long time ago, in arcades not too far away, a genre of videogame
was born: the top-down explore-and-shoot. Back in those days, games with
titles like Commando, Frontline, Gauntlet, Smash
TV and Ikari Warriors were spoken about in hushed tones by the
gaming elite. With LucasArts' videogame interpretation of Star Wars: Episode I - The
Phantom Menace, the days of the overhead action game are back in full,
ahem, force.
The story that unfolds in the game is essentially the same story that Star
Wars fans around the world have been dissecting since The Phantom
Menace movie hit theaters on May 19th. At the beginning of George
Lucas' multi-chaptered science fiction epic, viewers (and players)
discover that a collection of misfit heroes is caught in the middle of an
insidious power struggle between the old guard Republic and the fascistic
Galactic Trade Federation.
During the gameplay of The Phantom Menace, players will assume
control of these heroes (four of them anyway: the two Jedi Knights Qui-Gon Jinn and
Obi-Wan Kenobi, as well as Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka) and square off
against vast squadrons of Trade Federation Battle Droids. In addition,
players will also have to contend with Darth Sidious' evil apprentice, the
dual-bladed lightsaber expert, Darth Maul.
The action in the game, as was the case in the film, takes place in a
number of digitally enhanced fantasy worlds. The interactive tale commences
with the two Jedis forced to make an electrifying escape from a
well-guarded Trade Federation battleship. Once freed from the clutches of
the Trade Federation, the Jedi Knights must make their way to the
underwater world of the Gungans. From there, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon will
travel to the Naboo capital city of Theed, where they will attempt to save
the Queen from certain capture. Over the course of the adventure, players
will also visit the desert planet of Tatooine and spend time in Coruscant's
beautiful but deadly Imperial City. Ultimately, players are rewarded with
an awesome blade-to-blade showdown against Darth Maul in the climactic
final battle of the game.
Menacing load times
Thanks to several telltale signs--sticky floor tiles, environmental black
holes and a confused artificial intelligence that can force a computer-controlled character to run in place for hours on end--it's quite apparent that this game was rushed in order to meet its ship date. A major problem with The Phantom Menace is the amount of boring load time players must sit through. As a nostalgia-fueled action-adventure that's heavy on the action, it would have made perfect sense for the developers to offer players pace-saving extra "lives." Instead, the developers chose to go the Tomb
Raider route, creating a game where players have to save their progress
every few feet and spend much of their time looking for
elusive health packs or simply waiting for numerous load time
resurrections. In spite of all this, even gamers who aren't huge fans of
Star Wars will still feel compelled to finish this adventure. That's
primarily because the story-telling elements of the game are so wonderful.
Visually, the story of Episode 1 is relayed through a host of
brilliantly composed computer-generated cut sequences, as well as narrative
bits that are built with in-game artwork. While the characters in the game
are relatively blocky-looking, low-polygon models, their animations are
very impressive. The lightsaber slashes and blaster-fire block stances of
the Jedis are especially exciting to watch. The environments in The
Phantom Menace are also expansive and beautiful. Visual highlights include a
breathtaking descent down a glass elevator-equipped kilometer-high building
on Coruscant, and a terrific view of the Tatooine podrace from Watto's
balcony.
As for its sonic atmosphere, The Phantom Menace features tons of character voice work in addition to generous servings of John
Williams' sensational orchestral score and Ben Burtt's fantastic movie
sound effects. There are literally hundreds of creatures for players to
interact with throughout the story. The acting is superb and extremely true
to the original source, despite the absence of several voices from the
film. The music and sound effects, on the other hand, are straight from the
movie and will definitely get gamers in the mood to play, particularly if their PCs are equipped with surround-sound amplification.
As a game, The Phantom Menace takes its cue straight from the movie;
it's fun, but it's far from perfect. Plagued with bugs and enough quirks to
give stone-faced Qui-Gon Jinn a nervous tic, The Phantom Menace
CD-ROM is still fast-paced and smart enough to keep players glued to their
computer chairs. And just like the movie, the awesome lightsaber duel at
the end is worth the ticket price.
