	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
	Developer: The Collective Publisher: Lucasarts Release Date: Out Now Players: 1-2	Words By:
Star Wars thrilled a whole generation of kids back in the Seventies. The second trilogy hasn’t had the same effect on the populous, but as the last instalment is released in cinemas Lucasarts attempt to cash in on the hype with the game of the same name as the film: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. I have always been a fan of films, Star Wars being one of the top few on my list. I liked the Lord of the Rings tie-in games (TTT and ROTK), and even the Van Helsing game was pretty fun. I really wanted this game to be more than just another game cashing in on the publicity of a film, but alas I write this a disappointed fan… The graphics look like a standard multiformat port - slightly smoothed out, but still has plenty of jaggies and ugly scenery about, which the Xbox should easily be able to handle. The game does have a few graphical tricks up its sleeve, the main one being the interaction between the lightsabers and some parts of the environment: if you’re duelling too close to some railings, a slash will burn away part of the railing. This does draw you into the game; it’s just a shame that they bothered more with the little details than the big glaring flaws… The gameplay could indeed be a clone of most of the third-person action tie-ins that have been released (and mentioned earlier). You follow the storyline of the film, playing as either Anakin Skywalker or Obi Wan Kenobi. Attacks are based on combos, most of which you stumble across accidentally while mashing X and Y alternately. The combos can only last up to four buttons, and aside from the force moves, are fairly limited. Force moves range from force push and throw, which are quite useful, to force stun, which could possibly be the most pointless move ever… You have to time attacking with blocking to get through the game (especially on the boss levels). The only problem is that after you’ve started a combo, no matter how many times you press block, or any other buttons, you’ll keep doing that combo until it finishes or you get hit. Usually it’s the latter. This happens most when you start a combo, and the opponent has sidestepped behind you, leaving you to pull off some good-looking moves against thin air while he gives you a couple of shots to the spine! This might be an okay thing to happen with the stumpy dwarf Gimli, or the big-hatted Van Helsing, but not for Jedi knights - the badasses of the universe! Although the moves look pretty smart at times you seem to stumble upon them almost randomly, and some combos are too long for their own good. The game is also riddled with bugs and glitches that eat into the game’s (mostly) slick presentation. Duels involving saber-locks (and frantic button-pressing) are ruined when you see that Anakin’s saber is actually half-lodged in Count Dooku’s head, or when you get the chance to play as Darth Vader and you pick someone up by the throat (as seen in “A New Hope”), or shall I say by the forearm… You can also avoid most enemies by hiding behind immovable objects such as tables or computer consoles, and they’ll just stand there, waiting for you to come out… Some of these problems you’d be willing to let go, since button-bashing is inherent in most third-person action games nowadays, as long as the levels were inventive and exciting. Alas they are not, they consist of bland corridor followed by bland corridor, sometimes separated by “Ray Shields”, which appear to be deactivated by either slashing some cables or killing a certain number of enemies, which is where the game goes from slightly tedious to silly. There are a few innovative sections in the game which make you feel like a Jedi Knight rather than just some guy in a dressing gown and a big beard though. These mainly involve getting past obstacles by moving them with force powers, or getting through doors by cutting through them with your lightsabre. They are used to good effect at times to break up the rather monotonous levels, but aren’t enough to save it. The major problem with this game is that it’s too damn short! I had this problem a while back with games I’d been playing, but I thought after the gamers’ outcries this problem had been addressed, but apparently not, as Ep III can be easily completed in a day by an accomplished gamer, including all the bonus missions. Luckily for the Star Wars fan you get treated to a rather tidy package. The menus all feature rolling clips from the new film, and in between missions you see short pieces of footage from the film which don’t spoil the stuff that you’ll already know if you haven’t seen the movie yet. You can replay all the videos after you complete the game, but the art gallery is a bit on the naff side. After you’ve soldiered through the single-player missions and witnessed the turn to the dark side, there’s a bit more added onto the end of the game to have a tinker with. There are a few bonus missions that let you play as other characters from the film (General Grievous, his bodyguards, Yoda..), as well as a last mission as Darth Vader on the Death Star. The missions are quite short and by and large feel rushed, as the levels generally consist of a room full of enemies or a duel with a main character. There is also a very short two-player co-op mode with more cramped corridors and a Vs. mode, which is probably the best of the bonus missions. Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith is rather an average game. The graphics are average, the moves are good, but flawed, the levels are dreadfully average and the length, although short, is average for games of this type. I really wanted this to be something more, being a big fan of Star Wars, in particular Episode III (I’m one of the geeks who booked 2 months early for the premiere…), but it’s really just what we’ve come to expect from a movie tie-in game and indeed a Star Wars game: a disappointment.