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Developer: Namco
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Shooter
Region: NTSC
Format:
Release Date: 14 Feb 05
User Rating
9.3 (28 votes) -
- Not smarting from their last misadventure, the latest Star Fox again suffers from clunky and unpolished on-foot missions.
More Screens (12 total)
Overview
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Gamecube has been really needing some variety in their lineup. It seems as though it needs one of their key characters to come through in a big way. This year we do have some potential gain for the Cube, with the new Zelda game coming out, but the first chance for Nintendo to make up some ground is with their latest iteration in the Star Fox realm, it's Star Fox: Assault and it is now available for your Nintendo Gamecube. But does it bring any attention back onto the Cube? Read our full review to find out!
Gameplay
It seems so long ago that I sat down glued to my TV screen playing Star Fox 64 for the fourth time, just to see how quickly I could beat the game. In my opinion that was one of the best games released for the Nintendo 64, because the gameplay was just so simple, yet it captured such excellent flight action mechanics that it just made the game extremely addictive. Then the series made its way onto the Cube and from there it all went downhill fast. Star Fox: Adventures left all of the great things that encompassed Star Fox 64 behind and tried to become a typical action adventure game, and in my opinion failed miserably. Now Nintendo has teamed up with Namco to try and revive the series once more. But can they actually do it?
The one promising thing about Star Fox: Assault right from the get go is that the aircrafts have made its way back into the game. In fact the game is about fifty-fifty in terms of how much on foot action you will be doing compared to the flight action. In my eyes what it seems like the developers (Namco) were trying to do with Star Fox: Assault was to create a game that remained faithful to the Star Fox clan and give games a walk down memory lane with the flight portions of the game and then added the third person action in to get there side of the game in there to. What does this boil down to; let's just say it's probably going to be a love/hate relationship for most Star Fox fans.
For those of you who have played any sort of Star Fox game you will know that the storyline in the game is for the most part ridiculous and has no real overall impact on the game. With that being said, you of course take the role of Fox McCloud, who with his group of furry friends come and save the day, or at least try to. The storyline like I just mentioned really has no overall impact on the game, nor does it really make a difference on what the problem in Star Fox: Assault really is.
Let's just get the bad of Star Fox: Assault out of the way, and if you haven't guessed it already, the on-foot combat is once again a major disappointment for the Star Fox series. You take control of Fox in the third person perspective, in a setup that will remind many of you PS2 owners of a stripped down version of Ratchet and Clank. And really it's not even the mechanics in the game that hurt it, rather more the uninspired levels in which you play in. When I say that I mean there is nothing interesting about these missions, nothing inspired. It's just plain old third person action without any of the thrill. The controlling of Fox is a minor issue as well as it does feel clunky and just doesn't give you that smooth feel that so many third person action games have given us in the past. It's not that the third person action was bad per say, but it just didn't do anything all that well.
Where Star Fox: Assault does impress is in the aerial missions, which will bring back many great memories from the days of Star Fox 64. Like I mentioned earlier Namco really did try to bring back to life the magic of the previous game in the aerial missions and they did so in stunning fashion. These missions play just like the old ones, giving you non-stop action with plenty of strategy along the way. Let's just say fans of the 64 game will be right at home here. Unfortunately though, the game doesn't bring a whole lot to the table in terms of the story mode which took me a little over six hours to complete, which for nowadays is just disappointing. With that being said the gameplay in the game ends up being rather average.
Graphics
If I had to describe Star Fox: Assault in a few words it would probably be a mixed bag and I say that because there is so much good in the game yet there is so many things left to be desired that you just get a mixed bag. Like a can of mixed nuts, some of them you like and others you don't.
With the visuals it's the same sort of analogy, there are a lot of things I liked about the visuals in Star Fox: Assault and a lot of other things that I didn't. You can see a big difference in quality from when playing on the flight missions and on the ground missions. The flight missions just seem to be way ahead and this is all due to the amazing amount of color and detail the game entails. With that being said Star Fox: Assault doesn't look so hot when he touches down, as the game just doesn't flow all that well nor does it have the same detail or color that it does in the air.
The visuals of Star Fox: Assault definitely leaves plenty to be desired, but with that being said Star Fox: Assault still has a pretty good overall look to it.
Fun Factor
One thing I haven't touched on is the multiplayer aspect of the game, in which could have been a lot of fun, but in fact it feels even more stripped down then the third person action sequences in the game. The multiplayer portion of the game gives you very little in terms of options and of course it does not include any online play. With that being said the single player is really your only source of "fun" in the game, and that is for the most part found in the aerial portions. So really if you have the patience to wait it out, Star Fox: Assault does have some really fun elements. The only downside of course is that you have to wait for these times.
Overall
Star Fox: Assault is truly a game that hopefully will teach many companies a lesson. When a game is doing something well stay with it, or in other words "if it aint broken don't fix it". The aerial portions in Star Fox was definitely the highlight of the game, but was undone by the clunky and unpolished on-foot missions. Star Fox: Assault is a missed opportunity for the developers to resurrect the series, which means you probably should give this a miss too.
- Gameplay
7.0 - Graphics
7.0 - Fun Factor
6.0 - Overall
7.0
