The box should have read: The UNFINISHED Jedi Action Experience...
User Rating: 6.8 | Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith XBOX
Star Wars Ep. III - Revenge of the Sith for the XBOX was a game many Star Wars fans and movie-to-video game fans hoped would rise above the typical ho-hum game that usually is a result from going from the big screen to your console. Personally, I'd say it's head is sticking out of the ho-hum water, so it is just inches above the rest. When I first began playing the game, I was facinated with the combat style, and it did feel Jedi-esque, as much as one can picture to be a Jedi. But as the first few chapters moved on, it became nothing more than a hack 'n slash set in scenes from Star Wars Ep. III. Same lightsaber moves. TONS of the same enemies (droids, and eventually clones... all over the place). Funny thing about the enemies is that it reminds me of the old NES game Dragon Warrior, with 3 different "flavors" of the same type of enemy. 3 different kinds of battle droids, 3 different kinds of clone troopers, 3 different kinds of Jedi. So, in a way its more like a Final Fight game with lightsabers. Some of the duels were hard... Dooku put up quite a challenge until I got used to the controls, then I struck him down bigtime. But, one of the worst parts of the control scheme is the fact that you have to do these Mortal Kombat like combos... most of which you never can complete. Then it leaves you wide open for the AI to show you how its done. The moves just don't flow with the button mashing as smooth as say, Tekken 4. Granted they are two different styles of game, but you would want controls that crisp in an action-adventure game. As for SW: Ep. III's controls, the Force just isn't with them. The graphics are ok... much better during the fighting than in the cut scenes that use the in-game models. There was one camera angle of Yoda in the Jedi Temple that made him look like a giraffe! Obi Wan and Anakin in close-up shots both look like they have tar in between their teeth. But overall, I'd say the graphics are passable. The sound is probably the most solid feature of the game, with the exception of the voice actors not being the ones from the movie. And I was disappointed that none of the SW: Ep. III movie soundtrack was added to the game. "Battle of the Heroes" and "Anakin vs. Obi Wan" would have been awesome during the final duel on Mustafar with Anakin/Darth Vader. (Although I did notice some KOTOR I & II music in the Ep. III game, especially when you're playing as Anakin going into the Jedi Temple. I noticed it during the duels with the two Jedi.) Also, the duel mode would have been much better if they would have added more duelist from both Star Wars trilogies. I mean, Ben Kenobi is in it... why not have Luke Skywalker too? That'd be the only one you could really add from the Original Trilogy. Then from the Prequel Trilogy, add Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, Ki Adi Mundi, Plo Koon, Kit Fisto, Aayla Secura, Darth Sidious... and for goodness sakes, if you can use Yoda on a bonus mission, then make him a duelist too. Otherwise, there's no real reason to touch the duel mode. Overall, I'd give Star Wars: Ep. III - Revenge of the Sith a 6.8. Its better than Obi Wan, The Clone Wars, and Starfighter... but I wouldn't rank it with the Jedi Knight series or the KOTOR series. The game does well in capturing the action of the movie, and some of the plot, but it falls to the Dark Side on gameplay/replayability and not-up-to-par XBOX graphics. Its worth a rental, and maybe for the hardcore Star Wars fans (such as myself) a seat on your XBOX games shelf. But mine will be sitting right on top of the Clone Wars/Tetris World game I got with the system... which are buried under the 4 other "great" Star Wars XBOX games I mentioned above.
