I've played it for about ten minutes and it's pretty nice so far. Looks really good (the exterior textures are really nice for once), nice little cutscene with Mon Mothma, some light puzzles at the start, and stormtrooper banter is always good. Seems quite difficult already - I might restart on baby mode. The blasters are clumsy and random, which is true to lore but a little irritating when you're firing straight at a trooper and not hitting them; I got my health knocked down pretty easily in a firefight. I seem to remember hearing this game really only gets good once you're given the 'saber. Also, the shadows are a bit wonky, but these little glitches seem to be pretty standard as I go through these 2002 games.
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This is generally good fun. A bit too much of the typical Dark Forces running around mazes pushing buttons, and it's pretty tough even now I'm getting used to the alternate fire modes, but it's still cool running around blasting Imperials and seeing gronks walking past. There was a nice little bit where I needed my mate Jan to push a button for me, and she asked me to come back and help her fight through some troopers then escort her back to the button.
I've got to a bit where I can't figure out what I need to do (oh Allied Assault, how I miss your objectives compass!) so I'll check a walk-through before I get back to this (EDIT: grrr, I had to blow up a crate through a window which opens a door for some reason - I can't tell which crates explode, they all look the same!). I didn't start again on baby mode in the end, which might be my undoing, but these games really should be balanced well enough that I can get through on normal.
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Right, this is stupidly hard. The Imperial Remnant apparently hired fully-trained ninjas as their stormtroopers, each one is like a fricking boss battle. I'm going to see if there's a console cheat to put it down to easy mode.
EDIT: fuck, there is not. Not sure how many times I can be bothered to attempt the third level with its Serious Sam style enemy-filled rooms but shitty weapons and sparse health packs. I may just have to cheat my way through.
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Right, I discovered a couple of things which have helped: area-specific damage apparently exists in this game, so head-shots help; supply keys open a certain type of crate.
The main things that are annoying me are the difficulty - you can fire five times directly at a stormtrooper and manage to miss him as he ninjas about the place and your weapon fires anywhere it likes - and the bad signposting which means I'm always missing switches, lifts, tunnels etc. I haven't had to check a playthrough for a game so much in a while. If it weren't for those two issues I'd really be enjoying this game as the presentation's great and when you do know what you're doing and get lucky with the combat it's good fun playing Han Solo, blasting Imperials and hitting switches until shit blows up.
I've just got to the Jedi Temple on Yavin and met Luke Skywalker. I'm on the cusp of getting my saber and Force powers, so hopefully it will all pick up soon.
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Nope. Unlocking my saber and Force powers unleashes a load of snipers and suicide bombers against which my new stuff give no protection, so it's even harder. This is just stupid, I'm going to have to start cheating to top my health up. Otherwise I'd be quitting here, I think.
I can deflect blasters but not the snipers or the thermal detonators (which are also annoying because you have to kill from a distance the triclops guys - 'Grans', says Wookiepedia - who throw them, otherwise they explode). Speed lets you dodge them mostly, but you can't have it on all the time. I had a bit of a trial run Force-pushing my own thermal detonators and it was far too random to trust in a combat situation (apart from which you don't really get the time to switch force power and line it all up all while you've got snipers taking your health from 100 to zero in three quick, accurate shots - maybe if I keep Push as my selected power and use F3 to put speed on instead, I might pull it off occasionally.). This is the problem a lot of games with loads of different powers/weapons have - it's often too much of a hassle/risk to use them so you just stick with the third gun up. I had the same issue with Dark Messiah.
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I actually managed to push on a bit further without cheating, but it took a fuck-load of quick-saving, memorising and luck. I pushed through some pretty annoying sections with these two games, so I'm obviously enjoying them in general, it's just there's a fair amount of very difficult/unfair bullshit in there too.
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Hooray, I made it to Bespin and I now have... Force Heal! Woo hoo! I think I'm going to have to rebind some keys now as I have too many powers that I'll want on a regular basis. I still haven't tried mind trick yet, but level 1 doesn't sound too useful.
I'm still really enjoying this game, there are so many great Star Warsy touches and references, and when you're flipping between your powers, saber and the sniper rifle and taking enemies down no sweat, it's great. But honestly, anyone befuddled by my frustrations needs to go back and play the bit where you get locked in a room with six ever-moving ever-firing laser turrets, and all you can do is strafe and shoot at them for ages until you manage to get them all, then the instant you fire your kill-shot on the final turret, a door opens up and you get hit with laser fire by a ton more enemies.
For not the first time in my life, I've wished more games had fan-edit mods where they simply remove or fix the shit sections.
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Alright, now this game is fun! With speed and heal, I have the freedom to try out all my other powers like choke and lightning without getting punished for it. There are still some teeth-grinding moments, like the droid escort section, but overall it's lovely to run into an arena of enemies, scope the room out and work out tactics on the fly as I bounce around. And the snipers are ameliorated too, as I can retreat, Force heal, then head back in and snipe them back. Also, Bespin's got some really nice huge vertical spaces that really evoke that setting (plus the Death Star and other vertical spaces as discussed in the Rogue One thread) from the movies, and the maps aren't half as confusing and fiddly, even though there's still the occasional corridor-labyrinth.
The saber duels are cool, too, though I feel like I'm not quite understanding the tactics of them. I just tend to keep swinging until I get a good hit in. I'll probably check the manual again and then google for tips before I do any more.
EDIT: I found a guide - holy cow it's deep! I don't have different stances yet, and I'll probably end up sticking to normal the whole time even when I get the others! Good to at least be aware of a few basics like the back slash, running up walls etc. I'm on the first big saber battle now - the lizard dude's lady sidekick. It's quite tough, but I think if I make good use of the tunnels I'll manage it.
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I'm pretty bored of this now. Just endless running round mazes and pushing buttons. The Force combat is still fun, though saber duels feel mostly like luck to me - the best sword mechanics I've ever played are the original Prince Of Persia, and I'd love to play a 3D equivalent of those. I might push through to the end, I'm not sure - judging from walkthroughs, I'm nearly there.
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Well, I promised myself I'd uninstall next time I was forced to consult a walkthrough, and it happened pretty quickly. I got to that annoying bit where you're stuck in a maze with loads of timed laser-beams, then you find the switch to turn them off and it becomes... a maze. Hooray. So fuck this game. Loads of great stuff about it, just marred by stupid difficulty and level design. I had one last really cool moment a little while before I gave up: I'd found the latest switch and started backtracking to the corresponding door; as I turned a corner, there stood a dark Jedi, perfectly silhouetted and framed in the corridor, waiting for me. It felt so cinematic and Star Wars.
Rating: Orange.
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