1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Cool hand Luke Skywalker
Date of Review: Feb 16, 2000
"Rear shields down!" Luke says as the TIEs close in you. This is not Zaxxon and not some stationary 1980s arcade game. You FLY the fighters of the Rebel Alliance against everything the Empire can throw at you. Rogue Squadron puts you in the pilot seat, flying Luke Skywalker's perspective in everything from X-wings to the Naboo fighter (latest edition).
With Rebel Alliance, you start as a trainee and fly simple missions that grow more increasingly involved and challenging as you progress. Each mission throws a new wrinkle, a new element of difficulty and varies the mission elements to keep the game fresh and challenging. You can enhance your rank and progress by meeting mission performance incentives and earn gold, silver or bronze medals. In many missions there are hidden bonuses where you can upgrade your ships.
One nice feature is that you can even re-fly prior missions in different ships to try them out -- every ship handles and performs differently - from the agile A-wing to the slow but rugged Y-wing. This game is anything but boring in a realistic 3D environment where you have to out-fly, out-react and out-smart your opponent. This game can be very demanding and some of the missions are tough to complete. There are even story lines about defections and surprising wrinkles that keep your interest. And yes, you can blow up all sorts of things from TIEs to AT-ATs to spaceports.
The game is well conceived and designed for long-term use and it will take a long time for you to grow bored with it. The only problems I've had are some unexpected crashes which may have more to do with my own computer than the software. Also, buy a good 4 or 8 button joystick -- a mouse won't cut it, especially when flying against the AT-ATs. This game can be a bit pricey but if you only buy one PC game, this one is worth it. So if you always wanted to be Luke Skywalker, here's your big chance. Great game.
