| Starfox Assault review |
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Nintendo, in this generation of console excitement, have been occasionally dubbed "lazy" in letting third-party developers produce some of their key franchises. Aside from being one way to strengthen ties to these companies, generally, the resultant games have turned out to be exceptional. Team AV did a wonderful job with F-Zero GX and Retro Studios surpassed all expectation with Metroid Prime. Now it's the turn of Namco to deliver.
Whatever people thought of Starfox Adventures, it is now an accepted part of the Starfox universe. The game begins several years after the liberation of the planet Sauria. Falco is back, Peppy has retired and his place as the fourth Arwing pilot has been taken by Krystal. Andrew Oikonny, nephew of Andross and ex-Star Wolf pilot, has started a rebellion and Starfox have been called in to assist the Cornerian fleet. He, however, is the least of your worries, as a far bigger threat to civilisation emerges which must be taken care of.
Unlike previous Starfox games, there is no route choosing, no branching, just a straight progression over ten missions. On the one hand this does mean the fun of choosing your own direction is taken out, but on the other, you are now able to replay each mission at will once it is completed. As usual, there are medals to earn and hidden items to collect, unlocking such things as bonus games. Note here that whilst the US version only has Xevious available, the Japanese version has other arcade machines included.
The Arwing missions are, by and large, excellent although there are not enough of them in total. Same rules as always apply, with you usually having to rescue at least one colleague each mission. This time though, you get a powerup for successfully doing so. One noticeable difference is that the supply of bombs is less than in previous games. Namco presumably wanted to play down their importance, or increase their tactical use. Either way, it gives a new, better feel to the flying sections in that you have to hone your sharpshooting skills rather than relying on a bomb to get you out of trouble.
The flying sections, for all their polish, do have an air of familiarity about them. There's a section in an asteroid field, and a mission taking out some missiles for example. They are still massive fun to play, though in the case of the free-area missions, there is a degree of changing the balance to how Nintendo had it set up. Now, the claustrophobic and intense nature of enemies around you seems less, but at the same time, more fancy flying skills are required as you are more likely to be tailed or shot at.
These missions are by far the most replayable parts of the game. They are more alive, and have a greater verve and purpose about them. However Namco may have been learning how to do Starfox along the way; aside from the very last level, nothing quite lives up to the quality we've seen before such as swooping over Corneria, or the massive air battle above Katina (aka Independence Day) in Starfox64. They are good, but not the masterpieces we are used to seeing. The bosses in the meantime are worthy of mention as they do fit perfectly into the fold.
There was a lot of trepidation about the non-flight missions before the game was released, probably due to the horrible execution Rebel Strike had given the concept. Thankfully, most of this apprehension is unfounded. Fox has a variety of different weapons at his disposal (as well as the Landmaster tank in most circumstances), and can lock on, strafe and roll out of trouble. There is no direct camera control which can result in getting shot by unseen assailants, but Fox has a fairly quick turning arc and it shouldn't take long to find them.
These sections of the game handle and play well, though the mission objectives themselves are somewhat uninspired (most being of the "find a target and destroy it" type). And therein lies part of the disappointment. If you are going to go to the trouble of producing a good third-person engine, then saddling the player with samey missions is rather counter-productive. Even with a combo system borrowed from numerous top-down shooters to inspire chaining kills for higher scores, the land missions suffer compared to the Arwing ones.
As well as the slightly tedius mission goals themselves, the targets themselves can be hard to locate, requiring regular use of the map. It's disappointing there are no fixed route Landmaster levels, and that the concession had to be made to put that vehicle solely into the free-form ground parts. But its functionality has been improved and you will have a lovely time zooming all over the place, shooting seven shades out of what you find (or running it over!). However more time will be spent outside of it than inside.
One area where the game does truly shine is in the presentation. Everything is clean, concise and easy to follow, and at many times the game will remind you how to do particular manoeuvres. Cutscenes are well animated and engaging, though the voice acting is of the mixed standard we've come to expect over the years. It is though, a lot easier to follow than in Starfox Adventures. Special note should go to the in-game music as it is up to the standards of previous Starfox games, and ebbs and flows with the action in an ethereal way.
The addition of multiplayer options on top of a predominantly single-player game has been a contention for years. The easiest way to sum up such a feature within Starfox Assault is to compare it to the multiplayer in Metroid Prime 2 - it didn't have to be there, but it's rather nice that they've decided to include it. It's certainly better than the multiplayer in Starfox 64. It is more balanced - each character has their own strengths and weaknesses - plus there is plenty of stuff to unlock for it by playing through the main game.
Starfox is by no means a bad game. It isn't, however, the classic that fans of the first two entries in the series had been hoping for. Without the burden of the name, it would be looked upon as an above-average mix of air and land combat; however Namco had a lot to live up to and haven't quite delivered the quality expected. Hence, it is likely to be unfairly left languishing in the shadow of its predecessors, when in reality it is a game well worth playing and experiencing. |
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System: Nintendo GameCube
Genre: Arcade
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
Version: United States
Reviewed: Mar 2005
Writer: Mat Allen
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Pros:
- It's Starfox!
- Land based missions are miles ahead of Rebel Strike
- Combo system allowing for strategic high score acquisition
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Cons:
- Land based missions are not as good as the airbourne ones
- Voice acting is the usual standard
- Not long enough
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