Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II
Review by Trent Dickerson
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"All wings report in." "Red 10 standing by." "Red 7 standing by." "Red 3 standing by."
"Red 6 standing by." "Red 9 standing by." "Red 2 standing by." "Red 11 standing by."
"Red 5 standing by." "Lock S-foils in attack position." These are the first words you hear
within your first mission, the Death Star Attack, the attack on the first Death Star, pulled
straight from the movie.
That's one of the greatest aspects of this game, the fact that the game closely follows
the movies, even though most of the missions are made up. There are 11 missions(plus 3 secret
missions), and 1 training mission, Tatooine Training. 6 of the regular 11 missions are made up,
but like I said, closely follows the movies. For instance, Ison Corridor Ambush is made up,
but in the Star Wars timeline, this is the mission that transports the people from Yavin to
Hoth. In the movies, somebody(I can't remember who) said that they freed prisoners from the
Maw, and somebody, I think Luke, mentioned how they obtained information about the second Death
Star from a Star Destroyer and then mentioned something about a planet named Kothlis. Imperial
Academy Heist took place because the Rebels HAD to get the Imperial Shuttle for getting near the
second Death Star SOMEWHERE. And finally, Raid on Bespin probably took place when everyone was
in Cloud City and Han Solo was encased in carbonite.
The graphics are simply beyond amazing. I can't think of the word to correctly
describe them. But let me just put it this way: after you blow up the first Death Star, the see
the Millenium Falcon and a couple ships fly away from it generated in Real-time. When the Death
Star explodes, you are seeing an actual clip from the movie generated using the system's
hardware. Holy crap!
The sound is nothing less that fantastic as well. Factor 5 and Nintendo really went all
out in this category, as they managed to get Dolby Surround Pro Logic II to provide sound for
the game. Should you have a surround sound system and a big screen TV setup in your room, you
WILL literally be in the game. Well, not literally, but it will damn sure sound like it. Even
if your TV is not equipped with Dolby 5.1 or you don't have a surround sound system, that's
okay. I have a 13" TV and it still sounds and looks great.
Another cool feature is the implementation of the GCN's real-time clock in the game.
The best example of this is how in the daytime on Imperial Academy Heist, you do the mission in
broad daylight in the Y-Wing. Should you tackle the mission at night(by resetting the systems'
clock or by waiting until actual nighttime in REAL LIFE), you will now be piloting the Snow
Speeder through a thick fog. Nice. Another use of the real-time clock is in gaining a secret
vehicle, the Naboo Starfighter, which you gain by beating the Tatooine Training mission in all
4 times of the day (by either resetting the system's clock or by waiting until that actual time
of day).
Gameplay is very consistent. There are NEVER any slow downs and load times are
practically NON-EXISTENT. It is always smooth and quite indubitably excellent. The framrate
is NEVER choppy. In fact, the framrate is what Factor 5 and Lucas Arts focused on quite a bit,
the reason being that the framrate for Rogue Squadron for the N64 was rather choppy.
In conclusion, I believe that Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron II is an awesome example of
the true prowess of the little blurple giant from the Big N. This game stretches and goes
beyond what Sony CEA and Microsoft originally thought the GCN could do. I think I speak for
everyone when I say that should Lucas Arts and Factor 5 continue to dish out games like this
one, I certainly look forward to the day we get to see Rogue Squadron 3. I mean, come on, this
game has sequel written all over it.
My Score: 9.5 out of 10
Advantages: Beautiful graphics, consistent framrate, deep story, smooth gameplay, excellent
sound, plenty of secret missions and ships to earn.
Disadvantages: It's the 3rd game in 6 years to feature the Battle of Hoth, IMO not enough
missions, could be too easy for Rogue Squadron veterans.
