Star Wars Starfighter tells the story of a rag-tag group of pilots who are united by a common fate; the Trade Federation’s invasion of Naboo. Rhys Dallows is a native Naboovian who has just entered the planet’s Bravo flight team, a group of starfighter pilots responsible for the planet’s defense. Vana Sage is a bounty hunter who has been hired to track down the alien pirate Nym, a Feeorin whose banditry has been very bothersome to the Trade Federation.
The events of the game take place around the same time as the movie Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, though the game’s plot is largely independent of the movie. However, you will fight offer support to the Naboovians during the invasion, and even partake in the massive battle scenes from the movie.
Starfighter is essentially a very linear, arcade based shooter. There are 14 main story missions which make up the bulk of the gameplay. Depending on the circumstances of the mission, you will take control of the character the plot dictates to you. Unfortunately due to the arcadey nature of the experience, the objectives that you are required to complete are very generic and samey – destroy X number of enemy craft or protect ship A. Missions take place in a number of locations, be it space or on the planet surface, but you are still confined to a pre-determined area, which means bumping into invisible walls if you drift to far from the action.
There are three controllable pilots; Rhys, Nym and Vana, and each pilot has his or her own ship. Rhys flies the standard issue N1 Starfighter, which has a desirable mix of power and speed, making it the easiest craft to fly. Nym’s ship is a powerhouse filled with weapons of mass destruction, though the ship moves at the speed of an old age pensioner. Vana’s ship is very quick, but the weapons are not as powerful as the other two ships. The plot of the game dictates which ship you control on each mission, so you cannot choose which ship you wish to pilot throughout the entire game.
Starfighter features a variety of bonus objectives for you to accomplish throughout each mission. Completing the objectives will get you a bonus medal, which you can use to unlock new ships (including Darth Maul’s Sith Infiltrator), levels, art and even a small multiplayer mode which features a dog fight and a race mode. Some of these objectives are rather hard to accomplish, but a seasoned veteran should easily conquer them.
The glaring problems with Starfighter are the overall length, and the repetitive mission goals. The game will have you doing the usual Escort and Destruction missions throughout the entire game without much of a break. There are still a few good objectives there (the final objective of the final mission), but not enough to change the overall tide of the game. Difficulty is virtually non existent, as the game should take a reasonably adept played no more than about 6 hours to complete, with an extra few days for the extra objectives.
Wide open spaces
Incredible draw distances are a distinct feature that Starfighter uses to its advantage - environments extend out as far as the eye can see. Environments do seem to be detailed from a distance, with a few nice aesthetics such as waterfalls and lava, though the game does suffer from some low quality texturing. These environments are absolutely packed to the teeth with all sorts of ships, large and small, for your protection and destruction. All ships have been modeled to the strict specifications made by Lucasfilm, and provide for a strikingly accurate reproduction of what was shown in The Phantom Menace. While they were fairly good at the time, the models now have a slightly rough look to them due to the advances other games have made on the console.
Starfighter runs at an incredible pace, but is definitely subject to a lot of suspect slowdown. It does seem like the game wants to run at 60 frames per second all of the time, but succeeds in this feat for about 50% of the game, as the rate drops to 30 frames per second very often, and even as low as 15 in some sections. This slowdown isn’t really affected by the number of ships on screen, but by the special effects, such as the explosions from ships and special missiles.
Sound has always been a strong point in Star Wars games, and Starfighter delivers. The musical score is compiled from tunes featured in the first movie, including the very popular Duel of the Fates theme. Unfortunately, this popular theme is slightly overused throughout the course of the game, and in my opinion, it really should have been spared for the more tense moments the game has to offer. Sound effects are top notch despite the exclusion of solid surround sound support. Effects are highly varied as well as being crisp and clear. Voice acting is of a very high standard, though none of the characters from the movie make cameos. Dialog is excellent, and does a great job in conjunction with the talented actors in getting the feel of the script across to the player.
Maybe next time
Star Wars Starfighter was a decent effort at its time of release, and easily better than anything Sony could come up with for launch. It wasn’t the most flawless of releases, with a lot of repetition and a lack of length, and it hasn’t really aged very well. Despite these few minor lags, the game is still worth a look, and maybe even a purchase at the lower platinum price point.
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