!
Review: Just say "oompawampa" (or rather type it in the settings as a password) and suddenly, any frustrations you might have with getting through some of the early levels, are gone. Because with "oompawampa," you open up the whole game, try any level, any time. Until I found that little "cheat," though I loved (and do love) this game, I kept getting stuck on one of the earlier levels. Now, just by using that little weird word, I can play any level, any time. As can you!

And that's really where the beauty and greatness of this game can really be seen in all of its glory. Sure, the later levels are tough. But they are all rendered in beautiful 3d graphics and with the great John Williams soundtrack music, the special effects and audio, if you're looking for a Star Wars game and an arcade style space shooter, look no farther. For the price they are asking for this today, this is a must for anyone's PC game collection, and especially if you but barely LIKE anything Star Wars.

Each level has its own various pleasures. While none take place completely in space, a lot feature a lot of stars. Try the Jade Moon level to see what I mean. The volcano level is also a joy to behold. There is also one taking place in high altitude futuristic city platforms amongst clouds set against deep orange and red skies. In all levels, you will battle a number of different enemies, including Tie Fighters, stationary ground guns, giant walkers, and various others. Basically, the WHOLE idea here is shoot anything that moves and watch the 3d sparks and colors fly. Though, watch out for your own troops, ships, buildings, and other allies. Don't shoot them unless you want an early end to the level, though if you do, it is kind of fun to hear your rebel friends say things like "Skywalker, what the heck are you doing?!" or "When we get back to base, we're going to have a little discussion about your methods, Luke."

You don't really need any kind of super-computer to play this. Look at the specs. But the graphics nonetheless are nothing short of spectacular to behold. In fact, while trying to chase tie fighters down or go after walkers and other dark side servants of the evil empire, you may just get sidetracked by the visual eye-candy here. It's a stunning looking game, and for one already a few years old, believe it, the "look" of this game is just as good as anything out there, and better than most.

This is a very simple game to start right in on. The first level in which you fight imperial droid machines and later a few scattered tie fighters, is easy enough to finish after a try or two, but there is a "medal" system here also, where you are always, regardless of level, trying to get a gold, silver, or bronze. So, even if you beat various levels (and I've only beaten three so far), you can always go back and go for the gold, or the silver, or a bronze. Replay value here? In spades!

I own several PC games including the older X-Wing, but this is the CD I always keep popping back into my CD-Rom drive when I just plain want to have some fun. There is a convoluted "story" to this I would guess, and in various levels you sort of pick up where you left off in previous missions, but each level (once you OOMPAWAMPA the game in settings) really does stand on its own, and that's why the secret word is so important. On an early level, I was getting so frustrated in trying to complete the mission (even after downing dozens of tie fighters and taking out various other enemy guns), that I became rather sour on the game for awhile. I wanted to see the other levels, wanted to play them, even if they were way above my young Jedi starfighter head. Well, the net is surely a great place to find cheats, and when you oompawampa it, the masterpiece that is this game becomes quickly apparent. As in any game, the further you go, the harder it gets, and though I never really get too far in the magnificant DEATH STAR TRENCH RUN final level (looking almost as good as the film from the original movie), it's nice to at least try.

But all levels are great and each are unique in their own ways both visually and in their challenges. I do heavily recommend you have a basic digital gamepad or good joystick for this as the harder stuff would be much too difficult on a keyboard, but if you are in any way a Star Wars fan, and don't have a super powerful computer, and want to take the ride of your life every now and then in strange and beautiful alien worlds, blasting everything in sight, you MUST GET THIS GAME! Once you open it up with the secret word (and there are many other ones too that you can use in addition like WOOKIEPELT to fly the Millenium Falcon!), this is such a fun game that it will I'm sure, always be either in your CD rom drive, or close at hand to pop back in for some more rounds.

This is, without a doubt, the best PC game, PERIOD, I have ever bought or played. The visual effects are stunning throughout, the music is great (though you can turn down the music volume and put on anything you like, for instance, the soundtrack to Phantom Menace or Attack of the Clones to give RS an up to date feel), the voice acting and cut scenes are good, and well, jeez, I really can't think of a negative thing to say about this game.

Have a gamepad or joystick? Have a half decent computer (again, see the low specs required)? Have some good headphones to pump up the music and effects? Want to chase tie fighters around deep canyons and while zipping around futuristic city buildings, and blow them up over almost endless, beautifully rendered 3d alien worlds? What are you waiting for then? Get it now! You won't regret it. And always remember, may the force be with you...

Rating:
Summary: Nice and Fun - but not long
Review: They need to add some levels to this. It was a lot of fun. But WAY TOO SHORT.

Rating:
Summary: Blowing stuff up in the Star Wars universe
Review: Those of you who have played X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, X-Wing Alliance, or any of the classic sims, take note: this is NOT a simulation. This game is solid proof that LucasArts Star Wars products aren't Star Wars canon, as evidenced by the occasional wrong-colored projectile in comparison to how they appear in the movies. That said, it is a very nice shoot-em-up, set in the Star Wars universe.

As it says on the box, this is a 3-D shoot-em-up, and the graphics are quite impressive. Most of the things you see that you would want to blow up, you can, and they explode into big bright fireballs with chunks of shrapnel and debris. You will also get to trip up AT-ATs, which is what I've wanted to do for a long time. As far as I know, the only other game that let you do that was Super Empire Strikes Back (SNES) and that wasn't nearly as graphically imposing as Rogue Squadron is.

The game is single play only, and for obvious reasons. It is very much an arcade game, from your too-rapid fire to the relatively [dumb] enemies (a.k.a. things to nuke) and the explosions that are way bigger than they should be. For some missions, your ships are modified to carry different (more devastating, of course) weapons, some of which- for those who have played SW sims or have passing knowledge of the spacecraft- really shouldn't be possible. Of course, anything that helps you wipe out bigger swaths of Imperial bootlickers is more than welcome.

The various ships have different strengths and weaknesses, and some missions require you to use a particular one. One of my complaints is that you are often stuck with the snowspeeder, which although fun to use against AT-ATs, gets a bit old after a while. You would think you could knock over AT-ATs with proton torpedoes too, but they are apparently invincible to such attacks in this game. More open-ended missions allow you to use other craft depending on your rank and how far you have progressed in the game. You can also fly the Naboo starfighter once you have completed a mission unless it's one that specifies the speeder. Despite its being about thirty years older than any of the other ships, it holds up remarkably well in battle.

As with most arcade games, your lasers are unlimited but your special weapons- bombs or warheads- are not. You get promoted by several factors: time in mission, accuracy, enemies killed, and other bonuses. For a certain mark, you'll get a bronze medal. Next comes a silver, and then a gold- just like the Olympics. This promotion is important, because it lets you go back and cream the Imperials with more powerful (or at least different) starfighters, which is about the only replay factor in this game. For those of you that can barely keep your nose out of the dirt, there are cheats available to unlock all the ships. The problem with replaying missions is that the objectives don't change, you'll know exactly what to look for and do ahead of time, and the new ships aren't really going to make much of a difference. It is a bit fun to see the nicely detailed models flying over the very nicely done terrains, however.

Through the course of the game, you'll visit many Star Wars worlds, most of which are only mentioned in the movies or the books. The maps are relatively large, but outside their playing field area, there's usually nothing but flat land (you can't go there, anyway). Your pilots and Luke- who you are supposed to be playing as- sometimes make chatter, but it's usually repetitive. You also magically respawn when you die, up to three times per mission. There is no penalty for picking up where you left off at your last crash.

On the difficulty side- some of the missions were really tough, but simply because there were too many enemies to mow down or the things you had to protect were too easy to kill. If you are tasked to guard something, NEVER leave it for long, or some lucky Imperial will blow them all away. The enemy AI is pretty lousy- TIE fighters will shoot at nowhere in particular just because you're nearby, and maneuver as if their pilots can barely keep the things in the air. Sometimes, they literally can't- I've seen TIEs plow straight into a hill for no particular reason. Your allies aren't much better. If you want anything done, it's definitely going to be you that does it. I rarely ever got hit by enemy starfighters, it was the gun and missile emplacements that were the real danger.

As for problems, ground units are often a pain to attack, because your guns have a strange inability to depress beyond a certain point. I also experienced two mysterious and highly annoying deficiencies with the engine. The first was that the view would occasionally change without me asking it to- zooming out until I could barely see anything. This is solvable by switching views until it comes back, but it's annoying to have to do in the midst of a battle. The second was that in cockpit mode, the movement got very jerky. Of course, cockpit mode is little more than eye candy, as the cockpit doesn't show much of importance and blocks out big parts of your view. My other big complaint was the sensor- which is quite nearly useless. It doesn't give you much indication of where you should be going, no indication of whether the enemy is in the air or on the ground, and nothing about the type of vehicle you're chasing after. Then again, this isn't X-Wing, so I suppose that's forgivable.

Aside from the few technical issues, stability is excellent and the missions are almost completely action. There is little in the way of brain power necessary for this game, and even those who might have trouble with the Star Wars sims should be able to tackle Rogue Squadron. For the price, this is a good deal of fun. Especially if you're a Star Wars fan, you should definitely check this out.