EPISODE I - The Phantom Menace

PLAYSTATION ADVENTURE GAME

Review by Jonathan Hicks

Most film-licensed games are either acceptable or poor. The Lost World was poor. Judge Dredd was poor. Die Hard Trilogy was fun but failed on replay value. So what was going to be so different about this one? We all know that Dark Forces was good for the Star Wars fan but, in the long run, turned out to be pants. The flight sims (X-Wing, TIE Fighter etc.) were very good but complicated and the Rebel Assault games were pretty to look at but just unplayable. What was going to make this one any different?

First of all, when pressing the power button on the Playstation I had this pang of worry. What if it was bad? What if my purchase of the game was nothing but the sad actions of a Star Wars fan, throwing his money at anything with Lucasfilm written on it? With a cynical sigh I sat back.

And I wasn’t wholly disappointed. The usual LucasArts logo flies across the screen (WWWwwhooooshhhh.... Ping!). Then, after a few moments of silence, the ‘long time ago’ stuff appears and then pow! Strong powerful intro, straight off the soundtrack which added extra zest, and then the scroll-up starts. I yawn. I’ve seen this a few times. The intro flies past, trying to draw you in. Resisting temptation to hit the X button and by-pass the whole thing, I let the scrolling continue and wait. After the scrolling there’s a nice little piece of video which portrays the Republic cruiser heading towards the Trade Federation blockade, all the way up to the landing bit. It’s quite nice, but not special. Then it’s on to the title screen.

The title and options screen, whilst a very nice picture, is just another collage of visuals with the many options underneath. One of these options says ‘Music Video’.

Music what?

Like an ass I haven’t read the CD box’s cover and I click down to watch several minutes of the ‘Duel of the Fates’ music with a sequence of visuals, from actual clips to cast and crew shots to sketches. It's really good! I watched it a couple of times and it’s really cool. What a nice little addition to the game. It's unobtrusive and subtle. Thanks, you guys at LucasArts and Big Ape. Nice treat.

Now to the game proper. The beginning starts as in the movie, with Obi-wan and Qui-Gon in the federation ship. The dialogue is very good, with voice actors supplying the vocals. The impressions of the actual actors is very good indeed; Jake Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker) and Ahmed Best (Jar-Jar Binks) even supply their own voices, adding to the atmosphere.

The graphics are nothing special. Whilst they capture the visual essence of the movie, there is a lot of clipping and in some cases you can see through walls and know the enemy is there. The control of the character is good. Holding the attack button and swinging the lightsabre enables you to attack or defend. Moving the directional pad changes the style of attack, from normal chops and thrusts to overhead slices. You can even deflect laser bolts, in some cases back at the attacker. It’s great fun.

All through the game are FMV sequences that just fill in the gaps between episodes. These are not the best but they serve a purpose. The most impressive one is the approach to Coruscant, which is different enough to be exciting.

During the course of the game you visit every location in the film, the Trade Federation ship, the Naboo swamp, Otoh Gunga, the city of Theed, Mos Espa and Coruscant. In each of these levels you get to play a different character. You can either play Obi-wan, Qui-Gon, Panaka or Amidala depending on what level you’re on. Each character is only slightly different in the way they act or are controlled. I think the different characters are there to appease the multiple fans.

Different levels contain different styles of play. The first levels are primarily combat with small puzzles thrown in during the Otoh Gunga level. After that, it’s a combination of puzzles and combat, all well meshed together with a liberal dose of tension and atmosphere. Each level is well defined, with free open spaces to explore and different characters to interact with. The music and sound are well combined. Effects directly from the film are precise and the music is directly from the soundtrack, which swells and appears during key moments of the game, adding greatly to the atmosphere.

There are several characters which you can converse with who don’t have anything to do with the actual mission, but can help you with advice or items if you help them or at least talk to them politely. That’s pretty good, too, the way you can interact with almost everything in your environment. As the game progresses the puzzles become harder and the conflict tougher.

One problem with the game is going to be the replay value. Only Star Wars fans are going to enjoy continually wandering the locations presented. I can see a lot of copies of this game on the trade-in shelves over Christmas. Although the game is fun, it is over rather quickly. I managed to complete it in fifteen and a half-hours (earning me the rating of ‘Twi’lek Dancing Girl’) which is rather quick considering the minimum detail in the game and it’s rather hefty price tag. I’ll play it again because I want to improve that rating, and because I’m a fan, but some may not see it that way and go straight for the trade.

So, what do I think? A good film adaptation, if flawed with clipping graphics and some straightforward gameplay, but should entertain both fans and gamers alike.