This game was quite simply on of the main reasons I got the Playstation 2. I saw early screenshots of it and was pretty impressed. I have learned, however, to not expect too much out of games (even though I expected a lot from Madden 2001 for the Playstation 2 and was not let down) so I came in thinking that it may be enjoyable. Let's see what happened.

Gameplay --- 91% (out of 100)

This is the most important part of a good game. How does it really play? It plays very well. The cutscenes are interesting and the graphics are that good but what is really impressive is how easy the controls are to get a hang of. They really did a good job of taking the problem away from the controller and putting it in the game...let me explain that. Games sometimes put up a boundry between the person and the controller werein you spend most of your playing time trying to get a hang of some obscenely nasty controls. Good games make the controls smooth and instead of you having problems with your controller you have to worry about the game beating you. I am incredibly picky as far as controls go and this game did it right. The one complaint I have (enough to drop it from 100 to a 91) is that the spaceships they let you play turn slowly. Very slowly. In the heat of a really intense battle you have to waste time turning the darned ship around. It's kind of agrivating. You do a bombing run on some drop ship and have to take the the sky several precious seconds while the spaceship turns before you can attack again. The drop ship will take those seconds to drop the things that you were trying to stop it from releasing. Other than that your looking at some good controls here. This is the first game that I have played that added a button that zooms in when pressed. Makes kind of an aiming mode kind of thing happen. No crosshairs, just a zoomed in picture. It's kinda handy with those ships that are getting away from you.

Sound --- 81% (out of 100)

I realize that I said I don't expect too much from video games but I really wanted to see some guts in this section. With the capability to run 5.1 suround sound on a video game this game could have thundered in this area. The sound is good but, unfortunately, there is no thunder. The bass is kinda lacking even though you will get a soround effect. With the 5.1 suround setup I have at home I wanted the room to shake when I blow up a big ship. Instead, it's a mere rumble. Sounds very good but not the power I wanted from it. Comparing to other games it is above par. For a video game it is very impressive. It just doesn't have the fireworks that the Star Wars movies have in the sound department.

Graphics --- 91% (out of 100)

This is what sold me on the game before I played it. When you play it you'll see why. This game has amazing graphics. When you play the game it is perfect. The reason there isn't a 100 in this category is because the people look too polished. They look very plastic. The rest of the game is pretty good except the cut scenes drop in quality around half way through the game. They turn from amazing to just average and then pick up for the ending. I don't know what happened there but the high quality is just a teaser...it doesn't hold true for the entire game. The in game playing is always top shelf but the really high quality stuff doesn't last.

Overall --- 92% (out of 100)

I really liked this game. Any small problem with slow turn speeds or plastic looking people doesn't matter when you get going. The objectives are realistic and doable. The gameplay is outstanding and you forget you are playing a game after a while. You get sucked in. The story about 3 unlikely people drawn together to stop the trade federation is very interesting. There is an interesting story up to a point and then it just mission after mission. Do this. Do that. There isn't a reason for it or a story to follow after 8 or so missions you just blow things up. I'm not complaining. It's as fun as hell, there just isn't a story to keep it together. Still, this is a pretty addictive game. Even when you get through it you'll still want to play it through just to see some of those explosions again.

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