July 15 1999 was a special day for me. I had waited a fifteen years for this moment to arrive. I grew up with the original trilogy when it was announced that George Lucas was making another three films set before the first I counted the days to July 15. Finally it arrived and I had a feeling of trepidation. Would it live up to expectations? Have I read too much about it on the net? Has the Star Wars mania I had in me as a kid faded away? I had a bad feeling about this..... Well I wouldn't find out today as I was on a bloody team-building course and to top it off it was my girlfriends birthday and even my best attempt at a Jedi mind trick failed as I tried to tell her that going to see the new Star Wars film would be the ultimate birthday present. Anyway I got to see the movie the next day and I was blown away by it. It had received a bit of bad press in the States which perhaps lowered my sky high expectations and made it better than anticipated. From the 20th Century fox fanfare I was engulfed right until the end of the credits.
A couple of months and three viewings later a Phantom Menace game is released. Well you've got to give it a go haven't you? Closely following the film plot the Phantom Menace game is presented in a sort of third person almost top down perspective. The missions subdivided into areas. You get to control most of the main characters including Obi Wan Kenobi, Qui Gon Jinn, Queen Amidala and Captain Panaka. The game starts as the film does, with Obi Wan and Qui Gon waiting aboard a trade federation ship to carry out negotiations to lift a trade blockade to and from the local planet of Naboo. Suddely you are thrust into the role of Obi Wan as the room fills with poisonous gas. As you escape there's a hoard of battle droids wating to blast you into a million pieces. So It's out with the trusty lightsabre and with a few deft moves the coast is clear.... for the moment.
From the droid control ship you will visit Naboo where as Obi Wan you will encounter the loveable Jar Jar Binks and try to link up with your mentor Qui Gon again. Together again the three of you head off to Otoh Gunga where Jar Jar gets nicked off the local Gungan constabulary and Qui Gon hustles with the Gungan top man Boss Nass. You must find your way through the underwater labryinth and rescue Jar Jar. Next it's off to Theed Palace where you get separated from your mentor. You must find the Queen and escort her to her ship and meet up with the others. As you escape your ship gets damaged so you opt to land on Tattoine where you take the part of Qui Gonnand meet slave boy Anakin Skywalker. You will have to do a bit of bartering with Jabba the Hutt and local junk dealer Watto to free him and find the bits to fix your knackered ship. A brief encounter with Sith Lord Darth Maul gives you a taster of what's to come and then it's off to Coruscant as Captain Panaka. The finale is back on Naboo where the Queen and Panaka must infiltrate Theed Palace and capture the Viceroy while Qui Gon and Obi Wan duel with the dastardly Darth Maul. There are a series of side missions included in most levels which involve doing things like re-uniting a lost boy with his mother and finding water for a wounded guard. These will reap extra rewards in the form of weapons, equipment and health power-ups. All that said and done, is it any good or is it a typical film conversion?
The movie was groundbreaking visually. The computer generated characters and effect blended in so naturally it was stunning. So why did the graphics in the game look like commodore 64 title? Maybe that's a little harsh but with all the latest superb 3rd person games you would have thought Lucas Arts would have tried to compete if not better the competition. In contrast the cut scenes are done very well and have been physically created and animated as opposed to just nicking sections from the movie. On the whole I feel a little let down by the graphics as I think it could have been so much better. Imagine the visuals of something like Tomb Raider set in a Star Wars universe.
The music is good and makes it sound very Star Wars like as do the sound effects. The interaction between characters has been voiced as well as sub-titled (for those of you who don't understand Gungan). Actors have been used mostly to provide the voices and most bear some resemblance to their on-screen counterparts apart from Darth Maul who sounds like Dale Winton with a sore throat.
Reading reviews of the game it had received some bad press. An omen I thought. Would it blow me away like the film did.? Sadly not. There are plenty of top class games out there which Lucas Arts could have stolen ideas from and manipulated to produce a ground-breaking game. It seemed have been done half-heartedly and rushed. I think I am maybe being a little over-critical as my expectations after seeing the movie were in space. Take away the 'Star Wars' label though and I probably wouldn't have looked twice at it so maybe I should trust my feeling and let the force flow through me. Sorry I'm off again. Sadly The Phantom Menace slips into the category of film tie-in games which could have been. Even so, it's Star Wars and you have to play it through. It's about the closest I'll ever get to becoming a Jedi.
