Star Wars: Episode I - Battle for Naboo

They call me Gav

In Battle for Naboo, you play Lieutenant Gavyn Sykes ("that's Gavyn with a 'y'," he says, as a great icebreaker with the ladies), a member of the Royal Security Forces on the planet Naboo. For anyone who was alive and over the age of three in the year 1999, you'll probably recognize "Naboo" as a planet from the slightly successful Star Wars: Episode One movie released that year. LucasArts has just released a flight action game based on the events in said movie; it's arriving a bit late and using a game engine more than a little old, but let's not make any snap judgments just yet.

The timeline for the game parallels the movie, except as Sykes, you get to see and combat first-hand the Trade Federation's occupation of Naboo after the adolescent Queen has since gone running off to develop a crush on pre-pubescent Anakin Skywalker, who later becomes Mr. Bombad Scary Darth Vader. The tale spun throughout the game is the usual Star Wars melodrama that we love to get carried away with - daring rescues, betrayal, and the big fight at the end (the attack on the Droid Control Ship, as seen in the movie), although with no between mission cutscenes or really interesting primary characters, it never becomes too involving.

All missions begin with a brief briefing concerning objectives, and then it's on to craft selection. Initially, there's only one craft choice, but more become available as the game progresses and minor upgrades also get fitted, such as improving your shields, lasers or missiles. A neat feature is the ability to change craft mid-missions, but this is only possible when you reach a hangar. At that point, you will often have a clear-cut choice in how you want your role in the mission to proceed; for example, you may begin in a hover-vehicle providing ground support in an escort mission. Once at the hangar, you can then switch to either an aircraft or boat vessel depending on what's available and continue in your new position.

Rogue console

Battle for Naboo is actually a quasi-sequel to 1998's Rogue Squadron, so anyone familiar with that title will know much of what to expect here. The game was once again developed more with the console market in mind (and was, in fact, released several months ago on the N64), and this won't surprise the more experienced PC gamers who play it. In simplistic console style, the missions are very linear and carry you along with little to no brainpower required. Your commander will often tell you what to do over the comms, such as "destroy those turrets" or "protect the convoy" but you can occasionally deviate, usually by specifically rescuing a civilian when it's not your primary objective. Sometimes you'll get a reward in the guise of a ship system upgrade.

Since there are a few dead ends and usually very large areas in levels, your radar and "objective finder" are imperative instruments. If you're sometimes not sure where to go, you can always follow the orange-colored wedge shape on your radar to lead you to where you're supposed to be. Other than that, the radar is a very simple 2D representation of your surroundings, with a limited color code system of green equals friendly and red being the enemy. This becomes an infuriating problem for several reasons: one, without any idea what type of enemy a red dot is (structure, defense turret, craft etc.), the mess of red on the radar becomes very confusing and makes most missions impossible to complete until you've died a few times and learned the layout.

Another annoyance with the radar is it being 2D only, so you have no idea at what depth any enemy unit is. This could almost be overlooked when piloting ground vehicles, but it's ridiculous when in aircraft (and especially in the space combat missions), making dogfights a big guessing game, which only serves to artificially increase the difficulty level. It also doesn't help that the graphics engine seems to have a very limited range of visibility, which might be a consideration on an older console system, but not with even entry-level gaming PC's these days.

Talking of the graphics, the disappointment doesn't end with the viewing distances. While to the casual gamer, they wouldn't exactly be considered "poor," any PC gamer who's played a 3D title newer than Unreal Tournament will find Battle for Naboo dated looking. With generally bland textures, and 2D bitmaps used for trees and the pilots in the craft, the age of this game engine really shows. That said, the Star Wars feel has definitely been authentically recreated, and all the locations will be instantly familiar to fans of the movie. Combined with the usual audio quality from LucasArts - includes all the great sound effects, plus the soundtrack from the film plays throughout (though a little tinny) - the game isn't starved for atmosphere.

While the controls are generally easy to use, the flight physics leave quite a lot to be desired, even when you consider how much artistic license is usually taken with space flight sims. Instead of being able to freely fly in 360 degrees, the game continuously 'snaps' you back into place whenever you go above a certain altitude or fly at a certain angle. It's hard to explain but you recognize the problem the first time you try a simple loop-the-loop or find yourself being forced to remain level with an imaginary horizon in space. If they want to make out these advanced aircraft experience stalls when climbing, that's fine - but not when it's obviously invisible barriers and limitations in the gameplay.

Conclusion

For all its faults, there's no denying how far the Star Wars license can carry a game. Without it, yes, the game would be mediocre at best, but since it is based on Episode One, who can deny the pleasure experienced when mowing down a battle droid in your Flash Speeder? Or flying Darth Maul's Sith Interceptor (as long as you unlock the "secret," of course - more console idiosyncrasies)? That said, it would have been much easier to justify a purchase if Battle for Naboo was released closer to a budget price.

Right now, if you're after a great Episode One game, Racer is an excellent and much cheaper choice; even the original Phantom Menace game would be a better recommendation. And don't think about touching Naboo if you haven't experienced the phenomenal X-Wing series yet (although it's based on the original Star Wars trilogy), now available as a complete collector's set, including X-Wing, TIE Fighter and X-Wing Alliance, for under $30.

Review By GamesDomain