Thoughts on Star Wars Games
First an intro video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YXXQ3I2fxQ
Watching that reminded me of many things that games in only the past few years have had. And that there was another Star Wars game called Rebellion (an RTS/4X like Hearts of Iron) which had stuff that only now games have. What made these games similar to each other? Both were way ahead of their time, and both did horrible in stores. They were too advanced for people. Star Wars games in the 90s used to be ahead of the curve overall. Remember Shadows of the Empire for N64? That game blew away most other games of the time. Dark Forces was one of the best Shooters of the time, and its sequel Jedi Knight gave us the ability to use a lightsaber as well, and was awsome the whole way through. X-Wing and TIE Fighter both set new benchmarks for flight sims, and many other games were just as well at pushing the envelope for the gaming industry.
And with the Prequels it became less about making a good game and more about getting the name out there to make money. A whole slew of horrible and mediocre games came out (Phantom Menace, Rebel Commando, Galactic Battlegrounds, Super Bombad Racing to name a few). Sure a few good ones have shined through (Empire at War, Galaxies for the first year, Starfighter, Lego Star Wars), but they've got a heap of crap to climb through.
Bah, maybe some day we'll be able to get great games like TIE Fighter again (the time in Galaxies did not satisfy me!), but until then, we'll just have to survive through the rest.
Watching that reminded me of many things that games in only the past few years have had. And that there was another Star Wars game called Rebellion (an RTS/4X like Hearts of Iron) which had stuff that only now games have. What made these games similar to each other? Both were way ahead of their time, and both did horrible in stores. They were too advanced for people. Star Wars games in the 90s used to be ahead of the curve overall. Remember Shadows of the Empire for N64? That game blew away most other games of the time. Dark Forces was one of the best Shooters of the time, and its sequel Jedi Knight gave us the ability to use a lightsaber as well, and was awsome the whole way through. X-Wing and TIE Fighter both set new benchmarks for flight sims, and many other games were just as well at pushing the envelope for the gaming industry.
And with the Prequels it became less about making a good game and more about getting the name out there to make money. A whole slew of horrible and mediocre games came out (Phantom Menace, Rebel Commando, Galactic Battlegrounds, Super Bombad Racing to name a few). Sure a few good ones have shined through (Empire at War, Galaxies for the first year, Starfighter, Lego Star Wars), but they've got a heap of crap to climb through.
Bah, maybe some day we'll be able to get great games like TIE Fighter again (the time in Galaxies did not satisfy me!), but until then, we'll just have to survive through the rest.