Lawrence.com

It's been almost three years since Star Fox Assault was announced. The previous entry in the series had been called an "untrue" Star Fox game: Star Fox Adventures failed to deliver what fans of the series wanted. In what was Rare's last game developed for Nintendo, Fox McCloud was out of the Arwing and on foot in a platform adventure game with a couple flying levels. I have been a longtime fan of the Star Fox series, so I was really excited when I heard the announcement of this new Namco shooter, because it was supposed to return to the roots of the Star Fox series. Sadly, this game does go back to the shooter genre, but not exactly the way you would think.

Star Fox Assault is divided up into three types of gameplay. You will either be flying an Arwing, driving a Landmaster Tank, or running around on foot. Some levels will only have you fly an Arwing, while others will have a combination of all three. The Arwing levels are done well and are easily the best part of the game. The levels will either be in the standard rail-shooting mode or there will be a limited area where you can freely move about. The standard Arwing moves are included; you'll be able to roll, bank, accelerate, brake, pull a u-turn or do a loop. Any Star Fox veteran will be familiar with these easily executed moves. The lock-on targeting system has returned. Your Arwing will be able to charge up its cannon, lock onto an enemy, and then fire that charged blast homed in on the target. There are two main problems with the flying missions, though. For one, there just aren't enough of them. This is what Star Fox should be and is best as. Star Fox Assault is only about 50 percent flying. The other problem is that the ingenuity of the flying levels is nonexistent. Boss fights aren't clever or unique and level designs are poor when compared to past Star Foxes.

The other half of the game is made up of ground missions. These missions are awkward and bring the game down. The controls don't feel comfortable at all. There is no feel of momentum or weight at all when controlling Fox; he seems to just glide everywhere. Namco obviously was trying to put an arcade emphasis on these levels, but they are boring and at times frustrating. For instance, on every level, the whole goal is to destroy certain targets scattered across the map. The radar does not help at all because there is no depth projection. So there will be many times when it seems like you are standing exactly where the target should be, but it's not there. Also, the fact that every level is the same where you just run around looking for targets to destroy gets old quick. Driving the Landmaster Tank isn't any easier than running on foot, either. The tank doesn't turn well at all. It's nothing like controlling it back on Star Fox 64. It takes forever for the tank to turn, and the roll doesn't seem as smooth as before. Fighting some enemies will get really frustrating because of how sluggish the tank is. And yes, I know it's a tank, but it's still difficult to get used to. Plus, you'll only be driving the tank in free roaming areas and not rail levels, which is dearly missed from the 64 version. Basically the idea of the ground missions is to run around and destroy everything in sight. Like I said, it gets old quickly. Some levels insert parts when you will have to help the fight in the air by jumping into a parked Arwing and hit the skies. This was a very cool idea and it does give the ground missions some variety. It still doesn't make up for the lack of creativity of the objectives. After you get use to the controls of the tank and running around, the missions do get a bit smoother and a little bit more fun.

Graphically the game can be quite impressive at times. The game does run at a smooth 60 frames per second with only one or two noticeable hiccups in my playing time. The game is very vibrant; all the levels are bright and colorful. The effects are not so great, however. Bombs no longer have a feeling of power, as they are limited to a simple spherical explosion that doesn't look that great. The Arwing designs have a sort of anime Gundam Wing feel to them, which is either good or bad depending on one's taste. I think the new designs look great, but that's just me. Overall the game looks very nice; however, the FMV cut scenes are a bit diminished as the compression of them are very noticeable.

The voice acting in this game has to be taken with a grain of salt in order to be enjoyed. In other words, the voice acting is pretty bad. But this is Star Fox, and one of its most famous traits is the cheesy voice acting. Some parts are just plain bad, while other parts are so bad they're funny and very entertaining. The music is a bit disappointing.

Star Fox has always had a great theme, and personally I like the SNES one the best. This time around the score doesn't even seem like it exists. There are certain parts where the melody of the 64 version can be heard, but overall it's not catchy and seems to be boring background music. I even caught myself at one time playing a midi file of the original Corneria theme while I was playing a level. Sadly, it actually made the level more fun.

Multiplayer was first added on the 64 version, and it's back in the Cube version. There are multiplayer modes that are consisted of objects built with blocks, and there are levels directly from the main missions of the game that you can unlock. The multiplayer isn't very deep and is just a quick blast of fun. I wouldn't say it's anything worth buying the game for alone, but it is a very nice addition to the main game. If you can get up to four players it can get really fun as you can have some players on foot, in tanks, or in the air, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, if you're on foot you'll be able to dodge the Arwing and Landmaster attacks pretty easily since you are a small target and can move around better; however, if you do take a hit there's nothing to protect you so you'll take some heavy damage. The opposite goes for the vehicles: lots of firepower but a bigger target to hit.

Overall I am disappointed with this entry of the Star Fox series. It's still a lot of fun, but at times it doesn't seem like I'm playing Star Fox. Maybe Nintendo loaning out its franchises to third-party companies isn't always a great idea. The game is very short, with only 10 levels. Gone is the universe map where you could pick your route or have the outcomes of your missions dictate where you would go. Also, there seems to be no punishment in not saving any of your teammates. In past games your penalty was that they would be gone for the next level, but here they are just gone for the rest of the level and are back in the next.

The levels don't have a personality, either. In other Star Foxes I would always remember the name of the areas or planets I went to. In this version I can only remember about two or three of the levels. Also gone is the variety of the environments you play through. Non-city levels all look the same, and the city levels look like each other as well. It's the little things like these that make the game lose that Star Fox feeling. After waiting for almost three years for a game that was supposed to be a return to the series' roots, that makes it even more disappointing. This is one case where hype didn't help the cause. Rent it for sure, but buying is a different story.

Graphics: B+

Sound: C-

First Play: C

Last Play: C+

Gameplay: C

Overall: 78% C+