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'X-Wing Alliance' does the job
(IDG) -- With excitement about The Phantom Menace at ludicrously high levels, now is the perfect time to release a Star Wars game. Truth is, even a lousy Star Wars game would probably sell well right now. Fortunately for all of us, Totally Games (developer of the three previous games in the X-Wing series) took the high road -- X-Wing Alliance is a great game. Despite a few flaws, it has earned a spot on my hard drive for the foreseeable future. GameplayYou play as a member of the Azzameens, a family of traders that has gained the enmity of the powerful Viraxo trading family. As a result of Viraxo actions, your family is pushed out of neutrality and you end up flying for the Alliance. The first couple of missions are inordinately cargo-oriented, and will be deeply annoying to veterans of the earlier X-Wing games. They are not nearly as interesting as later missions, and their primary role seems to be to familiarize new players with the interface. Since the interface is largely the same as in previous X-Wings, it would have been nice to have an option to skip the tutorial levels. The level design gets better after you join the Rebellion (although you still run a couple of family missions from time to time), but the single-player story generally isn't as engaging as it might be considering the setting. X-Wing Alliance is a space sim in which you feel like you're a small part of a much larger conflict. Finally getting that TIE Defender in your sights while a dozen other dogfights are raging around you is a lot of fun, and such moments make the game much more immersive. There are a total of eight craft to fly in the single-player game, including the X-Wing, Y-Wing, A-Wing, B-Wing, Z-95 Headhunter, YT-2000 and YT-1300 Corellian transports -- and even the Millennium Falcon. The ships have varying performance characteristics -- the A-Wing is lightly armored but fast and extremely maneuverable, while the Y-Wing is durable and well-armed but will have a hard time shaking a TIE Fighter if one's on your tail. Alliance also gives you the option to hop into the gunner's turret on the Corellian Freighters (the YT-1300, YT-2000, and, of course, the Falcon) to blast Imperial scum while your copilot takes the helm. This is a great idea, and it's well-implemented to boot.
But there's more to X-Wing Alliance than just the campaign missions. For one, there's a single-player training mode -- and these quick skirmishes against the computer are a great way to hone your skills. Also, multiplayer games allow you to dogfight with up to eight other people via modem, null modem, the Internet, or a LAN. You can even incorporate AI pilots in your quick skirmishes, with up to 16 flight groups split up between as many as 8 different teams. In this mode you even get to fly ships you don't have access to in the campaign game, including the Firespray (the ship flown by Boba Fett) and a huge variety of TIE Fighters (for those of you with a more Imperial bent). The option to incorporate AI pilots in your quick skirmishes, combined with the ability to set primary and secondary objectives, gives the multiplayer game more depth than I expected. I started staying up too late, promising myself that I'd fight one more quick skirmish before bed. Alliance also offers a racing mode, but aspiring Han Solos, take note: the Kessel Spice Run this ain't. This feature is a nice extra, but I thought the Skirmish was much more fun. GraphicsExplosions, laser blasts, engine glow -- they're all here. X-Wing Alliance boasts more detailed ship models than its predecessors. The texture maps are well done. There are even damage skins for those occasions when the Force is not with you. I did experience some noticeable frame-rate hits on my PII 266 with a TNT graphics card (particularly during major battles), but to be fair, I had all the eye candy turned on. The cut-scenes are stylishly cinematic and do a fine job of advancing the plot. The only real exception is the characters in the cut-scenes: the people just don't look good up close. And those unfortunates who still don't have 3D cards will be relegated to a merely adequate software-rendering mode. SoundGiven Totally's access to the LucasFilms library of Star Wars audio effects, it's not surprising that X-Wing Alliance sounds great. The scream of TIE Fighters whizzing overhead while the Imperial March plays in the background makes you feel like you're flying around a movie scene rather than just playing a game. The voice acting is also good: All the major characters are well-voiced, and the radio chatter of your fellow pilots during combat only adds to the impression that there are real people on your side, not just computer-controlled AI pilots. The only complaint I have here is with the soundtrack. John Williams is a talented composer, and the idea of a dynamic soundtrack is good, but it felt like too much music was recycled from the films. I would have liked to hear a higher percentage of newer pieces mixed in with the classics. OverallDesigners developing Star Wars games have a rare luxury: They don't have to spend any time on backstory or explaining the universe their game is set in: everyone knows the Star Wars storyline, even the few people out there who haven't seen the films. With that in mind, the plot of X-Wing Alliance falls a bit short. It's disappointing to see a universe as rich as Star Wars not be fully utilized. But my minor gripes don't change the fact that X-Wing Alliance is just plain fun to play. Anyone who doesn't have a grudge against space-combat games will enjoy this one. Those of you who have seen the Star Wars trilogy more times than you have fingers (you know who you are) will probably be turning cartwheels. At the very least, it should tide you over until May 19. Use the force... or these tips
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