Starfighter SE comes hot on the heels of another round of Star Wars hype
as a new film is gearing up for release. The Xbox version purportedly
carries extra bonus missions and multiplayer features that are lacking
in the PS2 edition. However, all three will trace the story of four
characters (of which only three are playable) from a time before the
Phantom Menace era; a prequel to a prequel so to speak. Spreading the
story amongst three of the four characters is a practical decision. It
easily lets you experience a variety of spacecraft from the Naboo royal
military pilot to a notorious pirate raider. The last big jump in
arcade action titles would probably have dated from the Rebel Assault
franchise, which was mostly an FMV 'rail shooter', to the famed Shadows
of the Empire. People quickly noted that there was a big market for
arcade type Star Wars shooters, especially the intense levels involving
spaceships in Shadows. Starfighter SE does not deviate much from this
formula. It pits semi-heroic characters, completely fictional to the
existing film licenses, against the hordes of the Trade Federation.
The onset of the story has you jumping between three characters fairly
abruptly. I had trouble following the story until I got into a good
quarter of the game altogether. After that, things began to smooth out
and it is a pity because the first part is much weaker than the last few
levels. I haven't played the PS2 version so I don't know which levels
were added but suffice to say, the later levels where you fight off
Trade Federation droid armies and the Federation blockade are easily the
most exciting of the lot. The intensity of the voiceovers and in-game
movies help make them better than the initial segments. Unfortunately,
these levels are locked at the beginning, as are much of the rest of the
game. Starfighter SE also includes a multiplayer mode where you can
compete against another person in some tried and true motifs like
Capture the Flag or Deathmatch (dogfight). None of them are too
innovative and some of the best forms of multiplayer fun are actually
found in the bonus missions. For example, there is one level where you
must chase and capture droids periodically released from a factory in a
hostile environment. There are several drab game types like various
races. The most interesting is a co-operative level where you must fend
off waves of bombers to protect Naboo freighters together. Why there
couldn't be any more of these levels or some way for more people to play
in this game is beyond my understanding, especially when this is one of
the most entertaining multiplayer levels. Yet, it is initially locked
as well which is beyond my comprehension.
My Star Wars experience on the PC has always been carried with a trusty
joystick. The adaptation to the gamepad took some getting used to. If
you want a comparison, the learning curve is slightly steeper than for
Halo, especially because the first level puts you in the midst of a
series of narrow canyons. The missions that take place in space are
much more entertaining and you feel less boxed in. This is a feeling
universal to these types of arcade titles. In almost all LucasArts
titles, you cannot complain about the sound. They have access to some
of the best databases of sound effects as well as usage of the John
Williams score. I understand that parts of the Phantom Menace’s score are
played so much that it has become clichéd. Yet the score, especially
in the epic battles in the latter half of the title, enhance the feeling
of the title so much that it almost saves some of the visual pitfalls.
My first exposure to the Xbox was with Halo. People have said Halo is
probably one of the best looking titles currently out, next to Dead or
Alive 3 or Max Payne. The visuals in Starfighter SE are certainly
adequate but the detail of the textures could be better. For example,
the Trade Federation control ship is horribly bland and from afar looks
like a simple gray coloured ring. Luckily, some great 5.1 surround,
mostly aptly demonstrated in a head-on rush of Trade Federation fighters
(not unlike Anakin's experience in the actual film itself), dives in to
save the visuals.
Starfighter SE is also quite a short title. A few days of regular
playing can get you through the main plot. Perhaps that is why
LucasArts decided to add the bonus missions and extended multiplayer.
Perhaps that is also why there are so many features that are locked,
including some of the best multiplayer levels of the entire game.
There's also little depth to the title. The controls to piloting a
nimble Naboo fighter and heavy bomber are remarkably similar. This
probably reflects the arcade or action quality of this title. I found
some of the best levels to be the ones set in space or vast open areas.
In those places, the epic feel of the film can truly be felt but the
lone ground assaults through narrow passages are equivalent to the first
person shooter levels of Shadows of the Empire; they drag down the
overall quality of the game. Were the developers more consistent in
level design, it would have been a much stronger product. A skirmish
multiplayer mode or, even better, some more co-operative levels would
have extended the longevity of this title. Attention to the physics of
the various ships would be more useful than the outlandish coloured
HUDs. Ultimately, I left Starfighter SE with mixed feelings like one of
the characters at the end of the game. He has done his share of the
fighting and would simply want to walk off the stage. The scene, with
him stacking crates and the lone female character wondering why he could
not just stay with the Naboo, is uncannily like the confrontation
between Leia and Hans Solo. After finishing Starfighter SE, I could
repeat what Julius Caesar said after the battle of Zela: I came, I saw,
I conquered. I found myself feeling satisfied enough to walk away from
the title altogether.