Game Review Data
 
Game Title
Star Wars: Episode II - The New Droid Army
Publisher
THQ
Features
1 Player. Password Save.
Format
Action Adventure
Reviewer
Andrew Blanchard


RATING

Ho-Hum!


Ratings Scale:

Excellent!

Good!

Playable!

Ho-Hum!

Yuck!


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Introduction

When THQ announced "Star Wars: The New Droid Army" (SW: NDA) this summer, it came as a surprise. After all, the first two games for the GBA was, to put it mildly, rather disappointing. This third installment, however, is based on a new original story line - one that sees Anankin using the power of the force to stop Count Dooku from creating a new and more destructive droid army.

Aside from the new story line, THQ has also passed the development reigns to, Helixe, which is their own internal game development studio responsible for hits like "Scooby-Doo: The Movie" and "Rocket Power: Beach Bandits". So, with a new story line and developer, can SW: NDA prove to be the 'classic' Stars Wars game that every fan is expecting? Let's see...

Screen Shots

GamePlay

Before I start, I should tell you that this is going to be a short section. Why? Well, simply because gameplay and variety in SW: NDA is virtually non-existent. What there is, and a lot of I might add, is hacking people up with your trusty light saber. There are no sub-games, puzzles, or even clever design, so the only thing you can do is hack, which got so tedious that I simply ran around most of the enemies. They were probably as bored as I was, since they didn't even follow me. This is due of course, to poor AI programming, and Helixe should be nailed for not developing this aspect.

You also have to stop and talk to the odd person to uncover more about Dooku's plan and to find out where to go to next. There are three levels of difficulty available, but most gamers should head straight to the 'Master' setting which might at least pose a little bit of a challenge.

The password system, however, is refreshingly simple, with only 3 digits required to restart your game. Other developers please take note: this is what gamers want in the absence of a battery backup, as the numbers of combinations available from the alphabet and numbers are extensive enough.

Controls

The controls are simple, and the isometric viewpoint is remarkably easy to get to grips with--since this title features a lot of exploration, I can't stress how important this is. The rest of the game simply involves hitting the 'A' button to swipe at the odd enemy, or failing that, hitting the shoulder button to activate your force power, causing all of them to simply fly away. The front-end interface also captures the look and feel of the Star Wars Universe perfectly, and is also incredibly easy to navigate.

Graphics

Developers Helixe have opted to use an enhanced version of their Scooby Doo engine, and the results are actually quite pleasing. The backgrounds and environments are wonderful whilst the various characters are real-time polygon rendered with dynamic lighting which works very well and makes for some incredibly smooth animation. You are also treated to some images of the on-screen actors in the dialogue box every time you engage in conversation, and the cut scenes show that a lot can be achieved with little effort. This mix of static screens and spot animation actually works very well in bridging certain parts of the story, without resorting to the memory-hungry FMV scenes.

Sound & Music

As with most of the previous Star Wars games, the soundtrack is fantastic and the title features an apparently perfect sample of the movie's famous theme. The in-game audio is just as impressive, with the big orchestral themes sounding great on the GBA's sound chip. You can, if you wish, turn this off and leave yourself with some wonderful sound effects taken straight from the Star Wars Universe--these include laser shots, Force moves and, of course, your trusty light saber. It's all fairly good in recreating the famed Star Wars atmosphere, and if the sound of other games manage to equal the quality offered here, there'd be little complaint from gamers everywhere.

Final Comments

Although much better than the terrible Attack of the Clones, New Droid Army still falls far short of an entertaining Star Wars handheld title we've all been craving. The biggest problem here is its linear, unimaginative gameplay, which makes the whole experience tiresome very quickly. It's a shame really, as it looks good and sounds great, but no developer has yet been able to transform this rich source material into anything close to an average game. Unless you're a huge Star Wars fan, avoid this at all costs and hope that they get it right the next time around.

@ EAGB Advance 2002. All rights reserved.