The game starts with an intro with the young hero and his female friend are heading for an �abandoned� imperial base. Just before landing they receive a message informing them that they have intercepted Imperial radio signals going to and from the base. Time for Kyle to investigate. After looking around for a few seconds Kyle finds the place swarming with storm troopers, time to investigate. Up to this point everything is looking quite good, the voice acting and cut scenes are well presented, showing when the effort went. However, the first thing to be noticed is how clumsy the controls are, you character just doesn�t seem to move and turn properly. After wiping out the storm-troopers that are patrolling the exterior, you head to the main entrance and encounter the first badly thought out puzzle. The main doors are locked, so you must climb up 1 level and switch on the power in the main control room, and then head down and man the fixed gun turret to blow the door open. To get on the gun you have to press the B button when a small hand icon appears just above you health meter, but the icon flickers on and off and it takes a few goes to get on the gun. Problems like this, which could quite easily be eradicated with just a little time from the developers, really bog the game down.
Exploring the inside of the base is boring to see the least, with everything looking so bland, most of your time is spent walking around empty corridors, looking for a door that hasn�t been tried. I noticed that it doesn�t feel like walking, the game just doesn�t feel right. When you get to the area where you have to activate the central computer, you are then required to wander around searching for 3 codes, which then must be entered into the 3 corresponding panels on the central platform. Coupled with the bland textures and the annoyingly slow speed at which you character moves, this fast becomes unbearable. When you find and enter the codes, you walk into the second part of the mission. By this time I was hoping for a change of scene, or perhaps one of the force powers (its just guns at the start) but I was sadly mistaken. What followed was more of the same, the same boring empty corridors, the same crappy textures, the only difference being the slightly better AI, but on the subject, the storm-troopers lack in variety, with the only functions being shoot and reload when you disappear. Another reminder of how little effort has gone into the game.
Playing through the next levels shows that the game doesn�t get any better, even when you acquire some of the force powers, it all becomes a chore. Another problem that occurs way to often is massive �twitches� in the onscreen items, such as a computer textures jumping a few feet in the air and then back. Although the multiplayer is actually quite good for a while, but only if you can stand the way the characters move. There are a few decent arenas that are good for death-matches, and plenty of options for setting up the game type and the strength of the AI bots, it isn�t too bad. The force powers are quite good fun, and with the added bonus of being able to tweak you force power, such as a higher jump or better grip, adding a little strategy. However, the AI just isn�t up to scratch, with no variety of movements, they never evade for example, and if you encounter a group they just stop dead and fire at you, not moving for cover. With only 2 player support however, this isn�t going to come anywhere near TS2 death-matches.
A game that I was really looking forward too, but look how it turned out, a shoddy PC port. When the game originally came out it was quite impressive, but we should expect some improvement for the GC version, and if there are any, they are well hidden. Be warned, if you pick this up and read the box in game or somewhere, it looks quite impressive. The screenshots are very sharp and it boasts some features that sound excellent. I have never seen the game look as good as it does on the box, it is a lot more blurry, whether this is because I am comparing a still shot to a moving picture or not, I don�t know, but it still is not acceptable. On the plus side the game boast some quite good voice acting, and a not bad multiplayer, but the negatives so heavily outweigh the positives that it just isn�t worth it. A huge disappointment, hopefully the same is not true for Bounty Hunter.
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