Developer: Namco Publisher: Nintendo Released: February 14, 2005 Genre: Rail Shooter
Star Fox Assault should have been one of the easiest home runs possible. Star Fox 64 remains one of the best rail shooters of all time. And with Namco and the Ace Combat team at the helm of the follow-up you can blame anyone for assuming it would be great. Somewhere along the line plans changed and the rumors about what the game would be did not instill confidence. Star Fox Assault would not emerge until years after its announcement and ultimately it is a solid game. But it has many amateur design decisions that keep it from being more.
The Cornerian army has turned its attention towards defeating the remnants of Andross’ army in the wake of his death. Under the leadership of his nephew Oikonny Andross’s forces are nearly dealt with when a new threat appears. Part machine, part organic, the Aparoids prime directive is to convert all life forms into creatures like themselves to join their hive mind. The Star Fox team is take the call once again, this time with new member Krystal replacing the retired Peppy.
I am continually baffled at Nintendo’s inability to make a decent sequel to Star Fox 64. I can appreciate the desire to want to try something new. But it shouldn’t be at the expense of what made the series great in the first place. Star Fox Assault differs from prior titles significantly while featuring most of the same action. You no longer plot a course on a world map as the game is now ten linear chapters. This is a far more story heavy than previous titles although it comes at the expense of replay value. That isn’t the only noticeable change. The game has a very big focus on ground based missions that lack the polish of the Arwing stages. They aren’t a complete wash but do bring the game down.
But first the good. The Arwing stages are simply amazing and are everything fans wanted in a next gen Star Fox sequel. Star Fox Assault immediately creates a good first impression with its opening sortie against Oikonny’s fleet. This is an epic space battle with armies fighting on both sides as you dart in between. Katina’s Independence Day homage has nothing on this. Each subsequent Arwing level is just as impressive and thankfully comprise half the game.
The other half of Star Fox Assault are ground missions. Here Fox can use a variety of different weapons such as machine guns, sniper rifles, and bazookas to destroy designated targets and enemies. These missions task you with specific objectives, mostly destroying a certain number of targets before a boss battle. Depending on the mission you can hop in and out of an Arwing or Landmaster tank to wreak havoc as well.
Unfortunately most of these missions play out the same way. At the start your task is to take out a macguffin, be it a shield generator, specific enemies or something similar. Once that is done things take a turn for the worse and you receive a new mission. Finally you face the end level boss. These missions are fun at first but having to complete two or three in a row before finally taking to the sky again is bad pacing. Switching vehicles mid mission adds some variety but these parts of the game needed more.
The ground missions falter because of their awkward controls. You can’t change the button layout unfortunately so have to adjust to using Y to jump and A to attack. With the GameCube button layout it is not the least bit intuitive. The maps are also badly designed. Fox moves too quickly and slips and falls on narrow ledges and walkways constantly. The Landmaster is a slow, lumbering beast that has trouble navigating the tight passages and ledges that comprise every map. On top of these issues you also still have to save your wingmates. This is an incredibly stupid mechanic; you can’t keep up on foot on top of the environment obscuring your attacks. It’s a damn shame these missions have so many flaws as the boss battles are otherwise fantastic. Too bad you have to suffer to get to them.
Previous Star Fox titles relied on multiple paths and such for replay value. You lose out on that in Assault. Instead Star Fox Assault has multiple modes. In addition to the campaign there is a Survival mode and multiplayer. Survival challenges you to play the Story mode without saving. The deeper you progress the more rewards you unlock for multiplayer.
Speaking of multiplayer, the competitive mode is a letdown considering that was the game’s initial focus. You only have deathmatch and team deathmatch as modes. You can modify the rules but the feature list is short. The dedicated multiplayer stages are incredibly bare bones and a step behind Star Fox 64. That game struck a perfect balance that is missing here; small enough to force confrontation but large enough to provide ample cover and escape. You can unlock story maps for deathmatch but it is clear they aren’t designed for it. Frankly its embarrassing that this aspect of the game can’t stand up to Star Fox 64 and robs it of replay value.
In Closing
Star Fox Assault does not live up to the hype but is still solid nonetheless. It has its flaws but is worth at least one quick playthrough at a cheap price. Even though I like it overall it still smacks of a missed opportunity to create the best game in the series.
