Star Wars Episode III on the DS shows some signs of promise, but in the end amounts to just another average movie-based game. There have been several quality Star Wars titles produced in recent years, and I expected more from this offering from Lucas Arts. While many critics always jump on the chance to unfairly bash any movie-based title, I feel that I have always given them a fair chance. I have enjoyed many Hollywood or comic influenced titles (Spider-Man The Movie, Van Helsing, The Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Fantastic Four, etc) and given them high scores. That being said, this is one of the weakest franchise based offerings I have ever played. Visually speaking, this game just doesn’t fit with the source material. Characters look as if they were designed by the artists from the Leapfrog for a second rate plug-n-play educational game. The DS is capable of recreating high quality N64 graphics, but the visuals in this game are much more reminiscent of the SNES. There is some music in the game, but absolutely no spoken dialogue. This leads to a lot of glorified subtitles displayed next to a still picture of the character’s head. Console versions of this game make excellent use of film clips as cutscenes, which added to their appeal. The DS version fails to even use still photos from the film. While the DS is not nearly as powerful as the consoles or the PSP, it is capable of much more than showed in this title. The combat style and gameplay are fairly simple to learn, but seem out of place in the year 2006. Any gamer who played Double Dragon or any Ninja Turtle game on the original NES will get flashbacks from this side-scrolling beat-em-up. The action can be fun at times, but often winds up being very repetitive. Developers attempted to use some combos in the combat, but the DS is not suited to them. Most combos are awkward and unreliable at best. The DS button configuration serves to make much of the hack’n’slash action physically painful to players’ thumbs. The fact that the touch screen capability was virtually ignored adds to my disappointment with the control scheme in general. Normally, I would recommend these types of games only to hack’n’slash gamers or fans of the films the game is based on. However, hack’n’slash game fans will find the action dull and the controls frustrating. Fans of the movies may be upset at the animated style of character design and the lack of any film footage. This game just missed the mark and does nothing to make gamers feel they are being brought into the Star Wars movie experience. However, the same game would be much more suited to the look and feel of the new animated series. Young gamers (especially fans of the animated series) may enjoy the graphics and gameplay. Episode III does make good use of the multiple playable characters, upgrades, and unlockables to add replay value for gamers who either love this title or own few titles and must get the most for their money. The DS version of Star Wars Episode III could not hope to compete with the graphics and content offered in the console versions, and should have relied on gameplay and the use of the touch screen. Lucas Arts failed to focus on the strengths of the DS, and instead provided the most lackluster version of this title. The end result is a game that showcases SNES level graphics and sound, and NGAGE level gameplay. I would recommend that adult gamers pass on this one unless they absolutely need some sort of portable Star Wars fix.
Other Helpful Reviews for Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Some people may think that the DS version of Star Wars Episode III is just a port of the gameboy advance version. Actually its basicaly the same adventure and storyline with ad... Read Full Review
Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith has served me wel. I specifically opened it on the 11th March 2009 and completed it the next day, having now completed both Obi Wan's and Anakin's storyline I can say there is... Read Full Review
