Shadows Of The Empire: Short Review
Kimberly J. Keith
I picked up SOTE at Kay Bee yesterday Dec 3rd for $79. The graphics on
the game are AWESOME. The music is cool the way they used samples of a
real orchestra, but on the downside, the sample rate is not that high, so
it doesn't have the brightness of the General MIDI music of the other games
(I have Mario and Waverace). I have yet to hear the "awesome" music I'm
hearing about for Killer Instinct Gold, so I can't compare it to that.
The sound effect are not as good as the other games either, there are
some really good ones (like the cocking sound of changing weapons), but
most of them have lost some quality (probably because they were sampled
from the original Star Wars films). After saying all that, I can only
notice the difference when I run through my receiver with good
speakers. With the TV speakers, the sound is as good as anything I've
heard. The control (so far) seems kinda limited (I'll explain later).
The game is GREAT, so don't think I'm disappointed, without Mario and
Waverace to compare to, my jaw would have hit the floor.
First Level: The snow speeder flys nicely, but you can't go very far away
from the action before it automatically turns you around. I can't
believe how good the AT-ATs look.
Second Level: Looks AWESOME, but I like the feel of Duke Nukem or Doom
better. If you've ever compared Dark Forces to Doom, it's closer the the
Dark Forces feel, which makes sense, but it isn't as good. There are
several views in which to play, but the first person (I feel) is the most
playable. The top down view is good for jumps, and jet pack, the behind
view looks really good, but the "Mario Style" panning camera is useless.
The control doesn't adjust for the camera angle like Mario, so I end up
running in circles, and bumping into everything. I think it's there, just
for the commercial, so they can show your character running by the camera.
Even though your character looks almost real he's so detailed, when you
stop moving he freezes, and doesn't breathe (like Mario). He does look
around and stretch, but the motion isn't as good. His run looks very
convincing though.
Third level, also looks amazing. But unfortunatly you can't choose where
you fly. You only aim a gun, and blow away Tie Fighters, Tie
Bombers, and Asteroids. This is still very fun though, and both camera
angles are useful.
4th level: I hate to be redundant, but again, killer graphics. The train
is fun, and the IG-88 boss is actually challenging until you figure out the
layout of his junk yard.
5th level: Haven't finished this one yet, the jet pack is cool. Haven't
found Boba Fett yet :(
In conclusion, I think the game isn't as polished as the other two I own,
but it is a MUST buy for Star Wars fans, and a MUST RENT for everyone else.
If you want to save money, after getting half way through the game in a
couple of hours (easy setting). You could probably see the whole thing
in one renting. On the other hand, I don't regret buying it, because
it's good enough so far to go through the game on every difficulty setting
(to see all the endings). Not to mention it's great to show off the system
to all of your envious friends that don't have N64s yet. I am very happy
I bought it, I just wanted to be as hard on the game as I could,
since a lot of you may base your decisions on the things I've
outlined above.
Options:
You can add your full name, and has 4 battery backed save spaces.
Difficulty: easy/medium/hard/Jedi
Overlay Display: on/off
Seeker Camera: on/off
Sound Effect: off/soft/medium/loud
Music: off/soft/medium/loud
Sound Panning: stereo/mono
Controls: different options for each level type (lots of choices)
Dean.
Eric Castle
In article
<Pine.SOL.3.91.961204...@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu>,
"Kimberly J. Keith " <kke...@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu> wrote:
> In conclusion, I think the game isn't as polished as the other two I own,
> but it is a MUST buy for Star Wars fans, and a MUST RENT for everyone else.
> If you want to save money, after getting half way through the game in a
> couple of hours (easy setting). You could probably see the whole thing
> in one renting. On the other hand, I don't regret buying it, because
> it's good enough so far to go through the game on every difficulty setting
> (to see all the endings). Not to mention it's great to show off the system
> to all of your envious friends that don't have N64s yet. I am very happy
> I bought it, I just wanted to be as hard on the game as I could,
> since a lot of you may base your decisions on the things I've
> outlined above.
>
I've seen a few posts saying the game is too easy on 'easy' mode. Well, I
don't understand why people (not necesarily this reviewer) are upset that
they can get through the game pretty quickly on easy mode. Well it is
called 'EASY' difficulty.
I expect that a game having different difficulty settings should make the
easy mode - well, easy. I should be able to play on easy mode on any game
and get through it to the end without a whole lot of replays. Now, with
the other difficult modes this should not be the case and each one should
get harder and harder.
I wonder if the Jedi mode is going to be almost impossible?
I have only played on medium difficulty so far but can someone say what is
different about each difficulty level that makes it more difficult? Is it
just that there more enemies to deal with?
Thanks for the review. Great game!
--
Eric
eric_...@taligent.com
SLB
On 5 Dec 1996 02:02:23 GMT, eric_...@taligent.com (Eric Castle)
wrote:
Great Game???? Cmon Eric.....are you one of those reviewers that
play the game for five minutes and say "this game is a 10!!" This game
is so damn boring. Thank goodness Sears takes games back!! Pehaps if
this was the only system I had I might be forced to keep this one.
THIS GAME IS A DARK FORCES WANNA BE. Remember the first Star Wars
game on the snes? Now that game was alot of fun...way more fun.
Eric Castle
In article <32a63bf2...@news.earthlink.net>, sby...@earthlink.net
(SLB) wrote:
> Great Game???? Cmon Eric.....are you one of those reviewers that
> play the game for five minutes and say "this game is a 10!!" This game
> is so damn boring. Thank goodness Sears takes games back!! Pehaps if
> this was the only system I had I might be forced to keep this one.
> THIS GAME IS A DARK FORCES WANNA BE. Remember the first Star Wars
> game on the snes? Now that game was alot of fun...way more fun.
I wasn't reviewing it, I was stating an opinion based on my playing of the
first level.
I have now gone to easy level as I was having trouble completing the 1st
level on medium difficulty and now I've played up to the Junkyard and I
still think its a great game.
Dark Forces on the other hand I never finished as I got bored with it. I
got about half way through it I think. I meant to go back and finish it
but haven't gotten around to it yet. I have the Mac version which runs in
hi-res graphics mode and am more impressed with what I've seen in SOTE
(maybe its because its on a 25 inch screen rather than a window on a 17"
monitor). The doom/DF type levels in SOTE don't seem that way if you play
with a camera angle that you see your character since this gives it the
feel of Resident Evil and Tomb Raider. So to me this game is more like
those games for the 1st person type levels rather than being like DF.
Oh well, I for one am really enjoying this game.
--
Eric
eric_...@taligent.com
Trevor Powell
In article
<Pine.SOL.3.91.961204...@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu>, "Kimberly
J. Keith " <kke...@lonestar.jpl.utsa.edu> wrote:
I rented SOTE from Blockbuster for about $4.50. Worth every penny.
A quick review. The first level is phenomenal, as everyone has been
saying. Graphically, game-playwise, etc.. it's wonderful. A whole game
could have been built around that engine. And probably should have been.
(four segments of increasing difficulty)
On the following levels...
2: Less graphically impressive. Doom-style segment. Graphics are good,
but the camera has an _extremely_ strange focal length -- walls warp wildly
as you turn. Specifically, foreshortening is almost ridiculously extreme.
(That is, close objects are much larger than they ought to be, and distant
objects appear much further than they are).. Of the four provided camera
angles, only two are of use -- 'behind' and 'first person'.. both suffer
from flaws. The 'behind' view suffers from a feeling of 'looseness' in
control, which is the result of the lag between when you turn and when the
camera moves to reflect that turn.. you'll find yourself constantly
turning too far, and having to adjust back the other direction. Especially
on narrow walkways. In first person view this problem vanishes (though the
control still feels touchy), but you then have a very narrow field of view
(this is tied in with the focal length problem mentioned above), and so
jumping is extremely difficult. (two similar segments)
3: Flying the Outrider through an asteroid field. Very nice, graphically.
Difficulty is low, compared to other levels. No control over the flight of
the ship, though the ship's course does have some influence on the action.
(one segment)
4: Junkyard area -- Doom-style segment involving between train cars.
Very, very graphically intensive and impressive. This segment will
repeatedly remind you of FMV on the less-powerful consoles. Again, though,
this suffers from the standard problems of the Doom-style segments. (two
segments)
5: Going after Boba Fett -- Doom-style segment. Lots of interactions with
switches, etc. Jumppack added, which adds some amount of interest to the
level. Jumppack is well implemented, but totally undocumented. It will
take a bit of experience to learn to pilot it properly. The third
viewpoint (overhead) becomes very useful for one small portion of this
level. (two segments)
6: Mos Eisley -- Racing 'Swoops' (basically hovercraft motorcycles)
through the streets of Mos Eisley, through Beggar's Canyon, and to Ben
Kenobi's home. Feels unpolished, control is extremely touchy, the bikes
have no maximum speed.. keep holding down the 'accelerate' button and
you'll continue to speed up until you ram into something. At least on
'easy' level, you do not take damage or lose a life if you ram hard into a
building. The only way to 'lose' is to not defeat all the enemies in the
space allotted, or to fail to make the jump or pass through the 'eye of the
needle' at the end. This level is less graphically impressive as most of
the other levels. (one segment)
7: Imperial Freighter -- Doom-style segment set inside a spacecraft.
Ininspired, and not very impressive graphically. Not much to say about
this level, except that it contains one interesting 'puzzle'. (level
divided into a few similar 'segments')
8: Sewers -- Doom-style segment set in the sewers beneath Xizor's palace.
Especially in the beginning of this level, the graphics are _astounding_.
This is probably the most gorgeous level of the game. Or at least, they're
the most realistic and well-rendered; calling the sewers 'gorgeous' is
probably a mistake. This level suffers from one area where none of the
viewpoints operate well, and you must fly more or less blind, for lack of
ability to well see what goes on. Still, by far the best looking level in
the game, and posessing the best level design overall of any of the
doom-style segments. Bearing that in mind, it also posesses what's
probably the worst-designed final enemies. The combat with the final enemy
is not fun, and is very awkward. (level divided into a few similar
'segments')
9: Xizor's Palace -- Uninspired doom-style segment. Graphics are good,
and probably somewhat better than most of the rest of the game, but coming
immediately after level 8, they appear much less impressive. A few
interesting effects, but on the whole, disappointing, especially after
level 8.(level divided into a few similar 'segments')
10: Assault on the Skyhook -- Very nice combat with the Outrider, in two
segments. The first segment is a repeat of stage 3, where you have no
control over the Outrider, and are shooting attacking ships (in this case,
Star Vipers, instead of TIE Fighters and Bombers. So far as I can tell,
Star Vipers are identical to the TIEs, except that they look different and
have subtly different attack patterns). In the second segment, you gain
maneuvering control of the Outrider, and must first destroy the defenses of
the Skyhook (four turrets) while evading the fire of TIEs, Star Vipers, and
a nearby Star Destroyer. Once the turrets are destroyed, you must find
entrances to the Skyhook's superstructure, fly in, and destroy the reactor
core. A fun level, but piloting the Outrider is somewhat awkward. I'm
still not sure whether pushing left and right on the stick was supposed to
rotate the craft or turn it left and right. (two segments)
Ending -- The destruction of the Skyhook was singularly unimpressive on
Easy mode. The ending of the game was well done, with an appropriate
cliffhanger which they promise will be answered when the game is solved in
medium mode. (I'm currently at level 4 on Medium, and level 2 on Hard).
Overall, it's a nice offering. I'm not sure I would pay $70 for it, and I
certainly wouldn't pay $90 for it, but it's nice. Graphically impressive
(especially levels 1, 3, and 8), though there are a number of quirks in the
control -- especially in the doom-style segments and the Swoop-racing.
WaveRace is still my favorite, followed by Mario64. SOTE comes in at third.
Trevor Powell
mo...@aol.com
just wanted to thank you both for the obvious time you spent reviewing
this game. I'm debating buying it, and appreciate the input. This is what
newsgroups were made for...not the spamming and obscenities that most
people have flooded them with.
I appreciate it.
Jonathan Jalving
mo...@aol.com wrote:
: just wanted to thank you both for the obvious time you spent reviewing
Hmmmm... no text in all caps, no long trains of exclamation marks, this is
no normal AOL user. What did you do with the real owner of this account?
--
Jonathan Jalving
jjal...@psd.k12.co.us
Kimberly J. Keith
On Fri, 6 Dec 1996, Trevor Powell wrote:
> 10: Assault on the Skyhook -- Very nice combat with the Outrider, in two
> segments. The first segment is a repeat of stage 3, where you have no
> control over the Outrider, and are shooting attacking ships (in this case,
> Star Vipers, instead of TIE Fighters and Bombers. So far as I can tell,
> Star Vipers are identical to the TIEs, except that they look different and
> have subtly different attack patterns). In the second segment, you gain
> maneuvering control of the Outrider, and must first destroy the defenses of
> the Skyhook (four turrets) while evading the fire of TIEs, Star Vipers, and
> a nearby Star Destroyer. Once the turrets are destroyed, you must find
> entrances to the Skyhook's superstructure, fly in, and destroy the reactor
> core. A fun level, but piloting the Outrider is somewhat awkward. I'm
> still not sure whether pushing left and right on the stick was supposed to
> rotate the craft or turn it left and right. (two segments)
Actually I liked the control of the Outrider better thean the
snowspeeer. The snowspeeder is limited in degrees to which you can
turn. The Outrider has a full 360 degrees, you can fly anywhere. BTW,
the L & R buttons are breaks, not turn buttons (at least on the standard
controls). Pause the game, and look at controls to see waht each button
does.
> Ending -- The destruction of the Skyhook was singularly unimpressive on
> Easy mode. The ending of the game was well done, with an appropriate
> cliffhanger which they promise will be answered when the game is solved in
> medium mode. (I'm currently at level 4 on Medium, and level 2 on Hard).
I finished on Medium today, and it had the same ending :( and stated to
try Hard. It also mentioned to get all the Challenge points, which I
haven't found yet.