Jedi Starfighter Preview

Adi Gallia is the game's Jedi pilot, and her powers are quite impressive.

In the past, Lucasfilm has been notoriously secretive about current and upcoming projects, guarding all information about them like they were military secrets and only releasing tidbits here and there to sate fans' seemingly endless appetite for information. In that regard, Star Wars Jedi Starfighter is an exception to that rule, as the game takes place in the same time period as the upcoming Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones film, but it's slated for release a few months prior to it. Indeed, there will be a novelization of the movie that will hit the shelves before the theatrical release as well. While the book will obviously reveal all the details of the film, Jedi Starfighter elects to follow the paths of two unique characters who won't appear in the movie. In that regard, Jedi Starfighter isn't a true Episode II game, as the characters won't play a part in or affect the outcome of the film's storyline. Instead, they will follow their own paths, which will place them in or around some of the major events that take place in Attack of the Clones. Fans who are concerned that the game may reveal too much really shouldn't be, although those hoping for a glimpse of what's to come can piece together clues in the game and draw a few conclusions without learning too much.

While the events of the game take place within Episode II's timeframe, nothing too drastic will be revealed.

For those who aren't familiar with the series, Starfighter was initially one of the early releases for the PlayStation 2, and it has since seen a spiced up release on the Xbox in the form of Starfighter Special Edition. Even more recently, a PC version of the PS2 title was released. The original Starfighter game followed three different characters through their adventures. The primary human character, Rhys Dallows, was the young hotshot pilot of a Naboo Fighter. Nym, a space pirate, was a member of a species created by LucasArts specifically for the game, and Vana Sage, the second human character, was a gun-for-hire type who found herself aiding the other fighters out of necessity. In Jedi Starfighter, the number of selectable characters in the single-player mode has been narrowed down to just two (although Vana Sage does make a cameo appearance). Nym, who was popular enough to receive his own finite comic series from Dark Horse Comics, has returned for a second go, and a new character, Adi Gallia, represents the Jedi in the game.

Visually, the game is an improvement on the first, with many more enemies to obliterate in each mission and a generally more polished look. The first game was criticized for its spotty frame rate, and LucasArts hopes to correct this problem in Jedi Starfighter. The build we received still has some issues, but if the first few missions can be used as a measuring stick, 30fps will be the lowest frame rate you'll encounter, and even then that will only happen when the action is hot. There will be the occasional jump to 60fps when there is less action on screen, but for the most part, the game hovers somewhere in between.