Playstation 2 - Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith

Format
Playstation 2
Publisher
LucasArts
Developer
The Collective
Country of origin
US
Genre
3rd person adventure

Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith

By David Rasmussen
17th Jul 05

So how have you been holding up? When it comes to Episode III hype (which is finally winding down in exchange for Fantastic Four hype) how are you holding up? Think you can make it?
If you’re wondering where the blame lays when it comes to the Pre Trilogy? Blame it on Terminator 2.
Yes. Terminator 2. Way back in the day in the aftermath of the original Trilogy George Lucas himself said that he wouldn’t even think of a “pre-trilogy” until the technology of special effects caught up to his vision. That all but stopped once Terminator 2 and it’s new SFX tech came out, which set George Lucas down the long road towards Pre-Trilogy movie-dom. Of course it’ll take many many years to pound out a trilogy, along the way SFX technology made leaps and bounds in progress which only suited George Lucas all the more and steeled his resolve to make the movies. Then he went and did it, filming the three movies.

Along the way filming Episode I in Africa stopped due to a sandstorm which (once again) required the generous help of the local military to put things right… ironic since the same thing happened when filming the original Star Wars and they also needed help to get back on track.
Then Episode II came out and people were not so enamored with the movie, but lots of people talked about lightsaber dueling Yoda… in one way or another.
Finally Episode III came, and all the while rumors had it that they were filming footage on the side during all three Episodes which would make up a new re-re-release of the original Trilogy with even more new footage… so, what, would this be a Special Special Edition?

Anyway what’s done is done, and we’re here. Episode III. Now that we’ve reached the end of the trilogy was it worth it? To some the answer is yes, to a lot more (however) that answer is a disappointing no. Somehow this new “pre-trilogy” just didn’t live up to many fans wishes for it, and they looked forward to this movie more for the fact that it’ll mercifully end the Pre-Trilogy than for it’s significance in Star Wars history as a whole. But still, regardless of your Trilogy stance in terms of the pre-trilogy we have reached the finish line, and Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith.

Video game wise? Of course you’d expect the main original Trilogy to have more representation than the Pre-Trilogy, which it does.

Super Star Wars trilogy - This classic of Nintendo history which featured Super Star Wars, Super Empire Strikes Back and Super Return of the Jedi is the best Star Wars game series from the old SNES days. For it’s time it was pretty darn good, and my only regret is that Nintendo/LucasArts didn’t think to release this in either GBA format or a Classics Collection of Star Wars games. I would be there to play it.

Star Wars : Rogue Squadron III - The third of the Rogue Squadron trilogy of games, this one is probably the best by having ties to both the pre-trilogy (take Wedge to Geonosis where he’ll find his relative’s… I mean Obi-Wan’s old JedI Starfighter… ironic since the actor who plays Wedge & Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan) are related) and the classic games (unlock classic Star Wars & Return of the JedI arcade games… sorry, no Empire Strikes Back arcade unlockable).

Star Wars Arcade (II) - The second Star Wars arcade game, the recent one with the excellent graphics and gameplay (switching from fighter combat to one-on-one lightsaber combat), features all three movies in on solidly made shooter with the occasional fighter sequence… though the lightsaber sequences seemed abit odd to me intermixed with a fighter shooter game. If I remember right you fought Vader, Boba Fett and… hmm… was it Vader or the Emperor…? Oh, well. I don’t know if it ever came out on the platforms but it would have been nice to play this on the PS2.

Then there’s the rather disappointing Pre-Trilogy games.
Star Wars Episode I - Disappointing. Even if it was released during the PSOne’s days it still could have been better than the blocky, weak plotted, not very exciting platformer that it was.

Star Wars : Clone Wars & Star Wars : Bounty Hunter - Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was less than enchanted with Star Wars Episode I. Why? Because it seems that nobody went through the trouble to make Star Wars Episode II (the game)! All I remember is there being two tie-in games, but no official game. The two tie ins? One is Clone Wars, whose actors will appear again in Star Wars : Clone Wars the Animated Series and this game. The other is Bounty Hunter, starring the actor who plays Jango Fett, and the actress who played Zam Wessell (the short lived character who died in the first 30 minutes of Episode II).

Clone Wars - Taking place at the end of Episode II, Clone Wars goes through part of the Clone Wars up to the discovery of an old Sith weapon and the start of Anakin’s descent down the Dark Side. It’s a vehicle based shooter with a few walk about scenes as you control JedI through some intense fighting sequences. However the entire game is JedI controlling only, with no time to spend quality time with your Clone Trooper allies… that won’t happen until Star Wars : Battlefront (and now is a good time to go grab that up since it just went on sale for $20 as a Greatest Hits game)!

Bounty Hunter - Taking place years before Episode II, the game takes a page from the Dark Horse comic series Star Wars : Darth Maul by pitting Jango Fett against dudes badder than him, mainly this dark organization called the Bando Gora (or something like that). Jango and several other bounty hunters are scouted by Count Dooku, and given the job to take out a crazed JedI fallen to the Dark Side along with the criminal empire she created. Hunting, killing, and capturing some for bounties, Jango fights his way through the game until the very end where he kills off the JedI he’s hunting and joins forces with Dooku.
But you know all that already since that’s how they make the Clones.

Star Wars Episode III - And here we are. After one disappointing game and one no-show (replaced by two tie in games) how will Star Wars Episode III fare? Let’s find out, together.

The story you know. Starting off with the battle over Coruscant to “regain” Palpatine who was “kidnapped”, we move through the Episode III movie from beginning to end. Anakin is corrupted, goes on a youngling killing spree, then gets a can of whup(bleep) poured all over him by Obi-Wan, who promptly sets his rear on fire while he’s at it… well, something like that. Easy, right? Sadly that’s one of the flaws of the game. It’s just too damn easy.
Sure the game is visual eye candy, and the fact they’re using actual movie footage (as opposed to what they did with Episode I) is nice and all, but the game is just too short (and the footage could have been better quality)! Even on Normal mode you shouldn’t have too hard a time plowing through this game, which reminds me sadly of the gaming flaw of Ghost in the Shell : Stand Alone Complex for the PS2 (it’s too darn easy to beat)! The main fact of this game is that you can pretty much button press your way to victory, and really how hard is it to utilize the ancient technique of button jamming until everything is dead? Sheesh!
Unlike Batman Begins, which takes more strategy and thought to progress through, this game is a hack and slasher from start to end. Hack through droids, hack through clones, hack hack hack hack. Oh, and use the force here and there (but not to the great extent as used in LEGO Star Wars, though there is more variety in the ways you can use the force here), but even that doesn’t spare this game from hack/slash status.

As a platformer Star Wars Episode III is a rather standard fare game. Yes, the one on one fights with bosses like Count Dooku, General Grevious (who sounds like he needs a serious dose of WD-40-Quil for that metallic cold he got) and so forth is a special thing different from the usual hack and slash since it plays more like a fighter than a hack/slash, but you still can win those as well by button smashing so there’s not much difference between these fights and the general combat of the game.
Yeah. You need to use the force from time to time to progress (or use your saber to reflect shots back into enemies similar to the technique used in LEGO Star Wars), but this is not used enough to break away from the endless hacking and slashing of your enemies. Sigh. Talk about gameplay that should foster carpal tunnel syndrome in you! And, no, LucasArts won’t pay for your medical treatment if such a thing happens!

The extras are a little bit of a good thing, but there could have been more. You can watch the cinematics you’ve earned again and again, you can take a look at the stuff you’ve unlocked (forgot what that was though), and then there is unlockable special levels which gives you a little variety in your gameplay (play as one of Grevious’ staff wielding robots against Clone Troopers for instance in the first unlockable) but that still isn’t enough of a difference in this game. Then there’s multiplayer where you go one-on-one against another player, but against that isn’t enough to justify the rather short gameplay of the main game!

And as if to seal my feelings against this game we have the voice acting. I personally feel that if the cast of the movie takes the time to voice act their roles in a video game then the game is worth your time to play, With a few exceptions to this rule (a few games I liked despite the fact they didn’t follow this “golden rule”) I feel the game has to sport some effort from the original cast to be in it. I mean if even they don’t have enough faith in this game to be in this game? Then why should I have the faith in this game to own this game? Boggles the mind. So with that said I look at the Star Power of this game and find it…empty! Absolutely, positively empty! Yes, the cast of Clone Wars (the game and animation) are here, but what the hell! This is the LAST MOVIE of the Pre-Trilogy (and probably overall since George Lucas has sworn 1001 times that he’ll never do a Post Trilogy (Episodes VII to IX)) so why the heck could they NOT be bothered to do the game! No Ewan McGregor, no Natalie Portman, no Mr. Samuel L. Jackson, no nothing from what I could see of it! And guess what! They couldn’t be bothered to do this game? Why should you be bothered to own it!

Anyway why own it! Yes, the lightsaber combat is done better this time (and is more solid over previous times, like Episode I’s game) and the combat now includes one-on-one combat that more resembles a fighting game than a platformer, but the game is short and the cast couldn’t even be bothered to take the time out of their busy lives to even attempt to do voice overs (unlike Batman Begins where you got 100% cast effort to be in the game which is a far cry from this movie cast’s… uhmm… “effort”.)
Then there’s the amount of time needed to overcome this game. You could probably play this game through in a week’s rental from Blockbusters (despite the fact I’m presently down on them for endlessly delaying my review of Arc the Lad : End of Darkness by refusing to finally bring in the game I special ordered with them), and really that is the make or break of this game.
I can only see you shelling out the hard earned credits to own this if you become entranced with it through rental, but considering how easy it is to beat (and I heard discouraging words about the movie in discussions about it… and yes, after seeing it I felt it could have been better in some places… like James Earl Jones hot 30 seconds of dialogue which was just plain… urgh) why own this?
Breakdown time may reveal the reasons to own this.

Star Wars Episode Breakdown the IIIrd
What’s Hot?
Well… it’s the last game? It’s not as horrible as Episode I for the PSOne, and it’s an official game (and not a tie-in like Bounty Hunter & Clone Wars) so that’s something… but somehow I can’t help the feeling that the game, as well as the movie, could have just been better.
Still it IS the end, and if you want to own this final piece of the gaming trilogy then you should go out and buy it, but only if you are a dedicated fan and must own it to go with the rest of the games you have related to the movies! Otherwise there are better games out there if your just Star Wars Curious.

If I were Star Wars curious? Let‘s see… if I owned a X-Box, I’d rather own Knights of the Old Republic I & II, as well as Republic Commando (even if it seems to suffer from the same short gameplay problem that plagues Star Wars Episode III)!
PlayStation 2 owners? I’d get Star Wars : Battlefront (which can be had now for only $20 in Greatest Hits format) and it’s upcoming sequel Battlefront 2. Oh, and don’t forget LEGO Star Wars!
GameCube? Get Star Wars : Rogue Squadron III & maybe JedI Outcast (though I heard it only got a 2 out of 5 from X-Play when it was reviewed years ago).

Hmm… Star Wars Episode III? Have to have either loved the movie and/or be such a Star Wars fan that you can forgive the games failings and embrace it despite the fact it’s kind of on the short side. Yeah, God of War’s abit short as well, but it’s better than Episode III. Still, if you have your heart set on this game nothing I will say will dissuade you so go out, young Padawan, and snag this up. It’s your money.

What’s Not?
What do I think of the flaws? Let me count the ways.
The game could have been abit longer. It’s short and once you get into playing it it’s over.
The game is more hack and slash than anything else, with all intelligent thought seemingly drained out of it by whatever strange forces put this game together.
While there are some unique things to this game they’re not enough to make this game more than a platforming hack/slasher.
The extras are OK, but somehow it could have had more incentives to play this game longer.
And I probably would have been more into this game if the actual stars of the movie were interested enough in the game to actually spend the time to do the voice overs of their own characters. But since they couldn’t be bothered with the task, I don’t see why I should be bothered playing this.
So that’s that. Are those (and the few I forgot to mention) enough to make this game a downer? Maybe not. Still, with all things considered, you should at least rent this before buying.. Just in case.

Moments to Remember?
Ah, the cutscenes. They may not be placed to their best but at least they’re there. That and the “humor” of the game is also memorable, so I’ll be sure to remember it all.

What to Ignore?
Is it me or are JedI awfully talkative in this game? The worse offender, no question asked, has to be Obi-Wan Kenobi (who is NOT voiced by Ewan McGregor)! I mean just how are you going to kill those enemies? Lightsaber or excessive talking? Please for the love of the force stop trying to talk your enemies to death! Another thing to ignore is -- hmm -- let’s see -- oh, yeah. For a platformer why does this game seem to borrow a page from the Lord of the Rings trilogy book (which happens to be the same page “borrowed” by the makers of King Arthur)? In this game is the earning of bonuses, which is turned in at the end of the level to purchase upgrades which is so LotR!! What’s up with that!!
I can’t think of anymore, but isn’t that enough to ignore!

Overall
Let’s face it, you’ll probably be buying this for all the wrong reasons. It’s the last game of the trilogy, and some of ti’s gaming aspects is OK, so why not buy it.
For me however the question should be “why buy this game”? It does have it’s merits, yes, but it also has it’s detractors as well. But if I had to narrow it down… hmm… I’d say it’s a split vote.
If you are a major Star Wars fan, or just want to wrap your Star Wars movie related trilogy (until the next games release that is) then you should give the game a chance to prove itself innocent before it’s declared guilty by a “jury” of it’s peers.
If you are just Star Wars Curious then there are better games to get before you go into this game.
Even LEGO Star Wars is a better choice over this game if you are uncertain about how you feel about this game, though renting Star Wars Episode III might clear some air concerning your feelings for the game.
Look just rent it! If you like it? Buy it. If not? Well then… that’s that. I don’t think I could make it easier to do even if I tried. Take care!

-- David Rasmussen 17th Jul 05

Playstation 2 Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith Images