Score
Gameplay:	7
Graphics:	9
Sound:	7
FunFactor:	8
PlasmaFactor:	7
Overall:	7.6

Star Fox: Assault Review
February 28, 2005 by MattB

by MattB - February 28, 2005

Fox McCloud is back again in Star fox: Assault. Taking a back to basics approach Assault goes back to the roots of the classic Star Fox formula and expands on it by adding a free form gameplay where you can jump into the Arwing ship or the Landmaster tank whenever you get near one. I first thought this was going to kill the game�but I was rather surprised.

So how is it?

The controls are really great for this game. It seems a bit odd going from the N64 controller to the Gamecube�s but it adapts fairly well. There are 3 control settings, which cannot manually be changed, but you get used to the really quick so it�s not a big concern.

The expansion of the classic formula for this game really shined, I fell in love with this game because it was so much fun. Well I guess that would be a true for most of the game. Some levels seemed somewhat tedious and it was in the expanded parts of the formula (go figure). I liked most of the on foot combat levels (except two which got really long and somewhat boring) but the flying missions are fantastic it really brought me back to the good ol� days if you will. Well you may ask why is the gameplay so low for that kind of praise? I�ll tell you, it�s because the game is insanely short! I literally beat the game in 5 hours� that�s right 5 hours! And on the standard difficulty at that! The multiplayer is rather neat though and will defiantly add quite a bit of play time to your gaming experience if you�re a big multiplayer kind of guy, but if your in the single player gaming circle then you may want to just rent the game, you sure will beat it by the time you pick it up.

Arwings never looked so good!

The Graphics are simply amazing in this game. From the fur that is on Fox�s body to the coolness of the Arwing ship. Speaking of the ship it looks very good but what makes it cooler is the effects it produces from the green glowing particles that come off when you do a barrel roll dodge maneuver and the huge streak of purple that you leave behind when you use your booster. Then there�s the Landmaster tank that fires huge rounds of energy. It looks really nice when blowing away enemies! Speaking of enemies they all look very good except some of the ground troops look really (and I mean really) corny particularly on the level the Sargasso they�re all in these huge, impractical looking, space suits that actually made me laugh when I first saw them. But the bosses are a different story. I thought most of the bosses were just great looking and formidable and that�s another good reason to like Star Fox (especially when you bring them down in a ball of flames).

The environments though, are just simply incredible from the insanely nice water effects when your in hot pursuit of Andross� nephew Oikkanny it�s amazingly good looking, but that�s just the water, I haven�t even touched the beautiful forest part of the level yet. With trees left and right and enemies here and there with the tranquil water underneath you and hanging vines overhead it looks simply beautiful for the intense battles. Every area feels this way to once you reach but my personal favorite is the space battles, there�s constant attacking in the background and enemies galore, it just gives you that awesome intensity.

Slippy... oh boy do I need to say anymore?

Although the graphics are amazing, the sounds lacks poorly. Not really in the actual sound effects but the voices. They�re all extremely corny (like always but this stood out as really bad), Well it seems that way but eventually I thought that the voice actors actually picked up the pace but at the beginning of the first few levels I was laughing on how bad some of the voices were (Oikkanny Mainly).

All in all the music is what picked up the pace in the long run. The well done job of remixing classic star fox music (from the Super Nintendo version and the N64 version) just made it a blast going through the levels.

Was it a blast? (no pun intended)

Star Fox as a whole is the definition of pick up and play fun (well Star Fox Adventure�s isn�t but then again it isn�t classic Star Fox now is it?)and it does not disappoint. You�re always going to be fighting huge groups of enemies and amazing bosses and if your good enough you�ll pull through without losing an extra life. Although it gets slow on some of the on ground missions you�re still going to be in the intense firefights (unless you get lost and you should only get lost on one particular mission).

I�ll tell you one thing, the story is a bit better then the classic game though I�m actually going to spoil something (and the die-hard fans are going to hate this when they learn about it). There is no Andross in this game! So take it however you like but the introduction of the new threat keeps the game rolling (and roll nicely I might add) you�ll find familiar faces in not so friendly situations (who said General Pepper can�t fight?).

All the extra little goodies.

There is a lot a goodies for the multiplayer side of the game, such as new characters another class of Arwing and more arenas to fight in. Not much is given to the single player part of the game though� you unlock one mini-game and it requires some medal earning so that might give you some more play time. I truly think the best of the game comes out in the multiplayer mode, but for that classic feel the Story Mode does hold up well to the other games it�s just a shame there isn�t any bonuses for it.

 

A great addition to the series!

I thought that Star Fox Assault: was an excellent game, It truly goes back to the classic feel and expands on it without making it feel to different from the series. My only complaint is that the main game is too short. I felt kind of jipped when I can beat a game the day I rented it. Overall I�m going to say if you�re a diehard fan a Star Fox go ahead and buy it, if you�re a big multiplayer guy I suggest the same, but if your really that isolated solitary gamer� then a rental would be best for you I�m not sure how many times you�d want to keep playing the main game over and over again. Overall a game you must check out if you�re into some classic pick up and go fun!