The Force is Strong With This One... (Star Wars - Rogue Leader - Rogue Squadron II (GC))

Member Name: Zooropa_Boy

Product:	Star Wars - Rogue Leader - Rogue Squadron II (GC)
Date:	01/08/02 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Its Star Wars!!!!!, Absolutely Amazing graphics, Some of the missions are incredible!

Disadvantages: It can be a bit too 'arcadey' for me, Controls might be too easy

When I first got my Gamecube this was the only game I had for 3 weeks, and as you can imagine this might affect your opinion of a game, and it has. Play only one game for 10 hours a day for 3 weeks and you'll begin to notice its niggly imperfections turning into flaws and then into problems. This might have killed some games, but remarkably, despite all the problems I will proceed to wildly exaggerate Rogue leader is still comes out a very good game! And if it can survive 200 hours with me, I'm sure it will satisfy any normal gamer.

The Hype
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Rogue Leader showcased 2 things at the E3 expo, firstly Nintendo Gamecube's awsome power and also just how easy it is to program for the gamecube, the fully playable demo was created in just 20 days!! And since getting this small peak, the gaming press have been gagging to get there hands on factor 5's first endeavour into the world of GameCube.

Hype factor: 9/10


The Game
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As you will read in the introduction, you play as Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles. The game consists of 11 primary missions set chronologically through the 3 original films. The game is pretty much an arcade shooter; there is no HUD, just a crosshair and radar. There are 2 views, inside the cockpit or behind the craft.

There are a wide variety of craft available to fly, but to unlock the really cool ones (Naboo star fighter, advanced tie fighter, millennium falcon) you will have to use the cheat codes that can be found on any good gaming site. Each craft has its own strengths and weaknesses; some are fast but have little armour while others are like floating tanks but travel painfully slowly.

This brings me nicely on to one of my criticisms of the game; THIS IS NOT a combat flight simulator, there is no HUD, no long range weapons, so if a TIE fighter pulls some sort of manoeuvre that brings him out of your field of vision, the
re is no arrow pointing towards him. You can’t lock on to a selected target you just chase them down and if you lose sight of him you won’t be able to find him among the dozens of other TIEs. There are also a very limited number of weapons only 6 in total; most craft only carry 2 (lasers and a type of missile) the bombs and ion cannon are only used in 2 missions making their addition questionable.

As I said the game consists of 11 primary missions, if you are good enough you can be awarded a bronze, silver or (if your god!) a gold medal on completion. Points are given for each colour of medal, and if you get enough you can unlock the 5 bonus missions. This feature gives the game its longevity, the frustration of your accuracy being just 1% off getting silver or gold medal will keep you coming back for more. In all it is a decent sized game with plenty of extras like tech-upgrades to unlock.



Graphics
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The first thing that will strike you about this game are the absolutely stunning graphics, polygon rich objects, great terrain texturing, and about a million beautifully rendered TIE fighters that look like they have been ripped straight from a DVD. The attention to detail is perfect, everything is just right, from the peeling paint on the craft, to the incredible complexity of the hull of the star destroyers. It just looks fantastic, and I really am not exaggerating when I say its not far off passing for the real thing.

Now, having said that, there are minor frame rate issues, for 99% of the time rogue leader runs at an impressive 60 frames per/s but if you pass a particularly gigantic object (and there is no shortage of those) you might notice a very slight shudder as it dips. I honestly didn’t notice it until I was told it happens. Now this is VERY minor, but its one of those things that can annoy me, there is little or no debris when you kill something. But other than that, thes
e are the best graphics I have EVER seen on any game on any platform. (and that includes Halo)

Graphics: 11/10 ;-)



Gameplay
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The Control interface is extremely easy to get to grips with, Factor 5 used the cube's controller very well, making it comfortable to use the targeting computer and fire simultaneously at the same time as slowing or accelerating your ship. Within about 15 minutes I was an expert, just by experimenting with the different buttons I was a master of my X-Wing. But this might be the games biggest weakness; its too easy, there is nothing their to challenge the more experienced flight sim fan, its a plain arcade shooter, with no fancy, homing long range air to air weapons, no HUD, no hidden tricks that you can have up your sleeve to surprise an enemy in a dog fight. Which there aren't too many of because tie fighters are feeble and about 4 shots kills them. (BTW there are loads more enemies than just TIEs)

The D-pad is used to select from a list from a of commands for your wingmen or your R5 on board droid, so you can do things like repair you sheilds or tell your men to draw surface fire away from you.

Some of the missions in this game are exceptionally good! Whilst others look decidedly weak, whether this is to do with the fact that very few levels could ever live up to the brilliance of about 150 TIEs and 2 star Destroyers trying to kill your ambushed fleet in ‘The battle of Endore.’ Or the thrills of dog fighting in the beautiful cloud city in ‘Raid on Bespin.’ Or the memories that come flooding back as you take down those huge walkers with your speeder’s tow cable in ‘The Battle of Hoth’, I don’t know, but when I look at these 3 levels in particular and then look at some of the others I wonder what could have been had they taken more time.

Ok yes, its addictive, and the arcade style was to be expected bu
t that doesn’t soften the blow for an F-22 fanatic like myself. None the less this is damn good fun!

Gameplay: 8/10



Conclusion
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Rogue Leader despite its imperfections is still a must own title for the Gamecube, it not only looks astoundingly good, its also really, really good fun to play as well.

Graphics: 11/10 – I just can’t put it into words
Sound: 9/10 – I don’t have surround sound but great dramatic music and screaming TIEs
Gameplay: 8/10 – Ok I am hard marker; most magazines gave it 9 or 10.

Overall: 8.7/10 – As I said I am a hard marker, it was just a few of those missions that prevented hitting the 9/10 barrier. That aside, Rogue Leader is a great game; Well worth buying a cube for.

Notes: Comes on one disk and takes up 3 memory card blocks.

Summary: