9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
All Wings Report In...
Date of Review: Jan 28, 2000
"Red 5 Standing By"
"Lock S-Foils into Attack Position"
I can still picture it now, watching 'Star Wars' for the first time as a little kid, and imagining what it would be like flying an X-Wing. With the making of the game 'Rogue Squadron', I get my chance.
'Rogue Squadron' allows you to fly many of your favorite Rebel ships in all sorts of missions. You'll attack Imperial bases, you'll fly cover for convoys and ground forces, and of course, engage in dogfights with Imperial fighters.
I found this game to be a lot of fun and challenging. It takes some time to get used to the game. 'Rogue Squadron' allows the user to change views and control configurations, so you can pick the best ones that work for you and your system. You also have to get used to the interface, which has your radar, shield status, and weapons list. It's really not that hard because the manual is very good and game play is pretty simple.
Some of the best moments in the game are dogfighting with various Imperial craft, using tow cables to bring down Imperial walkers (like in 'The Empire Strikes Back'), and dodging missiles. The goal here is to fly the missions and do the best job you can by completing it as quickly as possible, killing as many enemies as possible, and having accuracy. In addition, you can also collect special weapons and powerups along the way.
I found the graphics to be very good in this game. I played the game using two different graphics cards (one low end card and one better one). With the low end card (ATI Wonder - long since outdated), game play was a little slow. Sometimes you would fire at a target, you'd hear the noise of your weapons, but you would only see the blast a few moments afterward. What this adds up to is that you can fire like crazy at a target when all it takes is a few shots to destroy something. With the better card (Voodoo1 - outdated, but not when I got the game), graphics were a lot smoother. The way it rendered the thrust from engines, how they rendered your weapons' blasts, and any other things that required different shades of color and grayscale, made the graphics quality much, much better. In addition, the problem mentioned with the low end card did not occur.
Sound quality was pretty good. The fighter noises (weapons fire, engine noises, explosions) come straight out of the movies. 'Rogue Squadron' also features audio warnings, that use the voices of Star Wars characters, to alert you of various things (shields weakening, your ground units need cover, etc., etc.). These can get annoying but they are helpful in trying to complete the missions.
In addition, the Lucasarts site also has a 'Rogue Squadron' page. Here, you can read descriptions of all the ships you can fly, get flying tips, and download upgrades for 'Rogue Squadron'. One update, at the time of this writing, allows you to fly the Naboo fighters made famous in 'Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'.
This game is great for people who just like to play. It doesn't require much thinking, except maybe figuring out ways to beat missions after failing a few times. The numerous options allow for a lot of customization. And most of all, it is fun to play.
