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by THQ
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Why cant I
keep track of all of the Star Wars games that are coming out? Im
beginning to feel just a little inundated. I remember, just before
Episode I came out, Lucas forbidding retailers to advertise the Star
Wars toys before the films release. He was worried about the film being
over exposed and people getting sick of Star Wars before they even saw
it. I guess the tie ins with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, Doritos and
Pepsi were just the right amount of advance PR and any more would have
thrown things out of balance. Lately, it seems that if youre an active
gamer you cant turn around without a new Star Wars game coming out. I
was pretty excited at E3 last year to see all of Lucasarts non Star
Wars properties coming out. There was a time when Lucasarts was anything
but a one-license wonder. They made some of the most creative and
exciting games. Games like Day of the Tenticle, Sam and Max, Full
Throttle and the Monkey Island series were some of the funnest games
Ive ever played. And when they came out with a game like X-Wing or Tie
Fighter, I really felt like they were focused more on creating a great
game that happens to take place in a well established universe rather
than cashing in on Uncle Georges big break.
There is a
plot for this game, but its as inconsequential as every other Star Wars
videogame out there. Theres an art to writing a Star Wars adventure. It
has to be engaging enough to excite the audience while at the same time
remaining innocuous enough not to detract from the main series. The New
Droid Army gets the innocuous part down just right.
Games like
The New Droid Army shouldnt even bear the Lucasarts symbol. I dont
mind that its a Star Wars game, but it really shouldnt be associated
with one of the premiere gaming houses of all time. It sullies the name.
Not because its a particularly bad game, but because there is nothing
about it that distinguishes it from all of the other Star Wars games to
come out on the Gameboy over the last couple of years. On the Gameboy,
Ive played Obi-Wan adventures, and on the Gameboy advance, Ive played
Jedi Power Battles, Attack of the Clones, and now New Droid army. They
are really all the same game. In some cases the perspective changes a
little here or there, but the controls and goals of the games are
virtually indistinguishable from one another. New Droid army has the
distinction of having the slowest pacing of any of the games. There is a
lot of walking in this game and it seems to take forever. I guess thats
one way to make a game seem longera slow protagonist on a very long
walk.
The New
Droid Army consists of a lot of walking and lightsaber wielding. Sure
there are some force powers to break up the monotony, but there was
never a point in the game where I felt those powers were really integral
except for the force jump. You just need to keep hitting the attack
button until all of the enemies are vanquished. There were times on my
long strolls when I really couldnt be bothered to unsheathe my
lightsaber, so I simply walked away from the bad guys. They followed me
for a while, but soon lost all interest in pursuing me any further, much
like my feelings towards this game.
The
graphics reminded me of the Tony Hawk series for the Gameboy advance.
The characters were fairly well animated and the backgrounds were
detailed enough for GBA, but, on the other hand, there was really
nothing about the game in its play or presentation to distinguish it
from all of the other Star Wars games available for the GBA.
Ive been
enjoying most of the Star Wars games for the consoles of late, even
though I am getting a little tired of the franchise, but Ive been
starting to dread the arrival of the Gameboy games. Its ironic that
some of the best Star Wars games ever to have been created flourished on
the Super Nintendo. It seems like the Gameboy advance is long overdue
for a port of one of those games in an effort to redeem a franchise for
travelling gamers everywhere.
Jason Frank (12/16/2002) |
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Snapshot
Ups:
If you can't get enough Star Wars, here's some
more for you.
Downs:
Haven't we played this game before?
Platform:
Game Boy Advance
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