Star Wars Jedi Starfighter
LucasArts' second Starfighter kicks just as much butt as the first game, if not more. Find out why in our full review.
Published: March 27, 2002
Back in my heyday in the games industry, when I was enjoying the good life of working for then Richmond, CA-based Gamers.com, I was privy to plenty of upcoming PS2 titles, most of them still very much first-generation efforts. One of the biggest and easily the most pleasantly surprising was LucasArts' Star Wars: Starfighter, a game that was loosely based on the same universe the events of Episode I occupied. The tie-in was slight, but there were moments that echoed or paralleled the movie, and really helped immerse you in the world of Star Wars more than any of the previous efforts.
It wasn't really the connection to Episode I that made it good, though, it was the gameplay. Up until Starfighter, console Star Wars games were severely lacking real depth or decent gameplay. The SNES Star Wars action games were ridiculously hard, and the N64's Shadows of the Empire and Rogue Squadron looked promising, but were inevitably shallow, and we won't even start on the PlayStation games. For the most part, the only really good Star Wars games were being pumped out for the PC (if you haven't played them yet, go buy X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, or Jedi Knight, or better still, the soon to be released Jedi Knight II; the former two can be found for dirt cheap, and the latter is well worth the price). Again, though, that was until Starfighter come along. Coupling the best of both worlds, LucasArts merged the depth and story of the X-Wing games, with the arcade action so prominent on the PS2 and its ilk, and whammo, you've got a perfect mix.
Jedi Starfighter manages to look and feel almost exactly like the first Starfighter game, which certainly isn't a bad thing. LucasArts knew they shouldn't try to fix what wasn't broken, and they succeeded in milking the easily misused Force powers in about as good a way as you can for air and space combat. Since everything takes place in flight, there was no opportunity to use such favorites as a Force Push or Pull, so the developers went about thinking up a couple new offensive and defensive powers to keep things interesting. There's Force Lightning, which, as indicated by name, hits enemies with a chain lightning attack that can arc over to nearby enemies; Force Reflex slows down time outside your ship so you can lambaste enemies with fire and normal speed while they're stuck at a virtual standstill; Force Shield adds an extra layer off protection from incoming fire; and Force Shockwave sends out a pulse that damages any enemies within the radius of the blast. All of these powers can be amplified with the proper timing; holding down the O button causes particles of the Force to coalesce around your ship, condensing quickly. If you let go of the button at the right time, and the power is boosted, and likewise can be made less effective if timed incorrectly.
Wingman controls still factor in and simple commands like "defend my target," "attack my target," and so on are processed through a simple press of the L1 button and a d-pad direction, though you probably won't find yourself using them unless a particular mission dictates it since it's common to forget you even have a wingman with all the action on screen. Since you play as two different characters - the force powerless but loaded to the gills with firepower quasi-pirate Nym and Jedi Master Adi Gallia - the game has a little more balance than the first iteration. By de-emphasizing the Force abilities, they're kept interesting instead of becoming an overused gimmick, which makes it that much more fun to unleash them on the enemy at that perfect moment. When left to your own flying devices, the ships are as agile as ever, especially the Jedi Starfighter, which, thanks to the wonderfully fun powerslide move (yes, powerslides with ships, just tap the brakes then thrust), means maneuvering is blissfully simple.
Arguably the best part about the game, however, is how closely it ties in with the events of Episode II. Unlike the first game, which came out well after Episode I hit theatres, Jedi Starfighter hits stores with a few month head start on the second movie in the prequel trilogy, and features missions and story details that are directly tied into events from the movie. There's no spoilers, but there's plenty to whet your appetite for the movie, while still getting a great story. While most of it is admittedly rather complex, your goal is to stop a man named Captain Cavik Toth from extending his Trade Federation-backed hold on the resource-rich Karthakk system. 10 years ago, the Federation took over Nym's base and he's since been the only resistance to Toth and the Federation. When Mace Windu (yeah, the uber-pimp played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movies) hears of Federation presence in the Karthakk system, he sends Adi to investigate and meet up with Nym, thus forming a tentative alliance between the two that quickly grows into near-friendship. Still with me? That's okay, neither am I (and you should see the havoc all these Star Wars names wreaked on my spell checker).
All you really need to know is that you have to blow stuff up. Lots of stuff. To that end, you're still equipped with a pair of capable ships. Nym's Havoc fighter is packed with bombs and missiles, and Adi uses her Force powers as secondary armaments. The incredibly cool and monumentally useful zoom button is still in effect, making the task of hitting far off enemies somewhat easier. Most of the missions in Jedi Starfighter revolve around some sort of protection or intelligence mission, and completing them will reward you with a little more info on the story - sometimes in-game, more key points in simple, but well-polished CG sequences. As in the case of the first Starfighter game, completing secondary and hidden objectives opens a wealth of bonuses (including Single and Multi-Player and video treats) in the extras menu. There's plenty of Episode II and other Star Wars goodies - including a peek at an upcoming Jager Fett-focused game -- but some of the best stuff comes in the form of extras the programming team tossed in. Suffice it to say that a couple extra tries on a mission were WELL worth the extras they unlocked.
One of the few graphical problems the first game had was that it ran well enough on most levels, but would inevitably choke when it game to rendering massive spans of terrain or lots of enemies on screen at one time. Jedi Starfighter improves upon this a bit, but still stumbles during high activity firefights. You hardly notice it, of course, since the action is so heated, and there are times when the game runs at a silky smooth 60 frames a second, but it's obvious the PS2 is being pushed. Upgrades to the engine, however, reach beyond just framerate; plenty of particle effects are kicked up, especially during the use of Force powers. The texture work and modeling on the ships has improved, and everything just feels a little cleaner. The first game was never a slouch, after all, you could get into a firefight and fly straight up for a good 30 seconds, then turn around to watch everything playing out, and you can still do that here, but the overall look is a bit more polished. The interface is clean and simple, and gets you into the action within a few button presses.
With all the resources at LucasArts' disposal, it's be an utter shame to hear any of the games to come up short in the sound department, and no matter how bad the games themselves have been, the effects have largely held up well. John Williams' instantly hummable theme has been tweaked a bit to help flow with the on-screen action, and it's just as entertaining. The intros and exits to missions have a perfectly timed orchestration to match with the dialogue (which is top-notch and never, ever falters), while in-game, the music tends to drift into the background to make way for the massive amount of radio chatter that helps extend mission goals and thickens up the story with narrative points. The sound of laser cannons firing has a perfect high-pitched kick, as do the sounds of bombs detonating or the boom of a ship blowing to pieces. You'll likely scare away pets or annoy roommates if you play the game with the sound turned up loud, but all the excitement and tension of a firefight owes itself in no small part to the role the effects play in the game.
If you're a hardcore Star Wars fan, getting this game shouldn't even require thought. If you played the first Starfighter, you'll know exactly what you're getting into here, and if the promise of extra details on the upcoming movie isn't enough, the gameplay is almost nearly identical, so take that for what it is. If you belong to neither of the previous groups, but have an attraction for shooters or arcade space combat games, you'll find plenty to love here, especially once you get the hang of some of the more advanced flight moves down. Jedi Starfighter is a blast to play, even in extended sessions thanks to a good story baseline, plenty of simple pick-up-and-play gameplay elements, and a control scheme that's as intuitive as it is fluid. If you haven't played this game yet, go see what you're missing.
It wasn't really the connection to Episode I that made it good, though, it was the gameplay. Up until Starfighter, console Star Wars games were severely lacking real depth or decent gameplay. The SNES Star Wars action games were ridiculously hard, and the N64's Shadows of the Empire and Rogue Squadron looked promising, but were inevitably shallow, and we won't even start on the PlayStation games. For the most part, the only really good Star Wars games were being pumped out for the PC (if you haven't played them yet, go buy X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, or Jedi Knight, or better still, the soon to be released Jedi Knight II; the former two can be found for dirt cheap, and the latter is well worth the price). Again, though, that was until Starfighter come along. Coupling the best of both worlds, LucasArts merged the depth and story of the X-Wing games, with the arcade action so prominent on the PS2 and its ilk, and whammo, you've got a perfect mix.
Jedi Starfighter manages to look and feel almost exactly like the first Starfighter game, which certainly isn't a bad thing. LucasArts knew they shouldn't try to fix what wasn't broken, and they succeeded in milking the easily misused Force powers in about as good a way as you can for air and space combat. Since everything takes place in flight, there was no opportunity to use such favorites as a Force Push or Pull, so the developers went about thinking up a couple new offensive and defensive powers to keep things interesting. There's Force Lightning, which, as indicated by name, hits enemies with a chain lightning attack that can arc over to nearby enemies; Force Reflex slows down time outside your ship so you can lambaste enemies with fire and normal speed while they're stuck at a virtual standstill; Force Shield adds an extra layer off protection from incoming fire; and Force Shockwave sends out a pulse that damages any enemies within the radius of the blast. All of these powers can be amplified with the proper timing; holding down the O button causes particles of the Force to coalesce around your ship, condensing quickly. If you let go of the button at the right time, and the power is boosted, and likewise can be made less effective if timed incorrectly.
Wingman controls still factor in and simple commands like "defend my target," "attack my target," and so on are processed through a simple press of the L1 button and a d-pad direction, though you probably won't find yourself using them unless a particular mission dictates it since it's common to forget you even have a wingman with all the action on screen. Since you play as two different characters - the force powerless but loaded to the gills with firepower quasi-pirate Nym and Jedi Master Adi Gallia - the game has a little more balance than the first iteration. By de-emphasizing the Force abilities, they're kept interesting instead of becoming an overused gimmick, which makes it that much more fun to unleash them on the enemy at that perfect moment. When left to your own flying devices, the ships are as agile as ever, especially the Jedi Starfighter, which, thanks to the wonderfully fun powerslide move (yes, powerslides with ships, just tap the brakes then thrust), means maneuvering is blissfully simple.
Arguably the best part about the game, however, is how closely it ties in with the events of Episode II. Unlike the first game, which came out well after Episode I hit theatres, Jedi Starfighter hits stores with a few month head start on the second movie in the prequel trilogy, and features missions and story details that are directly tied into events from the movie. There's no spoilers, but there's plenty to whet your appetite for the movie, while still getting a great story. While most of it is admittedly rather complex, your goal is to stop a man named Captain Cavik Toth from extending his Trade Federation-backed hold on the resource-rich Karthakk system. 10 years ago, the Federation took over Nym's base and he's since been the only resistance to Toth and the Federation. When Mace Windu (yeah, the uber-pimp played by Samuel L. Jackson in the movies) hears of Federation presence in the Karthakk system, he sends Adi to investigate and meet up with Nym, thus forming a tentative alliance between the two that quickly grows into near-friendship. Still with me? That's okay, neither am I (and you should see the havoc all these Star Wars names wreaked on my spell checker).
All you really need to know is that you have to blow stuff up. Lots of stuff. To that end, you're still equipped with a pair of capable ships. Nym's Havoc fighter is packed with bombs and missiles, and Adi uses her Force powers as secondary armaments. The incredibly cool and monumentally useful zoom button is still in effect, making the task of hitting far off enemies somewhat easier. Most of the missions in Jedi Starfighter revolve around some sort of protection or intelligence mission, and completing them will reward you with a little more info on the story - sometimes in-game, more key points in simple, but well-polished CG sequences. As in the case of the first Starfighter game, completing secondary and hidden objectives opens a wealth of bonuses (including Single and Multi-Player and video treats) in the extras menu. There's plenty of Episode II and other Star Wars goodies - including a peek at an upcoming Jager Fett-focused game -- but some of the best stuff comes in the form of extras the programming team tossed in. Suffice it to say that a couple extra tries on a mission were WELL worth the extras they unlocked.
One of the few graphical problems the first game had was that it ran well enough on most levels, but would inevitably choke when it game to rendering massive spans of terrain or lots of enemies on screen at one time. Jedi Starfighter improves upon this a bit, but still stumbles during high activity firefights. You hardly notice it, of course, since the action is so heated, and there are times when the game runs at a silky smooth 60 frames a second, but it's obvious the PS2 is being pushed. Upgrades to the engine, however, reach beyond just framerate; plenty of particle effects are kicked up, especially during the use of Force powers. The texture work and modeling on the ships has improved, and everything just feels a little cleaner. The first game was never a slouch, after all, you could get into a firefight and fly straight up for a good 30 seconds, then turn around to watch everything playing out, and you can still do that here, but the overall look is a bit more polished. The interface is clean and simple, and gets you into the action within a few button presses.
With all the resources at LucasArts' disposal, it's be an utter shame to hear any of the games to come up short in the sound department, and no matter how bad the games themselves have been, the effects have largely held up well. John Williams' instantly hummable theme has been tweaked a bit to help flow with the on-screen action, and it's just as entertaining. The intros and exits to missions have a perfectly timed orchestration to match with the dialogue (which is top-notch and never, ever falters), while in-game, the music tends to drift into the background to make way for the massive amount of radio chatter that helps extend mission goals and thickens up the story with narrative points. The sound of laser cannons firing has a perfect high-pitched kick, as do the sounds of bombs detonating or the boom of a ship blowing to pieces. You'll likely scare away pets or annoy roommates if you play the game with the sound turned up loud, but all the excitement and tension of a firefight owes itself in no small part to the role the effects play in the game.
If you're a hardcore Star Wars fan, getting this game shouldn't even require thought. If you played the first Starfighter, you'll know exactly what you're getting into here, and if the promise of extra details on the upcoming movie isn't enough, the gameplay is almost nearly identical, so take that for what it is. If you belong to neither of the previous groups, but have an attraction for shooters or arcade space combat games, you'll find plenty to love here, especially once you get the hang of some of the more advanced flight moves down. Jedi Starfighter is a blast to play, even in extended sessions thanks to a good story baseline, plenty of simple pick-up-and-play gameplay elements, and a control scheme that's as intuitive as it is fluid. If you haven't played this game yet, go see what you're missing.
