| Introduction
Star Wars has not had an impressive showing on home
consoles except for the recent Rogue Squadron on the
Gamecube. In fact, almost all of them have been awful.
Attack of the Clones is the fifth movie to be filmed,
although it's actually the second chronologically. After
the poor response to The Phantom Menace, the latest
outing will hopefully put George Lucas back in good
stead with critics and the millions of Star Wars fans
around the world. Being an optimistic reviewer, I'm
hoping this Star Wars game is the one to break the mold
and give a satisfying experience which fully embraces
the ethos of the movie... or maybe not ... well, let's
just see.
GamePlay
If you haven't seen the movie then I must warn you
that the game does contain spoilers as it follows the
plot almost scene by scene. For anyone who has seen
it then... well, you know how it all ends. The GBA version
of the movie attacks the story line in two various ways;
the standard platformer and a 3D racing/flying section
with the former dominating most of the gameplay. It's
all as expected and although platformers have become
the stock method of transferring a movie's plot to a
computer game it would be really nice if a few more
developers started to take risks.
As you'd expect the game starts out on familiar territory
- the platformer. There's the usual stuff with robots/bounty
hunters/troops who all try to stop you progressing and
who attack from all sides but, initially at least, nothing
you can't handle. You'll also have the chance to lose
a life or so by making the odd leap of faith onto a
lower platform that you simply can't see. I guarantee
that almost everyone will find the first few tries at
combating this game incredibly frustrating and you'll
find your energy levels depleting in no time at all.
This is not because the game is tough or any reflection
on your gaming skills but is due to a simple lack of
knowledge about how to use your lightsaber to block
oncoming fire. Yes, I know it sounds strange but this
really is the one move you need to master as it not
only shields you from damage but the laser fire also
ricochets usually hitting the very thing that's fired
it at you. I'd love to say that there's more to the
platforming section but to be honest, there isn't.
The 3D stages although a little more ambitious are
bland and suffer from appalling design. They start out
with a section from the movie where you must chase a
bounty hunter through the cityscape in order to interrogate
him. The problem here is, although it should be a gaming
highlight, it's bogged down with terrible sprite detection
and unresponsive controls. The real downfall though
is that it's just not that interesting or fun to play
and this gaming style is repeated throughout the game.
One of the final sections has you shooting frantically
in a huge battle but the screen is so cluttered that
you're never sure what you're firing at or, just as
important, what's firing at you.
Controls
There are two modes of control available for the
different sections and they're both reasonably easy
to master. On the minus side they're not very responsive
and some of the sprite detection is questionable to
say the least. It could be worse though and a selectable
control system would have been a welcome option.
Graphics
As I mentioned before, the game does follow the plot
of the movie very closely and as a result it's packed
with incredible stills featuring important story points.
In-game is a different story and whilst the graphics
are not terrible they're not even close to what we now
know the GBA is capable of. The real disappointment
is the animation, some of the characters could be described
as wooden at best and the 3D sections look unfinished
and suffer from poor design and implementation. It's
a shame really because with such rich source material
you'd expect a far greater level of design and imagination
but unfortunately this is what you're stuck with.
Sound & Music
Undoubtedly the highlight of this title is the audio
and when you hear the theme tune belting out with the
title scroll on your GBA you'd be forgiven for thinking
that you were actually watching the movie. The quality
is incredible and it's somewhat of a mystery how they've
achieved this utilising only the GBA's sound chip. The
in-game sound and music will also please the Star Wars
fans and both laser and lightsaber sounds are perfectly
replicated whilst a suitable 'Empire Inspired' soundtrack
accompanies every level.
Final Comments
Attack of the Clones is everything you'd expect from
a movie tie-in and while it's faithful to the Star Wars
universe it's unfortunately not much fun to play. This
is frustrating as the game does have high points though
these are few and far between. There are sections that
although showing potential have remained undeveloped
and as a result feel rushed and you get the feeling
the project deadline obviously overtook the level of
quality assurance. There are so many missed opportunities
in this game it's difficult to know where to start but
if you enjoyed the movie I can only assume you'll buy
this game regardless of what I say. Everyone else should
turn their attentions to Disney's Lilo and Stitch as
an example of how a movie tie-in should be done and
that the next Star Wars game will be too.
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