At Home with Obi-Wan
The Scene's Game Boy on an expanded universe of galactic Star Wars gaming
by Brent Rolen
A long time ago, in a rec room far, far away, a young boy excitedly placed a Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back cartridge into his Atari. A long time ago, but just a few minutes later, the young boy learned a lesson about realities versus expectations: His dream of being able to play as a Jedi brandishing his lightsaber was squashed by a mediocre Defender rip-off masquerading in Lucas-inspired packaging.
Well, electronic Star Wars gaming has traveled light years through hyperspace since then, and that young boy can finally fulfill his force-filled fantasies with a slew of games for the Xbox. Some current titles include Jedi Starfighter, Starfighter Special Edition, Obi-Wan, The Clone Wars and Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast. Readers and staff of Xbox Magazine named Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Game of the Year. I have yet to play this game, but it is now next on my list. I've actually played Jedi Starfighter, but I'm no better at flying games than I am at driving ones. I prefer to run around as a character, jumping, shooting and kicking things, which is why I was so excited when Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy was released at the end of 2003 (No. 1 on my holiday wish list).
To play this game, you first have to design your character. It's the Mr. Potato Head of gaming, wherein players choose the sex, species, clothes and lightsaber design/color. You don't have a choice of name, though; you are Jaden. This makes sense as the game begins, because all of the story sequences adapt Jaden to look like your choices, though the dialogue stays the same. Jedi Academy is one of those games where you'll end up using the entire controller. (For those of you familiar with modern game controllers, please pardon the following aside.) Back in the day, you had a joystick and one button. That's it: move and shoot. Effectively a controller had nine signals that it could send. An Xbox controller can send 34 signals (my educated guess). This means play can get very confusing for games that utilize every button—and Jedi Academy is just one of those games.
But the great thing about these types of games is that they build tutorials into the play so that, by the time heavy action begins, you're all over the controller without even thinking about it. Everything about this game is great, but my favorite part is getting to slice through wave after wave of Stormtroopers with a lightsaber. (As a child, being able to wield a lightsaber was the only real value I saw in going to this "Heaven" place they told me about in Sunday school.) As the game progresses, in addition to your lightsaber and the weapons you confiscate along the way, you'll add special force powers to your arsenal, such as force push, force protect and force heal. The latter two basically allow you to make it through the game unscathed, and since you can save at any point during the game, it's an easy game to complete; even I finished it. Granted, I played on the easiest setting and saved after every big enemy confrontation. The only problem I really had with the game was that you had to use guns in a first-person-shooter style, which tends to give me motion sickness after a while. Luckily, I preferred to use the lightsaber in most fights, which employs third-person play.
Two new Star Wars games for the Xbox are scheduled for release later this year: Republic Commando and Battlefront. I'm sure both will do well, but Battlefront is one of the most anticipated games of the year because it combines the Star Wars universe with expansive online play similar to the extremely popular PC game Battlefield 1942. In the gaming world, the Star Wars franchise is truly a force to be reckoned with, and this force will be with us—always.
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