SHMUPGurus

User Score
8.5

Presentation - 8.0
Gameplay - 9.0
Value - 9.0

SHMUPGurus'

Star Fox Assault REVIEW

Welcome to my first review. This time it's about Star Fox Assault, a game released on the Nintendo GameCube. In my reviews, I will try to put as much details as I can. I will add reasons to each score as well at the end of each section. Anyways, enjoy the review everyone!


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

·        INTRODUCTION......Talks about the story of the Star Fox games and introduces Star Fox Assault

·        THE MOST FREQUENT QUESTION......STAR FOX ASSAULT, is it what we expected it to be? Also includes a list of Pros and Cons

·        STORY......Talks about the story in Star Fox Assault *SPOILERS WARNING*

·        MUSIC/SOUNDS......Talks about the music and sounds in Star Fox Assault

·        CONTROLS......Talks about the controls in Star Fox Assault

·        GRAPHICS......Talks about the graphics in Star Fox Assault

·        GAMEPLAY......Talks about the gameplay in Star Fox Assault

·        MULTIPLAYER ( Extra Section )......Talks about the multiplayer in Star Fox Assault *SPOILERS WARNING*

·        FINAL SCORE......My final verdict on Star Fox Assault

THE REVIEW:

 CAUTION: This review may contain SPOILERS in the Story and Multiplayer section. Read these sections if you want, but be aware!

Published by: Nintendo
Developed by: Namco
Genre: Action, Shooter
Number of Players: 4
Release Dates:
US: February 14, 2005
Europe: April 29, 2005
Japan: February 24, 2005

ESRB Content Descriptors: Fantasy Violence


INTRODUCTION:

To start things properly, the first Star Fox game (also known as Star Wing) was released on February 23, 1993 in Japan. The Star Fox mercenary team, composed of Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare and Slippy Toad, are on a mission to liberate the Lylat System of it's threat, the evil Dr. Andross. It was a simple story but was nicely welcomed by many fans of space flight games. It was also the first game to utilize the SuperFX Chip. This is when it all started. Many years later, on April 27, 1997 in Japan, Star Fox 64 (also known as Lylat Wars), made its first appearance for the Nintendo 64. The series continued in the path of a 3D on-rail space shooter and was nicely done. This game contained more levels than the previous one and introduced the Landmaster, a powerful hover tank, and the Blue Marine, where underwater missions took place. The characters even talked! It was also the first Star Fox game to include a four player split-screen multiplayer mode. It was a big addition to the Star Fox series and was another approach of Fox's first mission to save the Lylat System. A couple of years later, Star Fox Adventures came out on September 23, 2002 in the US. Before it became Adventures, Rare was developing a game called Dinosaur Planet for the Nintendo 64. It let you play as Sabre and Krystal (the old one). Though, they decided to bring the development for the Nintendo GameCube and someone noticed that Sabre looked a lot like Fox. The story wasn't really changed and the levels either, but they decided to put the name ''Star Fox'' in it. This time around, it wasn't a space shooter and had that little Zelda-ish feel to it. It was different from all the other Star Fox games. It still included some Arwing missions that only lasted around 2-3 minutes each, and it was the only way to open "paths" to new planets and continue the story. The story was a real one (if I can say that) and you could get power-ups. Another important thing is that Fox didn't use its Blaster. Also, this is when Krystal made her entrance into the Star Fox universe.

On February 14, 2005, the series continued with Star Fox Assault. Now, Star Fox is back to its original roots. In this game, you have Arwing missions, On-Foot (Pilot) missions also called All-Range missions, and it has a better multiplayer mode and much more. Krystal is also in Assault. Don't stop reading because the fun only started, get ready to be Assaulted (in a good way)!

THE MOST FREQUENT QUESTION:

STAR FOX ASSAULT, is it what we expected it to be?

I can answer this question by a simple ''Yes,'' but you won't really be satisfied. Here are the reasons:

1st Point: You finally get in your Arwing in four long missions each filled with nice graphics and effects (especially Mission 1). If four is not enough, you still get to ride in your Arwing in some All-Range Missions (On-Foot or Pilot missions). Also, the Arwing model is very nice!

2nd Point: You get to see Krystal and Fox again! Yes, you heard me. They have included one cutscene with those two and sometimes they start to worry about each others in missions. You will see that the chemistry between them is getting bigger, but they are still shy to admit it... You won't regret to see every cutscenes in this game!

3rd Point: Talking about cutscenes, I found them spectacular. The Great Fox is better than ever and the remake of the first cutscene in Star Fox 64 will just get better all the time I guess! Their mouths move when they talk and Fox still has his "Star Fox Adventures" fur in the cutscenes. There might be some bugs in the end cinematics of some missions like Wolf not opening his mouth to talk, but other than that, you will still find pleasure watching them!

4th Point: The music is just awesome. They are all orchestrated (even Star Wolf's theme) and it gives another feel to the game. There are remixes and new ones, all with that great Star Fox feel!

5th Point: You get as much action as you can get in Star Fox 64, probably even more. The vehicles and the weapons included in this game are just great and you always feel like there's something going on in the screen! Even if it sometimes get boring to destroy targets, you can still find better ways to find challenges. There's also 3 difficulty levels including Bronze (Easy), Silver (Normal) and Gold (Hard).

6th Point: Want to talk about the multiplayer? No problem, because they have what you always wanted in a Star Fox game, including Booster Packs from Sniper Rifles and Arwing action! It also includes a lot of unlockables and maps to play in.

So I'll give a list of Pros and Cons about what I'm going to talk about in the review in general:

PROS:

·       Arwing missions are back

·       Orchestrated music gives another feel to the game

·       New kind of missions: On-Foot (All-Range missions)

·       Cinematics are very well done

·       They took the time to make an awesome multiplayer experience

·       Story makes you want to replay the missions

·       You have more a feel of liberty while doing Arwing and On-Foot missions

·       On-Wing is always cool!

·      You get a Bonus Game after getting all the Silver Medals

CONS:

·       Missing a lot of sound effects

·       Some quotes sometimes lack in quality

·       Missed a lot of opportunities in this game (More missions? Branching paths? More unlockables?)

·       Sometimes, the angle of the camera can make you miss some things in the Arwing missions (S-Flags for example), hit something you never knew was there, etc.

Look at all the nice lighting effects!

STORY:

It starts with something pretty simple. Andrew, also known as Oikonny, after learning about the death of his uncle, Andross, decided to take his army and continue the steps of his uncle. The Great Fox, the Star Fox team's main ship, after being sent by the Orbital Gate, is sent to destroy this new threat. After they stop Oikonny from doing such a vile thing, a weird insect-robot known as an Aparoid later in the game attacks Oikonny. Fox destroys the Aparoid and has to retrieve something called a Core Memory. What is the purpose of it? Beltino Toad, the director in Research of Corneria and also Slippy's dad, gives more detail about it. If he could have a full specimen, he could locate the homeworld of the Aparoids. The Star Fox team retrieved one complete Core Memory, but another villain, Pigma Dengar (he betrayed James McCloud of the first Star Fox team), steals it. The Star Fox team are trying to find him, but they end up in a conflict with the Star Wolf team. Wolf, leader of the Star Wolf team, says that Pigma left Star Wolf so he doesn't know anything about him. A new recruit, Panther Caroso, knows the location of Pigma Dengar. So Star Fox headed to Fichina, etc. The story continues with some surprises. So as you can see, it's an "easy to pick up" kind of story, but you still need to know some background information on everything surrounding the Star Fox world. There are also briefings at the beginning of almost every missions if not, there's a cutscene. The cinematics are well placed and they give you a bit more information about what's happening or going to happen. Your team will also talk during missions (like in the old Star Fox games), so it can also help you learn a little bit more about what's happening around. It's a Star Fox worthy story, I give it a:

SCORE FOR STORY: 8.5/10
WHY? What's happened to Oikonny? Pigma? The Star Wolf Team? General Pepper? Nintendo is keeping the suspense for the next Star Fox game, but will they return for real? There's missing something... You also feel that it's a Namco kind of story (Galaga anyone?), so you may feel that it's been already done. With that said, it's still a story that makes you want to replay the single player mode again since there are always surprises waiting for us. The story is still ''the'' thing about the game, but you will always want more and you don't always feel satisfied. There are so many questions left at the end of this game that will probably never be answered...

Briefing for every members of the Star Fox team

MUSIC/SOUNDS:

The musics aren't really something to be worried about in this game. It's rather the sound effects that are questionable. After you defeat certain bosses, you feel that it's missing some explosion sounds and your Arwing doesn't really make an engine sound (that's probably because they had the money to put a silenced engine!). When your wings get hit, there are no sounds to let you know if you hit something. That's really annoying, since it's usually a big part of the Star Fox games (the wings). Also, that laser sound when you shoot in your Arwing is annoying after a while. The voices are different (like in all the Star Fox games), but you will get familiarized by them easily. Still, the voice actors forget to add some emotions in some of the quotes and some of the quotes are just badly recorded (there's echo everywhere). You can also select between Mono or Stereo (no Surround? Oh well...). With all that said, I give this section a score of:

SCORE FOR MUSIC/SOUNDS: 7/10
WHY? There are a lot of sound effects missing and some of the quotes from some characters lack in quality. The orchestrated musics are great, but sometimes you feel that it doesn't quite fit in the action (that happened in two missions).

On-Foot action, better than ever!

CONTROLS:

There are three control schemes:

1. Single Stick: You move with the control stick and move the camera with the control stick. You aim while holding R. These are the basic controls and they are simple to learn. You move great with the Landmaster with these controls.

2. Dual Stick: This is mostly the way to play the game (if you want 100% control of your sidesteps and other things). You move with the control stick and move the camera with the C-Stick. It works great for multiplayer. It's a little bit harder to control the Landmaster with these controls, but you can get used to it easily.

3. R Button Run: This control scheme was the only one availabe at the E3 demo. It didn't work that great according to IGN. You run while holding R and aim with the control stick. It can be confusing, but if you liked the controls in the N64 multiplayer (On-Foot), it's the perfect choice!

I never had any problems with the controls since you have the choice of three control schemes. You can also invert the X/Y axis. Basically, you have liberty to choose what you want. You can also put rumble on/off. The Arwing's controls are smooth (comparable to the other Star Fox games) and you can move more freely because of the camera. I have to say that it's a little bit hard to do the barrel roll because of the GameCube controller's L trigger. I give this section a score of:

SCORE FOR CONTROLS: 9.5/10
WHY? There's still no custom control option. You still aren't very free to choose what controls you want to shoot, look, etc.

Reminds you of something?

GRAPHICS:

The graphics are nice for a GameCube game. Namco tried to put the textures, particle effects and many other graphical features at a reasonable level so the game can run at a constant 60 frames-per-second speed with no slowtimes. It is really great that there are no slowtimes, mostly for the multiplayer. The game has nice explosion effects and lightning effects, though Fox doesn't have all his fur from Star Fox Adventures (only in cinematics)! The effects when you fly in the Arwing are nice, mostly when you use the boost and do a barrel roll. The vehicle and character models are very well made. Basically, it is like Star Fox 64's graphics, but in "HD" (if I can put it that way)! You can't ask more from a Star Fox game, and it doesn't need to be [Star Fox] Adventures all the time. The space battles are incredible and it's like candy for the eyes (only wished there were more of them)! The character animations are well done also. There is still one minor problem though; the shadow under the character can be very buggy. It sometimes gets on top of another platform, but you're obviously not standing on it. A minor detail...!

SCORE FOR GRAPHICS: 8.5/10
WHY? Even if it isn't Metroid Prime's graphics or Star Fox Adventures’ graphics, for GameCube standards, they are still on top of most of the games that came out on the platform. Let's just say that Corneria City is better made than any city in any Tony Hawk game! They did the best they could to give the game a solid 60 frames-per-second, and that's what really matters in a fast-paced game like this one.

Landmaster, looking good!

GAMEPLAY:

This is what everyone waited in the next Star Fox game. How is it going to work? Is there going to be more Arwing missions? What's up with the On-Foot missions? Well, all these questions will be answered. You people know that Star Fox was always about being an arcade space shooter filled with action. Luckily, Assault offers almost all this. First of all, let's talk about the Arwing missions. There are only four Arwing missions out of the ten missions found in the game. It isn't even half of them, but there are still missions where you can ride in your Arwing that are not on-rail, which I'll talk about later. The Arwing missions are filled with explosions, particle effects and mostly, action! There is always something happening on the screen! It reminds me of the days of Star Fox 64. You can't be disappointed about these missions since they mostly play the same. Why mostly? Well, some of the controls are changed like for the barrel roll and you can move more freely than before because of a bigger range with the camera. You may have more liberty to move almost everywhere in the Arwing missions, but sadly, sometimes the angle of the camera can be a real pain. It happened a few times that the angle of the camera can make you miss some collectables (S-Flags for example, used to unlock bonus features in the game), hit something you never knew was there, etc. Second of all, let's talk about the new feature, On-Foot missions, also known as All-Range missions. Believe it or not, these new kind of missions are a great addition to the Star Fox series. You can move everywhere around a piece of the world. The maps are big! The big objective of these missions is to destroy targets. That's where some people can hate the On-Foot missions. It's always the same repetitive pattern, but there are so many ways to complete the task that it's never done the same way (kind of a bit like in Crysis, where you can either choose to sneak, or go all-out against the enemy). You have a lot of vehicles to choose from, this includes the Landmaster tank and the Arwing (you can find the two of them at the same time depending on some missions), and there are also a lot of weapons to choose from, from the Blaster to the Homing Launcher. There is also some On-Wing parts in the All-Range missions. You're Fox, on the wing of a flying ship, and you have a gun called the Plasma Cannon and you shoot the bad guys (Aparoids in this case) to defend the "animal" piloting the ship, either Falco or someone that you wouldn't want to trust...! I give the gameplay a score of:

SCORE FOR GAMEPLAY: 8.5/10
WHY? Yeah, everyone's game experience is different. This game was meant to be like this, and it's enjoyable for what it is. I have to admit that they missed something about the Arwing missions being a big part of the Star Fox series, but still, Namco focused on giving the best they could in the On-Foot missions and that's why they are so fun to play. Being a fan of the old Star Fox games, I have to say there are probably a bit too much of them, but change never hurts anyone!

 
*OLD PICTURE* Multiplayer action!

MULTIPLAYER:

The multiplayer mode is a cool addition to this game. Compared to Star Fox 64’s multiplayer mode, there are a lot of changes made! There are more arenas, more characters to choose from, a big load of weapons and more. You can also change the rules of the match. These ones include deathmatch, time match, etc. There are Arwing only arenas and On-Foot arenas where you can get in the Arwing or the Landmaster later. You can choose which vehicle you want in the arena. You can unlock two extra characters, so it makes a total of 6 available characters to choose from. You unlock new arenas, new weapons and a lot more by playing in the multiplayer mode. The arenas are very big, so you have a lot of liberty and a wide area to play in! I give this section a score of:

SCORE FOR MULTIPLAYERS: 9/10
WHY? For the Gamecube, Star Fox Assault has one of the best multiplayer since Super Smash Bros. Melee and is really worth a try. Even if you don't really like the single player mode, you can have fun with your friends. With no slowtimes, it makes the experience even better! Have fun!


FINAL SCORE: 8.5/10
WHY? Star Fox Assault, for me, was a necessary game in the Star Fox series. It included a new way to play with your favorite furry character: On-Foot missions. You can choose from up to three ways to destroy the enemy: Arwing, Landmaster and your tiny little self! You have this feeling of liberty in this game that no other Star Fox game can provide (not including Star Fox Adventures). The orchestrated musics are also one great thing. The replay value is big since you can still try to get all the Bronze, Silver and Gold medals (separated in three difficulty levels), and let's not forget the multiplayer. The missions are always fun to do, even just for the cutscenes. The game is still too short and easy, even for a Star Fox game. You never really want the game to end! There is a bonus game called Xevious (made by Namco) if you collect all the Silver medals. Though, you can really feel that they missed big opportunities with this game including more missions since there are no branching paths (more Arwing missions maybe?). The game is too linear, for a Star Fox game that is! They were supposed to put more unlockables (the two other games after collecting all the Bronze and Gold medals), but it looks like Namco couldn't put them in the final American release since they never came out in America. With that in mind, they could have added more unlockables because it's pointless to get all the Bronze and Gold medals now. At the time of the game's release, there was false publicity of Co-Op missions, but I think people misread the press release at the time. The multiplayer mode is a good thing that keeps the game alive, excluding the cool single player mode. Besides that, the game plays very well and it's a very cool title to buy. If you like action, animals in space, move freely everywhere ( Grand Theft Auto style! ), fun multiplayer, and especially if you're a Star Fox fan, buy it!

*Thanks to Cube IGN for the screenshots! You may click this link for more screenshots of the game in action!

2009,
-SHMUPGurus