The popular Rogue Squadron series originated back on the N64 and turned into a big hit for Lucas Arts and developer Factor 5. With a recipe of fast action, great graphics and the ability to play in many of the famous vehicles, ships  and settings of the original Star Wars movies, Factor 5 would create a strong following. The Gamecube sequel took that successful formula from the N64 and jumped it into light speed, taking everything that fans loved from the original and making it that much better. And then, yet again, Lucas Arts  released yet another game in this series making it a trilogy of sorts, somewhat fitting considering what movies they are based upon. This time Factor 5  added new game play features along with some “old school” arcade surprises. Did Lucas Arts go to the well one to many times , or did  this formula work again?  The question now arises, can a sequel of a sequel truly stand up to its successful predecessors? This game is, of course, for the Nintendo gamebube . But don’t let the fact that this is a “last gen” game put you off playing it should you ever get the chance. One of the first things that anyone playing this game will notice even now is the impressive graphics. Not only does the game look great, it can have at times more enemy craft on screen than I honestly ever saw in any other Gamecube  game, all running at a smooth frame rate. Factor 5 decided to completely redo their graphics engine for the third instalment, even though their last game already was one of the nicest looking titles out there.The graphics of Rogue II were already superb and I really wonder if it was worth all that development time to make a “new engine” for Rogue III. Still, the game looks absolutely fantastic, so much in fact that it outshines nearly any Wii game and if you could somehow put this title into HD, it would almost pass for a first gen X-box 360 title. And to no surprise, this game sounds great. The music, the effects, everything is absolutely top notch in the sound department. Technically, this game impresses both in terms of visual and in audio, hell even today it sounds and looks pretty decent. So, it was a technical monster back on the Gamecube, but  how does it play?

This impressive Gamcube game displays more enemies on screen than some X-box360 titles

New to the series is its multiplayer mode. Now fans of the series get to finally play together or against each other and it’s ery fun. Space dog fighting is great and you can choose whatever ship you want, but really if you want any chance at all at wining, you have to use similar ships. If one player uses a TIE fighter and another Jango’s Slave-1 you already know the outcome. Now Slave-1 against the Falcon, that’s a better space duel. Only one thing could have possibly made the multiplayer dog fighting more fun. That, of course, would be if it were online. This game would be absolutely addictive were it to be played online. The amazing potential for this game to be played online, however, will sadly never surface. Thanks Nintendo. Its  frustrating that even now with the Wii Nintendo has hardly shown any attention to online gaming.

While fighting against your friend is fun, because its not online it gets a little repetitive after awhile, and it really is the new co-op mode that shines brighter here. The entire game of Rogue Squadron II has been included in Rogue Squadron III as co-op multiplayer. That’s right, the entire game. Of course now there are more TIE fighters to defeat, more walkers to take down and more objectives to complete because two players embark on missions together instead of one. My favourite co-op levels are the Death Star attack and trench run, Cloud City, and Battle of Hoth. If you did not buy Rogue Squadron II when it came out a few years before the third installment, this game is like actually getting two new games in one, a single player game and a separate multiplayer only game. There truly is great value and a large variety of game play to be found in Rogue Squadron III. You will defiantly get your moneys worth here if you can pick it up used somewhere. I know I got my moneys worth all those years ago when I bought it new.

"Help me X-Box LIVE, your my only online hope".

Speaking of lots to do, as you play further into the single player game you can unlock all sorts of goodies. Bonus levels that are taken straight from the movies, new playable craft like Slave-1, Naboo Star fighters, Jedi Star fighters and TIE advanced, a video documentary on the making of the game, production pictures, sound bites, clips from the original movies and a few other goodies that Star Wars fanatics will surly salivate over. Also, the old school vector graphic Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back classic arcade games become available as you progress through the single player game. They don’t “feel” the same as sitting down in those cool arcade machines and they don’t control as well but they are still filled with retro fun and are yet an other great bonus in a title filled with bonus content.

For its third time around Factor 5 has added more variety to the single player missions. Many levels are still the traditional space and air battles   that games have grown to love over the series ,while other levels are now on foot, and yet others have you riding speeder bikes or controlling AT-ST. The spacecraft levels are the bread and butter of the series and are of course, fun, fast and beautiful. It’s the third time around for this formula, but really it’s still very fun. It wont feel as fresh as the previous two games in the series but as they say “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”. And this gaming formula is defiantly not broken. The idea of playing on foot is a great one and I practically salivated when I saw screens of on foot missions on the Death Star and on Hoth. Unfortunately, Factor 5 dropped the ball when it came to the controls of the on foot levels. Although you can move around decently on foot, shooting and aiming is absolutely terrible. I was very disappointed in the inability to actually aim at Storm troopers and other enemies while on foot in this game, aiming is almost random. The on foot parts of missions are substantially inferior to the vehicles or the spacecraft parts of missions. I found myself just aimlessly blasting at everything trying to get past so I could get into a vehicle or on a ship as fast as I could and return to good controls. Perhaps Factor 5 could have spent less time redoing the already impressive graphics engine from Rogue II and more time working with the on foot levels, they just don’t measure up to the rest of this game. The on foot levels are not numerous, but they do frustrate me.

Unlike the rest of this game, the on foot levels don't play as good as they look.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3 is well worth buying at a used game store, online, heck at a garage sale if you can find it. Star Wars fans will love this game. But really, this game is for anyone who likes great sound, great graphics, fast action game play, lots of variety in levels, unlockable secrets and local multiplayer fun. The third time around for this series will obviously lack originality if you have played the previous games and the on foot stages have frustratingly poor aiming. But still, it’s a very fun game and with Rogue II included in its entirety for co-op , its actually 2 very fun games in one. If you have never played this series, you will be impressed.  And if this is the third time around for you it’s still worth picking up, even though you have been here twice before. Factor 5 is now closed, but before they were shut down there was a rumor that they were updating the best levels from all three games into one HD title and putting it on the X-Box 360. Sadly, we will never know if those rumors were true or if they were  just Star Wars video-game fanboys such as myself, wishful thinking.  Acknowledging the poor aiming of the occasional on foot level, overall the force is STILL strong with this one, even after all these years.

PatMan gives Star Wars Rogue Squadron 3  8.5/10