The multiplayer is amusing, though it would be a lot more so if it worked with four players, and it'll provide some decent entertainment after you've seen everything that the other modes have to offer. You can't play through Rogue Leader by yourself, so it's not exactly like you're getting the entire game for free, but it's still pretty cool to play through the fairly lengthy campaign with a friend. Terms of Use and Actually, there's one difference: This time, there are two mission paths that diverge after you finish the first mission on Yavin IV. Finally, there's a minor attempt to integrate some of the settings and technology from the prequel films into the mix, though you'll glimpse these only fleetingly. You'll have to replay the core missions an awful lot to unlock everything Rebel Strike has to offer, as obtaining the coveted gold medal in each mission demands near-perfect performance, but the new missions and other extras are compelling enough that you'll certainly feel gratified once you've obtained them. You can play stages based on such sequences as the rescue of Princess Leia from the Death Star, the escape from Echo Base on Hoth (bringing Rebel Strike's tally of Hoth missions to a whopping two), the escape from Cloud City, and the attack on the Super Star Destroyer Executor during the Battle of Endor. As you play Rebel Strike, though, you'll discover that the balance of quality between the tried-and-true gameplay and the new additions is unfortunately pretty uneven. Finally, there are the on-foot missions. You'll have to replay the core missions an awful lot to unlock everything Rebel Strike has to offer. One planetary mission, for instance, has you fighting AT-AT walkers in a speeder, but you don't have to use the clichéd maneuver that involves tripping them up with your tow cable if you don't want to. Eventually, the two paths converge at the end of the game for the last two missions, which take place on the forest moon of Endor during the Rebellion's climactic final battle against the Empire. Want us to remember this setting for all your devices? The flight levels are quite vast, and the up-close backdrops you'll see in the on-foot sequences are also nicely done.

And if you thought Rogue Leader would be much easier with two human players at the controls, the difficulty has been rebalanced to make sure both of you will have your hands full at all times. There are even a few new ideas here and there to keep things interesting. The flight missions are easily Rebel Strike's bread and butter and will have you coming back for more even after you've finished them once. The walker missions are generally fun and varied, which is good, since you'll be at the AT-ST's controls a surprising number of times. Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike is a solid package that's overflowing with gameplay and plenty of geek appeal for the Star Wars fan. Privacy Policy, Now Playing: Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Video Review. Perhaps the value of some of its components is questionable, and there's a segment of the audience that's probably just tired of Star Wars games by now, but for the most part Rebel Strike offers an entertaining gameplay experience with an exceptional amount of replay value. Even the two-player Rogue Leader mode runs smoothly for the most part, though it can bog down depending on the level. Other times, the auto-targeting allows you to take out an entire squad of stormtroopers by simply remaining stationary and hammering on the A button, which is, of course, ridiculously easy. All of the game's vehicle models are extremely well rendered, though the character models in the ground levels sometimes leave a bit to be desired in the modeling and animation departments. Given this legacy, Rebel Strike has a lot to live up to in the graphics department, and for the most part it measures up. In Rogue Leader, the linear story missions made up only part of what the game had to offer--you could also collect bronze, silver, and gold medals by performing exceptionally in the missions and then use these medals to unlock bonus missions and other trinkets. This is, alas, where Rebel Strike really falters. Sometimes your aim is stuck on a target that's too far away to hit or that's located safely behind a wall, and you can't move your crosshair to a new target without radically changing the direction you're running. Returning fans may find themselves wishing that the developer had instead stuck to the things it clearly knows best, but on the whole, Rebel Strike is a very good game that's worthy of the Rogue Squadron name. You will fly into battle as Luke Skywalker, to engage in intense, fast-paced planetary air-to-ground and air-to-air missions ‒ dogfights, search and destroy, reconnaissance, bombing runs, rescue assignments, and … To that end, the game contains a cooperative two-player version of Rogue Leader in its entirety. As for the new stuff, this is where the unevenness comes in.

The voice acting isn't so consistent, though--while there's an excellent Darth Vader soundalike at work here, for instance, you won't mistake the Han Solo coming out of your television speakers for Harrison Ford.

© 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Brad Shoemaker Another mission that takes place on and in the asteroids around the Episode II planet of Geonosis lets you pilot the Jedi starfighter from that movie, complete with the impressive sonic charges fans will remember from the dogfight scene with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jango Fett (and yes, they make that cool sound). By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's

The fighters are joined by several familiar ground vehicles, such as the speeder bike seen in Return of the Jedi, the two-legged AT-ST walker, and, briefly, the mammoth four-legged AT-AT walker (in which you'll only get to fire the forward guns). Everything from blaster fire to the Millennium Falcon's engines sounds just like it should. Factor 5 made a noble attempt at diversity by including these on-foot sequences in Rebel Strike, but given the results of this effort, it would have been preferable to have a few more higher-quality aerial combat missions instead. And, of course, progressive scan support will enhance the experience for HDTV owners by providing a more stable image with less flickering than its interlaced counterpart. As you'd expect, Rebel Strike's audio presentation is also good. If that weren't enough, you can unlock three very old arcade games from Star Wars' past--the vector shooters based on Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and the sprite-based Return of the Jedi game are all included for your nostalgic pleasure. Star Wars: Squadrons Early Review Impressions – Single-Player Campaign, Crash Bandicoot 4 Review – Bandicoots Are Forever, How To Get Pumpkins In Animal Crossing: New Horizons, By The aiming and targeting here are extremely clumsy--though the game will lock your aim to nearby enemies that you're facing, this often causes more problems than it solves.

Finally, and perhaps most notably, Rebel Strike's missions regularly allow you to climb out of your craft and hit the ground to engage in on-foot combat against Imperial forces. GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers. Like Rogue Leader, the new game presents a linear progression of levels that loosely tracks the storylines of the original Star Wars movies.