Episode III game review

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-05-05 10:12am

This game rocks. I just finished it a few minutes ago (doing the final duel as both Obi-Wan and then as Anakin).

- The amount of footage from Episode III is very enjoyable, though short, for obvious reasons.

- The lightsabre fighting is awesome- Obi-Wan and Anakin's styles are quite different.

- The expanded levels are for the most part quite good, though one is just awful- when Anakin goes to slaughter the Seperatists on Mustafar, at the end, Nute Gunray manages to get away as you kill all the other leaders, and he gets in a Trade Federation shuttle. This shuttle then proceeds to shoot three-bolt flaming projectiles at you (unblockable) and a consistent-beam weapon, alternately, while you try and bring it down by force throwing fuel canisters at it and then doing sabre throw. It's a sucky boss fight and feels straight out of a bad arcade game.

- Grievous was easier than I expected him to be, but the animation on his character is unbelievable.

- The first level is bar none my favorite in the game- Obi-Wan and Anakin fighting together, against recognizable movie enemies. The game-specific enemies are nice too, but some don't "ring true" for Star Wars. I'm thinking of the "Grapple Droids" in that level as well as the Clone "Blaze Troopers" in the Obi-Wan levels.

- General Grievous' bodyguards are awesome enemies to fight.

- The duel ... what to say about the duel? Well, for one, it's frustratingly, agonizingly hard- there's no bacta canisters anywhere, so all you've got is force heal, which is hard to do since your opponent (be it Anakin or Obi-Wan) is always close to you. It also has that annoying phenommenon where hits from them will fuck you up beyond belief, but your multi-button mega combo of death takes off the tiniest sliver of their health.

Advice for first time duel players- there are several parts:

1. Landing platform, with Padme's Skiff in the background: this is easy.
2. Separatist Control Room: also easy. Easy to be gamey and seperate yourself with tables so you can force heal unmolested
3. Outside Separatist Control Room: getting a bit difficult.
4. Below Separatist Control Room: this place fucking sucks. You will lose the most life here. I don't know why, you just will.
5. On the gantry: sucks as well. Narrow walkway, hard to force heal.
6. On the hover droid thingy after the gantry collapses: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AT LEAST HALF HEALTH HERE YOU WILL DIE. Seriously, just give up if you have a sliver of health. You won't win. You can barely move, no time to force heal.

- As with most fighting games, the more complicated moves are, to me, completely inaccessible. I don't have the patience or the coordination to push square+triangle+up+down+left+right+circle plus X + R1 to pull off the mega move of death. Of course, the computer has no trouble pulling them whatsoever, so yeah. Typical.

- After you win as Darth Vader in the duel (which is IMO harder) you get a really cool bonus level unlocked: Darth Vader vs. Ben Kenobi in the Death Star Hangar, Episode IV. This is really cool- they even have the cutscene from ANH of their encounter ("I've been waiting for you Obi Wan" etc). Of course, Darth Vader and old Ben fight like they did in Episode III, but that's cool. They're also unlocked for the duel mode- so if you want to take Darth Vader (post-suit) up against say, Mace Windu, feel free.

- Oh, and the ending cutscene for winning as Darth Vader is really sweet. The ending as it happens in the film is the same except for one crucial aspect, and Obi-Wan is outright killed. Palpatine with some Clonetroopers then arrives, congratulating Lord Vader and giving him his red lightsabre, which Anakin immediately uses to kill him and declare sovereignty over all the galaxy. Doesn't really cover the whole Padme issue, but then, they really didn't have time.

All in all, this is a damn good game. Easily the best Star Wars movie game ever made.

Drooling Iguana · Post by **Drooling Iguana** » 2005-05-05 01:58pm

Better than the original 1983 vector graphics game? Impossible.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2005-05-05 11:29pm

I just played a partial bit of the first level at the local GameStop and so far, it kicks ass. It looked and felt a lot like Jedi Power Battles for the DC, and that's the best damn thing to base on. So, after the movie, I'll pick it up and kick it's ass.

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2005-05-05 11:50pm

It does remind me alot of Jedi Power Battles...

It also reminds me a little of the LOTR movie games...

Well worth at least a rental IMHO...

Damaramu · Post by **Damaramu** » 2005-05-06 12:07am

A good friend of mine worked on that game (environmental textures and such, IIRC). I'll let him know you guys liked the game.

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2005-05-06 12:16am

Definitely. There was an artist from my high school who went to work for Lucas Arts in texture mapping for the games. I didn't know him personally, but his artwork littered several things there until he graduated a couple years prior to me. Maybe they'll make more like this, and just refine the controls and balances. I always want them to go back and make an AotC version, and a seperate one for each OT movie.

Manus Celer Dei · Post by **Manus Celer Dei** » 2005-05-06 07:36am

Grievous was easier than I expected him to be, but the animation on his character is unbelievable.

I found Greivous impossibly hard. IMO he was worse than the final Duel. By far.

I think the hardest fight was by far the one against Cin Drallig. I thought I was trapped in Dragonball Z with all those force balls he was lobbing.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-05-06 08:19am

Grievous? Hard? Beat him first time.

Did you notice the really cool touch in the fight with Cin Drallig's apprentice? When you're in the training room, with the Jedi recording playing the Jedi code, damage the holo emitters. The code becomes corrupted:

"A Jedi shall .... HATE. Knowledge IS passion .... DEATH is the Force."

So cool.

I'm currently playing through it again to get all the secret bonus life and force boosts, which makes you a lot more powerful and survivable against the bosses. The game will tip you off that you're near one by Anakin/Obi-Wan saying something about the Force. Just destroy everything that looks destructible, you'll find em. I've got most of them at this point. My force/life bars are lonnnnnnnnnnnnnng.

Darksider · Post by **Darksider** » 2005-05-06 09:31am

Minor question....

Did anyone else hear them use battle music from KOTOR II for boss fights?

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-05-06 10:57am

Anyone played the DS version?

I'm put off by the fact that it is $40, higher priced than any other DS game except for Spider-Man 2.

Max · Post by **Max** » 2005-05-06 11:04am

How does Ep.III stack up against KOTOR? I'm just curious if it's similar with fighting and using Force powers, or is less RPG like. KOTOR was my favorite Star Wars game so far. Legos Star Wars is my second

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-05-06 11:31am

I hear LEGO Star Wars is a great game.

Knife · Post by **Knife** » 2005-05-06 12:23pm

Bah, Dooku keeps kicking my ass. Fun though, the camera is a bit fucked up, it's hard to see enemies coming at you since the camera doesn't spin.

I like the combat game play though, pretty easy. Combo's are over done though. It's like BloodRayne, there are a shit load of combo's but I'm not sure you really need them.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2005-05-06 11:29pm

Game was fun but some of the bosses were of odd order. On Hard it does give some decent challenge...not Ninja Gaiden Challenge, but it was fun kicking ass.

Grievous was a pussy, while Dooky was a goddamn ass...Anakin/Obi Wan fight was nice to see that the game didn't have boss version other then health and what not. The game falls into the odd trap of learn what to block and what to simply dodge. It is nice though the game doesn't go apeshit on blocking. And the mamount of smack talk is hilarious...fun but sometimes I would hear the boss smack talk right as I killed him.

Vader versus Obi Wan was fun but seeing Vader pull Anakin defense triggers was hilarious(meaning the one where you successfully break a saber hold and you bend the top half of yourself 90 degrees).

I would mention the game is best bought for as basically fight through Episode III and the amount of footage is an awesome extra.

Post by **Vympel** » 2005-05-07 02:25am

Yeah the footage is awesome.

One thing that pisses me off though is you get little extra experience when you play the game through again after you've finished it- it seems you have to "exceed" your performance the first time you played through the level to get any extra. Dammit, I want to upgrade my remaining force powers and combat skills ....

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2005-05-08 12:28am

[Spoilers]

Got it earlier today, just finished it, Anakins ending too. Having trouble with a couple bonus levels, Yoda vs the Clones and Grevious vs the Droids AND Clones, finished the others though, playing as a Magna Guard is fun, shame you can't do it in a 2p duel. Just gotta go back and pick up a few secrets then I'm done.

The Duel is fantastic, while I managed to beat Anakin first time, but when it came to fighting Obi Wan, it took me a fair few goes, I really prefer Obi Wans fighting style, I don't think I could have beaten those Clone Assasins using anyone else.

I've only got 2 problems with the game; 1. It's not long enough! I've finished Story mode in less than 7 hours! And 2. Ghost Rider reminded me of this one, I didn't realise because I was having too much fun, but, where's Padme?! There's sight nor sound of her, the only thing that even eluded that she existed was during The Duel Anakin said "you turned Padme against me!" The lack of Padme does serve a purpose though I suppose, if she were in the game, it would make killing Palpatine kinda stupid, how would you learn how to save her?

When having a 2p Duel, selecting the same characters is pretty cool, Serras second costume rocks, as does Cins.

UCBooties · Post by **UCBooties** » 2005-05-08 02:04am

Praxis wrote:Anyone played the DS version?

I'm put off by the fact that it is $40, higher priced than any other DS game except for Spider-Man 2.

Yes, I have it. It's a very fun 2-d brawler with two mission paths, three difficulty levels, boss duels and a smattering of 3d flying levels thrown in. Padawan and Jedi difficulty can be hammered through in about four hours, maybe five, making it very short. Master difficulty is then unlocked and Obi-wan is tricky but doable if you properly manage his force heal. Anakin on the other hand, his master difficulty has just been raping me. So it's a short game but there is some replay value trying for full completion etc. You can upgrade your force abilities and stats as you complete levels and earn cool combos for beatin bosses. Also, Anakin and Obiwan have noticibly different strategies necessary to make the most of their fighting styles and abilities.

Where the real fun is, is the multiplayer. You can set up multiplayer modes against bots in free flying arenas. the 3d graphics and controls are fantastic, the AI noticibly improves depending on the level of bot you choose, and you can fly against bots of many OT charecters, (and a few new) to unlock their ships for vs mode. Personal favorites are Millenium Falcon and Vader's tie advance. One of the levels even has a Venator class Star Destroyer with turrents trying to shoot you down.

So, I would recomend this if only for the 3D elements, but the brawler is fun too. However, as mentioned, it is short, unless somthing else unlocks when I beat master level. I think the best thing to do would be try to find it a bit cheaper, but yous should pick it up at some point. I think it is deffinately one of the best games out for the DS right now.