Description
Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II features some of
the best graphics ever seen on a home console, and it is a proper,
old-fashioned, Star Wars game. If those two facts don't raise at least an
eyebrow of your interest, then there's probably not much in the world of
video games that will. Thankfully, the jaw-dropping graphics are matched up
to a very playable shoot-'em-up concept that works as a slightly more
in-depth version of the PS2's Star Wars Starfighter, except without any of
that Episode I nonsense. Rather, it re-creates everything from the Death
Star trench run to the Battle of Hoth.
The game is actually a sequel to Rogue Squadron for the
N64--an excellent game that many only remember from the rather lackluster PC
version. It's structurally very similar to the original, with a dozen or so
levels and a Star Destroyer full of secret levels and ships. The game does
feature a few new ideas, such as controllable wingmen and ground troops, and
some of the levels are set in deep space rather than planetside, but at its
heart this is still Rogue Squadron deluxe.
What elevates the game to an object of worship is the
graphics--they really do look almost identical to the movie's, with several
scenes appearing like exact copies. The ships move with a fluidity and grace
you wouldn't have thought possible from such a tiny purple cube. The only
flaw is that the missions are needlessly short, but there's plenty of
replayability, and by gosh there's those graphics. --David Jenkins
Review
Rogue Leader is a truly great sequel to the original Rogue
Squadron on N64. While the original was limited mostly to battles over the
surfaces of planets, this new version features open battles in deep space.
From mammoth Star Destroyers that you can actually attack, to AT-ATs you can
bring down by wrapping your tow cable around their legs, to a level you can
play as Darth Vader himself, this game totally immerses you in the feel of
the movies.
The graphics, like most GameCube games, are stunning, but
you really have to see this game in action to appreciate just how much it
looks like the movies. Your X-wing's lasers reflect off the walls of the
Death Star's trenches...TIE fighters spin out of control and crash after you
hit them. And Lucasarts filled the whole game disc with voices straight from
the movies and music straight from John Williams' orchestra.
If you are a Star Wars fan, you must own this game. It puts
Starfighter and other recent entries in the franchise to shame.
