Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (DS)

Moderators: adamteo, Paul K

Post Reply
User avatar
donleow
moderator
Posts: 884
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 4:30 pm
Location: singapore
Contact:

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (DS)

Post by donleow » Fri May 13, 2005 7:24 pm

ImageStar Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Summary
delivers the ultimate Jedi action experience as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi join forces in fierce battles and heroic lightsaber duels until one’s lust for power and the other’s devotion to duty leads to a final confrontation between good and evil.

Image

PUBLISHER: Ubisoft
DEVELOPER: Ubisoft Montreal
GENRE(S): Action
PLAYERS: Multi
ESRB RATING: E10+ (Everyone 10 and Older)
RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2005

Pros Cons
Surprisingly good 2D and 3D visuals; great beat 'em up combat; multiplayer space combat with bots

Cons
AI has tendency to gang up on you; difficult to avoid some attacks; space combat's camera sometimes confusing




Details:

Star Wars has been delighting audiences (and enraging diehard fans) for almost 30 years. George Lucas' world of intergalactic politics, space battles, action and romance has become one of pop culture's icons of modern cinema, and as the filmmaker's third prequel draws the saga to its closing act in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Ubisoft has prepared a portable version of the final adventure for Nintendo's latest handheld, and as hinted in our hands-on preview last week, it's a gaming event Star Wars and handheld owners should not be without.

Image Image Image

Freedom is in collapse as the Republic begins is extermination of the Jedi and all it symbolizes in Revenge of the Sith. The dark side continues to strengthen its grasp, and it's up to Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker to travel planet to planet to halt the onslaught. Of course, part of the fun in this latest installment is Anakin's descent into madness, leading him to embrace the dark side of the Force and transform into iconic villain Darth Vader. As expected, this unfolding leads to a host of action sequences the Nintendo DS version lets gamers experience through two distinct gameplay modes.

Image Image Image

Most of the action takes place in the 2D side-scrolling mode, channeling Final Fight, Streets of Rage and other classic beat 'em ups, as it infuses it with the extras fans expect from a Star Wars game. Ubisoft Montreal has somehow taken a once-dying game license and produced one of handheld's best beat 'em up releases. Sith features top-notch visuals in all respects, from the flowing, detailed character animation to the quality backdrops that suffer from slight repetition in some stages, but are forgiven for their interactive nature

Image Image Image Image Image


Both Obi-Wan and Anakin are given differing abilities, each of which can be upgraded by collecting green power-ups in every level. Lightsabers are great at blocking, too, and deflecting incoming lasers becomes crucial to survival during do-or-die situations where six or seven enemies have cornered you simultaneously. Combat is actually a bit confusing at first glance; the game isn't very forgiving to players who just smash on the attack button without thought. There are infinite continues to appease these players, but it's far more rewarding to take the time to learn efficient parrying techniques that are not only cool looking, but incredibly useful, too.

Even players who take the time to learn all of what the game's combat has to offer, the artificial intelligence remains difficult to contend with. Sith has a tendency to toss seemingly dozens of enemies on the screen at once, which wreaks havoc when they're all laser gun-toting robots who like nothing better than to bounce you back and forth between them with their shots. Often, it becomes literally impossible to block or dodge their shots, as your character becomes locked in their shooting patterns. These times of frustration are far from a game-breaker, but typically occur at least once per stage.

The dual screen features are on the weak side, too, though are actually something different from the usual show-the-map-and-stats that other games offer. Players usually have to punch in a button combination to pull off special attacks, but the second screen sidesteps this process and when available, the special attacks lights up on the bottom screen and players just have to press it to execute. It's a nice feature in a pinch.


Image Image Image

Even though the side-scrolling action has much to offer -- and is what's limited to the inferior, but still solid Game Boy Advance version -- the Nintendo DS version brings space combat to the table. More in the vein of the arcade-orientied Rogue Squadron series rather than the simulation-styled X-Wing vs. Tie Fighter PC game, the space combat portions of Revenge of the Sith are in full 3D. Though lacking finer details, the frame rate during these intense sequences is great, and creates a fantastic sensation of speed amongst the stars. Don't let the poor screen captures throw you off; while we're not talking PSP-level visuals here, but they're hard to argue against.

Objectives during space combat aren't too varied, usually limited to "destroy the enemies" or "destroy X items," but they're short enough to avoid bouts of repetition. The artificial intelligence proves to be a bit rough here, as enemy ships will often come crashing into yours, effectively removing a third of your health. Asteroids become a troublesome bother, too, as the camera is unable to zoom out far enough to give players a wide enough view of the objects around, leading towards all-too-many accidental suicides.

Image Image Image

Space combat moves to another level when players link up together in the surprisingly extensive multiplayer modes. Up to four fighters can use the machine's wireless features to participate in airborne combat using the different vehicles available. By playing through the single player mode, gamers can unlock new vehicles, such as the decked out Millennium Falcon. And actually, solo players don't have to feel totally left out, as Ubisoft Montreal has programmed artificial intelligence bots to match up against. Their actual intelligence leaves something to be desired, as indicated during the single player missions, but they're functional and simply having the option is fairly remarkable in and of itself.

Image Image

Revenge of the Sith looks like a boring port job by Ubisoft on the surface, but as it turns out, the DS-tailored features have been pretty thought out. Though the Nintendo DS version is $10 more than the Game Boy Advance game, it comes packing single and multiplayer space combat, easily worth the extra cash. While certainly not the last Star Wars game we'll ever see on the Nintendo DS, you couldn't ask for the actual film license to go out on a better note

Image Image



THE END AND MAY THE FORCE BE WITH

User avatar
adamteo
moderator
Posts: 595
Joined: Tue May 10, 2005 12:16 am
Contact:

Post by adamteo » Fri May 13, 2005 10:31 pm

now i feel like buying the nintendo set...

Post Reply

Return to “The Games”