Star Wars – Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – It’s Anakin Time

In my yearly Star Wars bender, I decided I wanted to play a game set in the prequel era. It’s unfortunately rather slim picking when it comes to this period if you want to play something new. However, I manage to find Star Wars – Episode III – Revenge of the Sith for the PlayStation 2. It’s a direct tie-in game to the movie that goes under the same name. It was with a certain hesitation that I downloaded it as we know all too well how these kinds of titles end up. But hey, what do I get to lose, anyway? Well, as it turns out only valuable gaming time, taking me one step closer to death with nothing gained. I should have trusted the force when it told me something dark awaited me.

Same old story
We all know the story here, those of us that have watched the movie anyway. I don’t see why anyone would play the game unless you have. The narrative follows the film, and you will be switching characters from Anakin to Obi-Wan as it goes along. In the beginning, you work together as a team, but eventually, Anakin falls to the dark side which makes him take a different, albeit cooler path. Okay, the youngling killing is a bit extreme, but orders are orders! There are some differences from the movies, however, it’s mostly added scenes that flesh out some of the encounters in the films. It’s rather fun to witness these areas, even if it feels very gamey, as these added paths just pit you against more enemies. Not much new in the story department here, nevertheless, it’s still rather cool to experience. It’s clear padding, yet, it was needed since it’s short as it is already.

There are a few alternative timeline missions also – a bit of a “what if” under the extra missions section. These missions make me wish they would have gone full alternate canon instead, considering we already know what happens and this would definitely spice things up.

Stunlock city
Who knew light-sabers had the same strength as wielding a sharp stick? At least, that is what the gameplay feels like for big chunks when you are not fighting the standard droid and republic military units. Mostly you will be hacking and slashing your way through hordes of enemies, and you have tons of different combos to learn to maximize your Jedi skills. That would be fine and dandy, and would probably be enjoyable in itself for some light casual rumble during a lazy Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, they manage to make the combat an absolute pain in the behind. First of all, it’s incredibly fast, even on a 25 FPS lock which makes dodging almost an impossible task. Secondly, the game tends to stunlock you constantly, and there is nothing more rage-inducing than this. And finally, laggy input and general floaty-as-hell movement and fighting. There is no weight to anything, and the light-saber damage is pitiful. This does not translate well to the power fantasy of being a Jedi!

Looking for a good time with these issues is like going to the dentist for a fun day out. It’s not all bad, though. Some moments make you feel like a Jedi and not some random guy that just moments before picked up a light-saber from the street.

The bosses, oh lord, show me strength. Within twenty minutes or so of starting playing, you are thrown into a hard-as-nail boss fight, and this is before you have acquired any upgrades. I’m talking about the battle with Count Dooku. It starts rather okay, but it quickly turns into a massacre. This is the definition of baptism of fire. It took me five, six tries, and the whole ordeal scared the hell out of me. This was only the first fight! What would General Grievous be like? Luckily, the boss fights never top Dooku since you will be getting upgrades in between. However, in general, the skirmishes against the various big honchos during the game will be a lesson in humility.

It’s Star Wars alright
There is no mistaking it here, it’s Star Wars. The visuals are actually pretty darn good for being a PS2 game. I played it on an emulator on my PC with certain graphic enhancements, so I didn’t have the true CRT TV experience, but still, impressive stuff. The game looks pleasant, and all the scenes from the movie have been captured well, which is one of the few redeeming qualities the title has. The sound and music are equally good, but they didn’t get movie actors to voice their respective roles. The replacements are good enough for my taste, though. I can’t complain about anything here, it’s just a shame that the crucial parts let it down, meaning the gameplay.

Do I recommend it? Not exactly, unless you are very desperate. While it looks Star Wars and has a few interesting additions to the lore, I don’t think it’s worth a playthrough. I didn’t find the combat especially enjoyable and you will be doing that for the majority of the game. It could have been awesome, though, but once again a movie tie-in game fails to deliver.

Thanks for reading.

/Thomas