Way back before my N64 was relegated to the back of my games shelf, I was introduced to a game that would forever hold a special place in my heart: Rogue Squadron. Offering something new in the way of starship combat, namely arcade controls without a thick manual, Rogue was probably my single most rented game. The saga continued once I bought a GameCube: my very first game was Rogue Leader, the mighty successor to the Rogue Squadron throne. It beefed up the length, graphics, and dork appeal of my favourite Star Wars game.
It was therefore without hesitation that I pre-ordered and bought the third game in this venerable series: Rebel Strike. Where Rogue Leader took the atmosphere-based combat of Rogue Squadron into space, Rebel Strike once again attempted to expand upon its forbears. Was the third time a charm? Perhaps not.
Anyone who played Rebel Assault will find much that is familiar in Rebel Strike. For those who aren’t in the know, Rebel Assault was an expansion on the even more venerable X-Wing (and if you don’t know X-Wing, there’s plenty of literature around the ol’ web to educate you). Whereas X-Wing was a dogfight simulator, akin to, say, Wing Commander – a game that relied on many (many) keyboard commands that controlled a number of finicky little elements apparently necessary to space flight, Rebel Assault was a mishmash of numerous arcade sequences (much like Dragon’s Lair) ranging from speeder bike racing to ground-based gunfights. Whether or not this was successful is debatable.
Rebel Strike is much the same. Starfighter sequences are at a premium in this game, which is a pity since those very sequences were not only the meat and potatoes of Rogue Squadrons I and II, but the beans as well. We’ll start with those.
The mission design is, like many things in the industry, a mixed bag. From multi-stage brilliancies like the fantastic Relics of Geonosis (which ends up with Wedge piloting a Jedi starfighter, including those cool shockwave missiles), to innumerable “defend the transport” missions, there is a healthy mix of near-art, and garbage. I for one am not a fan of defending anything, especially with brain-dead wingmen (more on that later) on my side.
As for the wingmen, the artificial intelligence is passable – they fight like they’re supposed to, and seem to have studied the same manual as the enemy pilots. Like in its predecessors, you can order your wingmen to do certain things, such as attacking gun turrets, TIE fighters, forming on your wing (adding their firepower to yours), or retreating (which I’ve actually never used, but I suppose is good if you’re conscientious about your fake people). Sending your team mates after targets such as TIEs is largely ineffectual – you’ll be doing most of the killing yourself anyway, but at least having a few other pilots flying around gives the enemy something else to shoot at.
As far as the non-starfighter missions go, the bag is even more mixed. While piloting an AT-ST walking tank (affectionately referred to as a “chicken walker”) is a lot of fun, and riding an ultra-fast speeder bike (complete with the “whoop” sound effects) is a pulse-pounding adrenaline thrill, these feel more like tacked-on arcade sequences than the frenetic three-dimensional space combat the series is famous for.
Finally, we take a look at the commando missions. Oh boy. Possibly the most far-afield aspect of the game, Rebel Strike takes players out of the cockpit, and plunks them into the shoes of a given character. These sequences are invariably run-and-gun yawn fests, as aiming is automatic (a crosshair appears over the ennemi du moment and the blasts hit almost without fail). There are, in my experience, only two weapons in the game: the default blaster with unlimited ammo, and the rapid-fire stormtrooper blaster (although the default blaster can fire faster than the stormtrooper weapon if you have quick thumbs) – would more weapons have added to the depth of play? I somehow doubt it.
As if the run-and-gun missions weren’t bad enough, there is one absolute dog of a mission that still makes me want to dry heave: Trials of a Jedi. Excuse me, waiter? Yes, I believe there’s a platformer in my space combat game. This mission ostensibly tracks Luke Skywalker’s ordeal on the swamp planet Dagobah, home of the ancient Jedi master Yoda. What in the movies was a gruelling physical challenge that resulted in the birth of the strongest Jedi since Darth Vader, is in this game nothing more than Super Mario with a lightsaber. In order to become a Jedi, Luke must basically jump from log to log, avoiding the water at all costs. Sure, you do learn a couple of useful tidbits, like by holding the B button you can block lasers – Yoda isn’t shy about saying “B button” either; apparently they’re standard issue in the Star Wars universe. This mission is also home to some of the most brutal voice acting I’ve heard in recent memory – Frank Oz would be rolling in his grave (you know, if he were dead and all – I suppose now he’d just be really annoyed). It might be just me, but actually having the characters in a game say things like “press the B button rapidly”, when a simple text display would do, just seems extraneous to me.
Though the previous long paragraph seems disheartening, don’t let it fool you. Rebel Strike is still a very good game. If you can stomach the commando missions, the rewards are plentiful. Graphically and aurally stunning, the space combat is faster, the enemies are smarter, and the few really great missions are like shining jewels amongst gravel. As icing on the cake, Rebel Strike features a co-operative mode in which players team up to complete missions from Rogue Leader, adding just that much more replay value.
As usual, everything is gorgeously rendered, moves smoothly as butter on a greasy park slide, and is lit beautifully and dynamically. The ships are fantastic in both their detail and loyalty to the Moses-like ideals set down so very many years ago by George Lucas (that is, before the entire series went into the chamber pot). Space stations, Super Star Destroyers, and baffling spheres of force fields all come vibrantly to life. Graphically, all is as it should be.
There is nothing left to be desired with the sound, either. From the imposing Imperial March to the bopping disco beat of the intro (which alone is almost worth the price of admission – seeing the characters get their disco groove on to a ‘70’s remix of the Star Wars theme is spit-take worthy), to the whining roar of TIE fighters, all is crisp, clear, and yet not distracting. Even the voice acting is passable, even though Han Solo seems a bit goofy, almost as if he has some phlegm in his throat – I guess not everybody’s voice is as deep as Harrison Ford’s.
All in all, Rebel Strike is a passable game, and more or less worth the price of admission (but this is only thanks to the fantastic co-operative play mode). However, with the lack of really fun and interesting missions (I never want to have to say, “That’s it! If I have to protect one more transport, I’m joining the Empire!”), and the flat-out boring commando missions, this game falls far short of the high standards Factor 5 has set for themselves. If, like me, you can’t bear to lose faith in F5, by all means buy this game – you’ll find more than enough here to keep you busy. For those who enjoyed Rogue Leader and are interested in a descendent of that glory, perhaps you should simply rent this one first. All in all, I for one am disappointed that I listened to the hype.
