Author Topic: Episode III ~ The Video Game  (Read 13177 times)

Offline Scott

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Episode III ~ The Video Game
« on: November 5, 2004, 08:23 AM »
Some SPOILERS (sort of) so beware

http://www.lucasarts.com/ep3/

Check out those screenshots!  Are they going for a LOTR:TTT and ROTK type of game here?  If so...Awesome!

Offline Diddly

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #1 on: November 7, 2004, 12:01 AM »
Hopefully it won't disappoint like all of those Episode 1 games!
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Offline Jesse James

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #2 on: November 7, 2004, 03:29 AM »
With a somewhat strong showing for E2's premiere, I'd be more lenient on how the game may play out.  Bounty Hunter was such an awesome game, I had actually hoped for a BOunty Hunter II that was revolving around Boba's story now, just before ANH or something.

Either way, I think the game could be good...  I could see something like the LOTR action/adventure games...  They're simplistic in gameplay/style but fun and captured the feel of the films.  A Star Wars version is doable given the droves of droids that Jedi smash up in battle.  I could see it.
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Offline Firebat

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #3 on: February 28, 2005, 10:51 AM »
I saw some screenshots in the new Game Informer magazine, and it looks good. The article made it sound as if the gameplay will be good as well. Here's hoping. Never having played KOTOR, I haven't quite forgiven LucasArts for "Jedi Power Battles" just yet.

Offline Scott

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2005, 05:56 PM »


:)  I'm looking forward to this game, a lot

Offline Famine

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2005, 05:56 PM »
Thats hot.


Kevin
The picture kept, will remind me...

Offline Jesse James

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2005, 02:49 PM »
I've been looking at it a bit more...  I'm leaning towards a simple renting of this game because it's a bit linear for my tastes I guess. 

Personally I'm somewhat disappointed at the lack of a more traditional game format, and that they're running with the action style of the LOTR Trilogy games that were out.  They're ok, but realtively easy to beat, and they don't leave any room for exploration/immersion.  I'm a little let down by E3's gaming options then, if this is indeed it.

Rep. Commando didn't wow me either though, so I'm maybe just on a down note from that. 

Wish a new FPS game would come out that really upped the bar for SW gaming, or better yet a great new Flight Sim was put out that finished the X-Wing: Alliance storyline.  That's so sorely needed, as is a TIE Fighter sequal.
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Offline Diddly

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #7 on: April 14, 2005, 05:34 PM »
Now for the big question: Will it be better on Xbox or PS2?
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Offline Scott

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #8 on: May 2, 2005, 10:07 AM »
I'm leaning towards purchasing this on Thursday, I'm a sucker I know :-*

Offline Brian

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #9 on: May 2, 2005, 10:51 AM »
The commercials/trailers have looked pretty cool for this, at least to me, but of course it doesn't come out on the one game system I have...the Gamecube.  It is tempting to get a new system if this game is that good, but probably not worth it.  Hopefully its a good one though.

Offline Jim

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #10 on: May 2, 2005, 02:36 PM »
The commercials/trailers have looked pretty cool for this, at least to me, but of course it doesn't come out on the one game system I have...the Gamecube.  It is tempting to get a new system if this game is that good, but probably not worth it.  Hopefully its a good one though.

I was in the same boat as you.  I have a Gamecube, but with so many games not available I bought a PS2 this Christmas, plus we needed a new DVD player anyways.  The last few games I have gotten are not even on GC.  Battlefront, Vice City, Terminator and now E3. 

Offline DooMTrooper

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #11 on: May 4, 2005, 06:50 PM »
Im very temped to get a PS2 for this and a ton of other games (SW Lego)

I wish the Cube hadn't been abandoned like it has, It started so good with SW titles, there was even a release title for it (Rogue Squadron).
I had the chance over in RS forums to ask the developers of SW lego why the Cube version was skipped and they gave a very poor excuse...

My DS copy of EP3 is on the way though :)
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Offline DooMTrooper

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #12 on: May 5, 2005, 06:04 AM »
Sweet mama! the DS version is awesome...only played 30 mins or so, but wow MP looks a blast plus you can add bots if you have no friends like me  :)

I'll post a mini review once I get further into the game.
Edit: Ok I'll do it here cus I don't want to make a triple post.



DS Episode III
First of all the short version, Buy it...you like SW right? you want a decent SW game with MP Bots?

Here's the chunky bits:

Graphics: we have two diff types here. DS exclusive 3D Flight mode and the main hack and slash graphics ported over from the GBA version, Both do the job well and there's a strong Anime style to the hack and slash sections with cut scenes & opening mission splashes. The touch screen is taken up by either a picture or your force abilities which can either be used by touching the screen or using the buttons, it's done very well.
The 3D sections follow the same sort of graphics we saw on SNES Starfox, Though the explosions seem to be cell shaded ??? and there's good detail on the ships and backgrounds, Flying over Hoth was really kool, not forgetting the space maps with huge asteroids and battleships and Coruscant levels with the trademark tall buildings, lots of kool MP dogfighting to be had here methinks.
Touch screen is used well for this mode, You have a radar and such but the best part is how you can forward the shields to the back or front or overall {insert SW quote here} :)

Audio: Apart from the opening crawl which is a lil grainy, music is fantastic!
Lots of famous pieces (haven't found Duel of Fates yet) in excellent clear stereo  :D  from both sets of films. Background effects are excellent too with lots of clear saber noise, droid speak and yoda grunts :P

Gameplay : Can't fault it yet but im only halfway through with Obi, And I've only played one flying section and it didn't take away anything, I was hoping for a "This is why I can't stand flying" comment but oh well.
The hack and slash sections are fun and are great to play, we have a Streets of Rage/Double Dragon thing going on here with some RPG elements thrown in, as you can collect points to level up certain skills which differ for both Anakin and Obi.
The Dooku Duel was excellent, with you trading places with Obi/Anakin if you took damage from the Sith Lord, and yup it follows the film even if your playing as Obi, cept the escape part a bit.
There seem to be a percentage level that can be seen on the level select screen, so there's decent replay here not forgetting the two opening difficulty skills.
I can't say much for MP as I've only played with bots, but I had no problems taking them out, they have adjustable AI if your wondering.
Plenty of unlockable ships too (Slave one 8)) and I believe you can play 4 player from one card.EDIT: need four cards sorry.

Im not far into it but looks like we finally got a decent handheld SW game with lots of replay in it.

9/10  ;D
« Last Edit: May 6, 2005, 03:33 PM by DooMTrooper »
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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #13 on: May 6, 2005, 12:05 AM »
Thanks for that DooMTrooper - I saw it in the store this afternoon and was tempted, but I haven't seen my DS since, like January.  :-\ It is MIA.

I picked up the Xbox version of ROTS today, though. It's a typical, if well done, hack n' slash. Visually it is solid, but has some instances of haywire cameras. I haven't played far enough into it to decide how good or bad it really is, because of a major gameplay balance gripe, though. I've hit the rental-buster section. (More in a second on that).

There's lots of movie clips, but they don't have final mix sound effects or score, and are edited to pieces, so they aren't very effective at gving a good glimpse of the real movie, but they serve to set up gameplay just fine.

From an audio standpoint, it suffers a bit from the lack of movie actor's presence in voiceovers, true to the standard of every Lucasarts game. The fact that the video clips have the real actors and their voices, however, makes the transition from movie to in-game a bit rough. It sounds like they've used the actors from the Clone Wars animated series. It just doesn't feel as authentic as it could have been (and is more than distracting since EA has essentially set the bar now for true to film voice talent).  Sound effects are perfect.

There's not even a tiny bit of the ROTS soundtrack to be found, which is obviously since the game was nearly complete by the time the score was being recorded. It's too bad, because instead there is nothing but cues from the other movies, which is a pet-peeve of mine. There's nothing like hearing score completely out of the appropriate context. Its real John Williams music though, so most will be just fine with it.

Now, here's the thing regarding balance. The first few sections aboard the ship to rescue the Chancellor drops you into the action without much chance to learn the game's controls and combat system. Gameplay is 90% lightsaber based, and its functions take up 3 of the 4 primary buttons, plus the black and white buttons. You can chain button presses for combos, and to be effective, you also need to master blocking (using the L trigger) and Force attacks (on the R trigger). You are forced to learn this in the heat of combat as lengthy text instructions display on-screen. This is fine and all during the first few levels, where difficulty is nil, but there's a brick wall that comes up so quick, you're just not fluent enough with the control system to stand a chance...

This is the Dooku battle. It’s broken up into several sections, intercut with in-game cinematics. With each section, you’re confronted not only with a boss incredibly out of whack from a difficulty standpoint than anything you’ve encountered beforehand, but also hit with brand new button combos and techniques that appear to be essential for defeating him. How do you have a chance to learn these moves? By dying. Over and over. It’s a brick wall of frustration so sudden, and so annoying, that it might deter casual players from enjoying the game. It’s a flaw that is hard to get passed.

And that’s where I’ve left off with the game. So far, it’s a passable movie-to-game experience, but doesn’t break or even but a dent in any new ground. It mirrors the gameplay featureset of a standard EA Lord of the Rings movie game, but lacks the budget and shear manpower behind it to reach that level of production value. When you also contend with the (so far) scattered difficulty balance, you might find yourself slightly underwhelmed, but certainly not disappointed. Barring some radical feats of greatness after Dooku, I’d say this is deserves about an 82% rating.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Episode III ~ The Video Game
« Reply #14 on: May 6, 2005, 11:50 AM »
Yeah, I bought it yesterday and got pretty far, I'm already on Mustafar...

My only complaints are that the game is a bit too easy, and that it kind of jumps around a bit without explaining what it going on... like after you take control of the Invisible Hand, it indicates that you are going to crash pretty damn hard onto the planet... but it doesn't show anything except Anakin and Obi talking about Obi Wan going on a hunt for Grievous.

I love the movie short clips though... especially R2D2 running into the wall... that was hilarious as was the dialogue between Anakin and Obi Wan.

 :P