Yavin, Hoth and Endor...How LucasArts can make you buy the same game multiple times

Back after the announcement of several Star Wars titles in 2001, including Rogue Leader, I started a thread in Games criticising LucasArts of basically remaking the same game over and over again, in terms of levels and environments. i.e. Remaking the Classic Trilogy over and over.

When technology improves over time, it can be tempting to constantly update the classic battles we see in the films...to make it feel closer to the actual movie than ever before. This goes as far back as the old Star Wars arcade game, and continued into the 90's with X-wing, Shadows of the Empire, Rogue Squadron, and X-wing Alliance, among others.

When the press release and screenshots were released for Rogue Leader, I thought, Okay, that's enough. How many times do we have to play the Battles of Hoth and Yavin? But after reading an article in Entertainment Weekly, I sympathized with the LucasArts programmers after seeing their thoughts. They felt that with the new Gamecube technology, they struggled with whether they should go ahead and make yet another version of the classic movie battles...In the end, as we saw, they went forward with it, and I can say that my negative thoughts were put to rest. Rogue Leader truly was amazing, and really felt like the Classic Trilogy movies in every way. Even though we had seen many of these battles before, the gameplay, graphics and just plain fun made it all worthwhile.

Now we get word of Rogue Squadron III. And all I see so far is screenshots of Yavin, Hoth and Endor. Largely, from what I can see, the improvement is not a great leap from Rogue Leader. So why remake these battles yet again? Sure, we'll have other original levels and stuff, but why can't they just freaking stop redoing the same stuff? I really feel like I'm being taken advantage of as a videogame and Star Wars fan - one who has to buy each and every game - and it appears to me that LucasArts is cashing in on the success of Rogue Leader, by not creating a lot of new content for Rebel Strike.

Thoughts, comments...?

Edit - This isn't necessarily a topic for just Rebel Strike, but criticism of any Star Wars or LucasArts games.

 

I know what you mean and I've thought the same way...I think the main justification is the fact that with new technology, etc, they want it to be the definitive version of any battle.

We also must thing of new SW gamers - they'll want to play Yavin, Hoth, etc, but might not want to buy the older games.

 

To give Rebel Strike credit, the Hoth battle is NOT snowspeeders shooting tow cables, it's lobbing mines into At-At bellies.

And Endor has a speederbike chase, something I've not seen before in a game.

LEC have to strike a balance between the familiar and the new. A casual gamer is always going to like to see Stormtroopers, Clonetroopers, x-wings, Tie Fighters and other movie items on the back of the box.

Those things scream Star Wars, not Sun-Crushers, Vong, Clawcraft etc.

Even KOTOR, set 1000's of years before SW features familiar locations (Tatooine) and species.

And the fact that LucasArts are trying new GENRE's of SW game keeps me happy - MMORPG, RPG, Tactical combat.. all I need now is a Star Wars adventure game (though I guess the RPG KOTOR is pretty close!).

 

And Endor has a speederbike chase, something I've not seen before in a game.

You've never played Super Return of the Jedi, mod dude?

 

LOL. Is is a side scroller?

 

The speeder chase in it was 3D - I remember it well

 

Yeah. LucasArts once released this;

[image=http://zx.dyndns.org/sromero/software/soft/rofjedi.gif]

How dare they now release this;

[image=http://www.lucasarts.com/products/rebelstrike/images/screens/12.jpg]

 

SUPER Return of the Jedi, not that side-scrolling shenanigan, you crazy old man!

 

Hmph. Can't find any screenshots thanks to your crazy 'modern' games

 

I know. But it's as close as images.google.com could find.

And it made my joke funnier...

 

I actualy remember playing that game once. Although vaugly(SP?)

 

Must you always resort to archaeic google images to try and make yourself as cool as me, Mod dude?

 

How do you play a game vaguely?

Ack... anyway, back on topic...

> How LucasArts can make you buy the same game multiple times

They can't. You're the one who parts with the cash, and decides whether or not a new game contains enough content that will interest you...

 

There was a speeder bike thing through a forest, but not Endor's moon, in Rebel Assault II. For what it's worth.

As long as the missions are varied and they throw in enough original content, I'll be content with the old levels, I suppose.

 

Bah, I give up.

I found porn when searching for Endor screenshots on Altavista though, so all was not lost

 

Porn. The only good thing that's impossible to miss.

 

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: If a new game contains an (even somewhat) updated version of OT missions, I'll buy it every time.

 

The game may include Yavin, Hoth and Endor, but they're all completely different to how we've plated them before. For example, Hoth, you don't fly an airspeeder, but you take down AT-ATs with saber and mine, and ride around on a taun-taun.
Anyway, the game includes the entire Rogue Leader, so they're hardly going to re-hash the same battles when they're already in the game.
I'm definitely getting Rebel Strike. The new game modes, new perspectives on Hoth and Endor, the multiplayer and the inclusion of RL make it worthwhile.

 

Endor Speeder Chase

It as a view from behind the speeder, where the speeder constantly moved without need for command. Depend on the difficulty of the game you game you had to shoot 10 or 15 scout troopers down. Basically you could move up or down to avoid fallen tree logs and left or right to avoid the odd tree in the middle of your path. Sometimes the enemies would be on your tail so you would move and let them zoom passed.

Wasn't bad for a SNES game but I know it's going to be blown away by Rogue Squadron 3's version.

 

Terra : We also must thing of new SW gamers - they'll want to play Yavin, Hoth, etc, but might not want to buy the older games.

But is Rogue Leader an "old game"? Oh, wait, this is the videogames industry...of course it is.

jp-30 : To give Rebel Strike credit, the Hoth battle is NOT snowspeeders shooting tow cables, it's lobbing mines into At-At bellies.

Granted.

And Endor has a speederbike chase, something I've not seen before in a game.

Although others mentioned Super Return of the Jedi, it was 3D POV in the Sega Gamegear version, as well as the Star Wars Trilogy Arcade Game, as T2Q mentioned. However, it's not my main gripe...Hoth and Yavin are.

LEC have to strike a balance between the familiar and the new. A casual gamer is always going to like to see Stormtroopers, Clonetroopers, x-wings, Tie Fighters and other movie items on the back of the box.

Those things scream Star Wars, not Sun-Crushers, Vong, Clawcraft etc.

I hope you aren't implying that as an EU literature fan, I want badly for these things to be in Star Wars games. Far from it. I wouldn't expect as much, and don't foresee it. I myself prefer the classic SW staples such as stormtroopers, TIE Fighters and Wookiees...However, why can't they all be used in an original manner?

One of the things I liked about the X-wing and TIE series of games is that they had so much new content in terms of missions, storyline, and characters. Rebel Assault II was another good one. Even Rogue Leader had a ton of great original missions, such as the Maw Installation level and the crashed Star Destroyer. Aside from the Wookiee in the Imperial base, I haven't seen any "new", non-movie-battle screenshots for Rebel Strike. ( However, I've only glimpsed the initial set at IGN. )

And don't give me the "It's my choice to buy it" thing...I'll still buy it. It's in my blood, as a Star Wars-addicted soul. However, it's only icing on a ( gaming ) cake, when a company with years of experience and talent puts out a game with a bit more original content ( not just features, and slightly changing the levels/graphics ), and tries to take things to the next level. Honestly, in terms of graphics, RS is comparable to RL. If the wait between games had been longer, and the technology improved yet again, then I would be more hesitant to criticise.

 

I know Rogue Leader isn't an old game but imagine you're a Star Wars fan who's just bought their console, PC - whatever. You're obviously going to get the most recent game and you'd feel ripped off if it didn't have the battles you know and love

 

I just watched the E3 video trailer and I must say that it highlights a lot of the differences. The Tauntauns, the ATSTs, the Speeder bikes, being on foot, using ground cannons.......all impressive.

But I agree. Why do they keep restricting us to Yavin, Hoth and Endor. They need to look back to Rogue Squadron and then apply all the new features to different settings to keep the game fresh. Sure those 3 levels are the popular ones and everyone wants to play Hoth but this MUST be the last time they can get away with it. Even with all the new things it's time to introduce some new stuff. Remember Tatooine in Rogue Squadron or Corellia. That sort of thing would be a nice change.

I'll buy the game anyway because it has Star Wars on the box and the new features should be enough to make it different enough from RS2.

 

Hoth and Yavin are.

Battle of Yavin isn't in the Single player game, it's only in the multiplayer co-op games which is exactly the same as Rogue Leader.

 

I thought I saw the planet complete with Temple in teh trailer.