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Rebel Strike and SSX3

It’s been a helluva busy month. I’m pounding away on the special issue for work, but I should finish that up at the end of next week or the middle of the week after that.

I’ve been burning up Gamefly with games I wanted to play, but never wanted to spend real money on. Things like NFL Fever 2004, Shaun Murray Wakeboarding, and Simpson’s Hit and Run. Good stuff, but that can wait til later.

Right now, I’m playing Rebel Strike, the game by the same guys who made Star Wars: Rogue Leader. Rogue Leader was one of my all time favorite games. It’s got challenging gameplay, a good story, and some dogfighting that convinces you you’re actually in one of the Star Wars movies.

My only complaint was that some of the missions are obscenely long and there’s no way to save your progress midway through a mission. Rebel Strike picks up where Rogue Leader leaves off. The new game includes two branching storylines, in one you play Luke Skywalker, in the other Wedge Antilles. Wedge is the leader of the X-Wing squadron Luke was in when he blew up the Death Star in Episode IV for those who are lesser dorks than me.

There are three different mission types in Rebel Strike, flying missions (phenomenal!), AT-ST missions where you pilot the scout walkers (damn good!), and missions where you’re on foot. The foot missions are so poorly done I felt like amputating my own hands after one intensely frustrating session. The problem lies with the camera. Instead of using a fixed third person camera that follows behind your character, the camera moves from one fixed position to another. Whenever the camera moves, the direction your character is moving will change too. This would just be annoying, except some of the missions require you to avoid hazards, like water. Falling into the water means you lose a life. Lose all your lives, and you have to start the level over. It’s just not cool at all.

The sad thing is that the dogfights are so damn good, I don’t even care how bad the infantry missions are. Vehicle combat has evolved considerably from Rogue Leader. Your main blasters now have varying levels of charge. Fire them, and they discharge. Subsequent blasts are weaker than the initial shot, but if you give them a second or two, they’ll recharge to full strength. It’s definitely incentive to make your first shot count.

As for SSX3, the game is great. I’m really glad I have an Xbox though, so I can play my own ripped music instead of being forced to listen to the non-topical crap that EA’s music division licensed for this game. Who the fuck wants to listen to Fatboy Slim when they’re snowboarding down a mountain at 100 miles an hour? Instead of introspective club tracks, I want to hear something with more than a pumping bassline. I want to hear something that will get me really cranked up. It’s almost like the guys who picked the music over there just make a mix CD without ever playing the damn games. Alot of the newer EA games have had the same problem. It’s too bad, because SSX Tricky had perfect rah-rah music for this kind of game too.

I’ll see if I can get Gina to post something more about SSX tomorrow or Sunday. She’s put a little more time into it than I have.