WoW!! Look at this Star Wars game. It runs constant 60fps! I\'m a big fan of Star Wars, and I want to play this title. How much will the GameCube cost? Maybe Jumpman knows. I might buy one.
No way I would have type all that review out so I just cut and paste this review at a forum.
Most everyone remembers the Rouge Squadron 2 demo shown at SW2k as one of the most impressive demonstrations at the show. Seen only behind closed doors, the demonstration showcased massive amounts of level and object geometry as well as amazing hardware lighting. Running at a constant 60 fps with an incredibly detailed Death Star, dozens of whizzing TIE fighters all around, and X-Wing ship models that rivaled those that Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) had used super computers to render only two years ago, the demo was thought to be an example of what we thought 1st generation Gamecube software would be like. We couldn’t have been more wrong. Just recently Next-Gen magazine went behind the scenes at Factor 5, the developer of the now-confirmed Rouge Squadron 2 Gamecube game (now officially titled Rouge Leader: Rouge Squadron II). There they got to play the 3 levels which will be playable at E³ as well as snagging a nice handful of screens for us folk to drool over. When looking at the screens, keep in mind: Next-Gen horridly skewed the images to make them large enough for the printed page, and thus they look to suffer from the evil ‘jaggies’, but fear not, we have received confirmation that those ‘jaggies’ are 100% non-existent when playing the game because the Gamecube’s full-scene anti-aliasing is enabled with an extremely light hit on the hardware. In addition, these have been scanned from the pages of the magazine, so even more quality was lost. Come E³ (and maybe later tonight) we will have access to far sharper and crisper screens that are much more representative of the actual game.
On to the impressions.
The first thing other then the graphics that was noticed was the fact that this game, for the first time in video game history, FEELS exactly like Star Wars. Because of the power of the Gamecube, we are able to fly from a great distance away, up to the very surface of a star destroyer, and the ship model is amazing. Not only is it absolutely HUGE, but it’s insanely detailed, just as the models were. Protruding towers, gun turrets sprinkle the surface like shimmering rubies, chasms and crevices lead like endless rivers across the surface of the ship, it’s simply ridiculous the amount of detail here. And because of this detail, the game FEELS like Star Wars – that’s about as eloquently as I can put it. The amount of subtle details present are far too numerous to name here, but they all combine into one exhilarating experience that will be emulated and revered for years to come.
The next thing we noticed was a significant increase in speed. As you’ll recall from RS1, the ships seemed to crawl at a snails pace across the terrain, but no more. At no sacrifice to control and maneuverability the ships seem to streak past the landscape just as in the movies, making dogfights much more interesting. Another major factor in the improvement department is AI. No longer to the enemy TIE fighters simply follow a set path while you shoot them into the ground, but now, if you happen to land a shot on one, it goes into a frenzy of evasive maneuvers, engaging you in a beautiful and almost poetic dance of mortal combat. And don’t think the enemies are the only smart things in the game, your wingmen as well are quite sharp this go around. In addition to adapting and dynamically adjusting to your skill level and the amount of assistance they give you directly, you’ll be able to issue direct orders at key points in the mission. Notice the cross-shaped menu in the upper right of the screen to the left. An event has just triggered that menu to pop up, and using your own judgment you must select one of those four choices by pressing the according direction on the D-pad. Simple, intuitive, and helpful – just how all interfaces should be. Another interface aid Factor 5 is giving us is a new and improved quasi-3D radar display. In RS1, the radar was completely 2D, so while an enemy’s signal might appear right next to your own, he could be completely out of sight because of the difference in height, which was not measured at all on the radar. Now, the new 3D radar will show you not only an enemies X and Y coordinates, but position on the Z plane as well.
The three missions that were played (and will be playable at E³) were the attack on the first Death Star, a battle over the cloud city of Bespin, and an assault on an Imperial Star Destroyer. In the Death Star mission, you play Luke Skywalker in the X-Wing with the goal of landing that perfect shot into the core of the DS, blowing it into smithereens. To do this, you must first approach the DS, then fight an onslaught of TIEs on the surface, and finally make the approach in the trench. The DS itself is geometrically complex to a ridiculous degree, just as it was in the movie. As you can see in the screens the metal pieces are hunked and bulked together in rough patters, which the NGC is handling beautifully. “We’re surprised, almost on a daily basis, how much we can throw at the [Gamecube]” said Julian Eggebrecht, president of Factor 5 and producer of the game. The Star Destroyer level was quite similar, except you control a B-Wing, and the level was quite a bit more difficult as well.
The most impressive level in my mind, however, is the Bespin level. Look at those screen shots. Can you believe they aren’t pre-rendered? I sure couldn’t the first time I saw them. Nearly all of the textures in the game utilize the GCN’s 8 texture effects per pass technique, and it shows. All textures are bump mapped, and almost all of them have several other effects applied to them, such as each texture on the city of Bespin has a very, very subtle reflective texture that reflects the clouds above, which is why they are able to blend in so well. In addition, the windows had illumination maps on them, meaning that they lit up when night fell. Specularity and Dirt maps also run rampant on the games textures, giving everything that wonderful, rugged look that seems to be captured in the original Star Wars series so well. Just look at the close up of the TIE fighter to the left. Each and every TIE fighter in the game of that class looks just like it. They all have that level of detail, that perfectly curved module surface.
If you haven’t gotten the point yet, the game looks better then any other game on any other system I’ve ever seen, bar none. But that’s not all, not by a long shot. RS2 has enough gameplay backing it up to kill a wampa ten times before it hits the ground, and enough of that pure, uncensored, and until now un-tapped Star Wars feel to give any Rebel-wannabe Goosebumps for weeks. As if that wasn’t enough, the played version is actually quite a bit more primitive then the version that will be shown at E³, and there are other projects that we have NO word or information on yet to be shown at the show that are said to be several times more impressive then even THIS! You’d be a fool not to watch this year’s E³ like a hawk ladies and gentlemen, because Nintendo is going to rock the world of gamers everywhere. 
Topic: GameCube: Star Wars Rogue Leader- Rogue Squadron 2 Screens! (Read 609 times)