Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith - 10 Days and Counting
Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith, the video game was released on Xbox and PLaystation 2 on May 5th. Based on the movie coming to theaters on May 19th the game follows Anakin and Obi-Wan and ……The game opens as the movie does with Anakin and Obi-Wan fighting to save the Chancellor from General Grievous aboard the Separatist Flagship. It follows the movie faithfully from start to finish while expanding on scenes necessary for a video game to work. The numerous cut scenes add to the feeling that the player is being immersed in the movie, this is a chance to be a Jedi, to be Anakin and Obi-Wan and follow their climactic adventure to the Revenge of the Sith .
The game play is solid. A great deal of work and attention has been given to the fighting system. Lighsaber control and character movement becomes almost as important an element in this game as the cut scenes, or fighting Vader on Mustafar. Of all the Star Wars Jedi games Revenge of the Sith has the best control mechanics and makes lightsaber combat more than button mashing. The game developers worked with Nick Gillard stunt coordinator and creator of the lightsaber fighting styles and with Hayden Christensen to help bring Anakin to life in the game.
The 17 levels move quickly, and are well paced. Saving can only be done when a level is complete. However, you’ll have a hard time putting this one down so the need to save is quite minimal. Also, the game can be completed in about six hours. This is one of the negatives of the game, but there is a lot of additional content to keep you busy for at least another three or four hours.
With a second person you can play a number of specialized levels in cooperative play. They are short levels but a nice addition to the game. A frequent complaint is that games focus too much on the multi-player online aspect of game play or battle maps where others can enjoy the thrill of killing their comrades. Cooperate game play is an important addition for those who actually have friends and would like to adventure through the regular game with a buddy. Revenge of the Sith also has the opportunity to kill your friends in one-on-one death matches. There is a lot of fun to be had here pitting Darth Vader against Anakin or Count Dooku. The combinations are endless.
Both the cooperative play and the death matches can also be played against or with the computer for those times when you don’t have anyone to pick up that other controller.
Though completing certain levels of the game an extra menu with a total of 6 bonus levels become available. These are a nice addition to the game. A few of them are extended scenes so to speak that didn’t flow in the normal Revenge of the Sith storyline. While two in particular are real gold. Fighting as Darth Vader against Obi-Wan on the Death Star from their climactic battle in Star Wars IV: A New Hope is great fun. It gives a sense of completion to the fall of Anakin and the creation of Darth Vader. Even better is playing as the caffeinated Yoda jumping around the slicing Clone Troopers 3 at a time. You’ll truly experience the speed and agility he showed in Attack of the Clones when fighting Count Dooku. These are nice additions to the game and I’m sure long after you’ve finished the game, you’ll be dusting it off from time to time just to play these bonus features.
The multiplayer mode is a lot of fun but ultimately exactly what we’ve come to expect from online multiplayer combat. There isn’t much reason to go into a long explanation on what you’ll find here. All the best aspects of this game are given a place to shine with online combat. As I said before, while the single player adventure is relatively short, the excellent combat system makes playing against other flesh and blood Jedi a real treat.
Unless you are dying to spoil the movie stay away from the game until after May 19th. As for my recommendation: for fans the advanced lightsaber fighting is well worth the purchase, although I recommend looking for a deal (like at Fry’s on special) where it is $34.99.
