Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
Star Wars games have been around ever since back in the days of the Atari 2600. Today, the Rogue Squadron series remains one of the best out of the multitude of games that have been released since the Atari originals. So after seeing a review for Rebel Strike on TV, along with noticing the price had been dropped to $19.99 brand new, I decided I might as well pick myself up a copy of the newest entry into the series.

Graphics:

The graphics are definitely improved over Rogue Leader's. After watching the unlockable documentary in the game, I learned that Factor 5 created a completely new game engine for Rebel Strike. So it's definitely no surprise that the graphics have improved. While flying around in space and shooting tiny little ships may not be the most exciting thing to some people, at least you are able to do it with style. Watching those tiny little ships explode is a joy, watching the giant ones explode is even better. Even though the game has cutscenes, they aren't graphically any better than the in-game graphics. In fact, I'd actually say that they are basically the same as the in-game graphics. The level of detail is also nicely done. Details are especially noticeable inside the hangar, which is due to being able to see your ships up close. Anyway, the graphics serve as nice eye candy and create the perfect atmosphere for a Star Wars game.

Sound and Music:

Ok, while I wasn't worried about the sound and music, I was definitely a bit worried about the voice acting. I looked at the back of the booklet and saw a bunch of people I've never heard of. So I prayed to the Star Wars God that the voice acting wouldn't be terrible. To my delight, the Star Wars God didn't let me down. The voice acting, while nowhere near as good the real cast would have been, at least sounds fairly close to what it should. Luke's voice sounds like Mark Hamill, Darth Vader's voice sounds like James Earl Jones, and Yoda's voice sounds like Frank Oz. The only real character that I didn't think sounded somewhat like the real actor was The Emperor. As I said before, I wasn't worried about the sound and music. The sounds are exactly the same as they would be in the movies. Star Wars has always had good music. Whether it's from the movies or created specifically for the game, it's always great to listen to. However, most of the music in the game is from the movies, so it's definitely up to par.

Storyline:

Storyline in this game is a really hard thing to judge. Each mission tends to have its own little storyline. The majority of them revolve around stopping the Empire's plans for doing something evil, while others are simple "get from point A to point B while killing as many bad guys as possible." Most of the "get from point A to point B while killing as many bad guys as possible" missions are the on-foot ones, while the missions with somewhat of an actual storyline are the flying ones. Even though there isn't much else to say about the storyline, it's definitely interesting when it's from the Star Wars universe.

Gameplay:

The game has two main modes of gameplay. These two modes are flying missions and on-foot shooting missions. The flying missions are what the Rogue Squadron series is all about, while the on-foot shooting missions are new to the series. The flying missions are as good as they have always been. They are fun, fast paced, and full of bad guys to blow to pieces. The on-foot missions are also fun, fast paced, and full of bad guys to blast full of holes. While most of the missions take place between the original Star Wars movies, some of them take place during the actual trilogy. The best part is that the game even includes scenes from the movies during these levels. While this may not seem like such a great thing, its bliss for Star Wars fans because it's the best original trilogy footage they will see until the DVDs come out. Among single player, there is also a co-op and versus mode. While I haven't been able to play much of either, I'm sure both are satisfying. I'm sure of this because the co-op mode is the entire Rogue Leader game. So basically, this is two games for the price of one! Anyway, the difficulty in the game varies. Some levels are really easy, while some other levels can seem extremely hard. Overall, the game balances itself out with a fair share of flying and on-foot missions along with a varying difficulty level for gamers of any skill level.

Controls:

The controls are exactly the same as they were in Rogue Leader. This is a good thing too, because the controls in Rogue Leader were extremely easy to use. Practically all buttons get used, and they get used wisely. I was able to pick up the game and learn the controls in under ten minutes. I love games with easy learning curves; therefore this category will get a good score.

Replayability:

The levels may be easy to beat sometimes, but getting the highest ranking medal in each level definitely isn't. You'll be spending a lot of your time playing certain levels over and over again, memorizing them down to the tiniest detail before you are able to even get a gold medal, let along a best ever medal. Why would you spend your time doing this you ask? Well, the answer is simple. BONUS ITEMS!! You'll unlock secret ships, such as Slave I and the Millennium Falcon. My personal favorite is the Jedi Starfighter because it has sonic mines that make the best sound in the world. Along with that, you'll unlock a sound test, a making of the game documentary, an art gallery, and many other things. The fan favorite unlockable will definitely be the original Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi Atari 2600 games that inspired the creation of the Rogue Squadron series.

In closing, the game is definitely the best in the series. While you may expect some sort of bias coming from a huge Star Wars fan, there is none here at all. I reviewed this game based on content, not what movies it is based on. The fact that it is a Star Wars game sure didn't hurt it though.
Graphics: 8.4/10
Sound and Music: 8.7/10
Storyline: 8.0/10
Gameplay: 8.0/10
Controls: 9.8/10
Replayability: 9.0/10
7.8
Out of 10