Overall Rating

Want to feel the Force and be a Jedi like your father? You can try with the newest "Star Wars" title, "Star Wars Obi-Wan," a third-person action game set during the events depicted in "Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace." What "Star Wars" fan wouldn't want a game about hokey religions and how they're actually much better than having a blaster at your side?

A short time before "Episode One"...

The game begins a short time prior to "Episode One's" background information scroll. Obi-Wan is sent down to the slums of Coruscant to fight various thugs who are trying to waylay a shuttle. The thugs are composed of "Star Wars" Cantina rejects such as Walrus Man, Greedo, and those three-eyed goat-headed guys. Soon Obi-Wan uncovers a plot concerning a secret society, the Jin'Ha, which is forging Force-resistant weapons and armor for some unknown purpose -- an unknown purpose that implicates the Trade Federation. This prompts Qui-Gon Jinn to volunteer his and Obi-Wan's services to negotiate (and investigate) when the Trade Federation blockades the Naboo, which handily leads us to the beginning of "Episode One."

From there the action cleaves closely to the film, with gratuitous padding such as forcing Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to shut down a weapons array, negotiate endless corridors in order to escape to the planet below, and meet Jar Jar Binks. The game expands on events that took minutes onscreen, stretching them into hours of repetitive combat and adding a few things such as Obi-Wan's struggle against a Tusken Chieftain on Tatooine. Later in the game you'll follow the action to the city of Theed and, eventually, you'll face Darth Maul himself. That goal, if nothing else, will keep hardcore fans playing to the end.

How am I supposed to fight?

"Obi-Wan" offers a handy training section that teaches you how to control your character, wield your lightsaber, and master the various Force powers. The controls are simple and intuitive. The left stick is used for movement, the right stick controls your lightsaber. The buttons activate switches and let you perform blaster-dodging acrobatics. The left trigger activates the Force and transforms the regular buttons into various Force powers such as grab, push, superjump, a lightsaber boomerang throw attack, a trick to slow down time "Matrix" or "Max Payne" style, and a special Force Block maneuver (push down on the right stick). Your lightsaber automatically blocks attacks if you leave it idle, and you can deflect bolts back at your enemies with the Force Block, or put melee-wielding foes off balance. The result is that combat in the game is a pleasure, and the third-person camera does a good job making sure you know what's going on.

You'll need to use these moves in the game, as enemies are good about flanking you and coming in from all sides. There's also an arena where you can face off against Jedi you've unlocked during the game. Between key missions you'll be forced to train with a master, one of those guys from the Jedi Council scene in the film. Eventually this mode lets you pit Mace Windu against Qui-Gon, or Darth Maul against that Jedi-guy with the really long head. Sadly this mode is two-player only, which makes for some fun arena combat with friends, but one wonders why it can't be enjoyed in single-player mode. Especially since arena combat is a part of the single-player game already.

I've got a bad feelings about this...

Although the combat interface succeeds, the rest of the game sadly fails. The graphics are blocky and drab, especially when compared with other Xbox releases. This is because the game was originally designed for PCs and it was built using the graphics engine for "Jedi Knight", a game that's more than 3 years old. The animations are good, especially the combat and the way droids break apart when Force-pushed into a wall, but the character models are awful. Qui-Gon's nose is gigantic, and Obi-Wan's age appears to vary at random from early '20s to young teenager. The music is pure "Star Wars" and it's used to great effect, but the voice acting is awful -- particularly the nasally Scottish brogue an actor uses in his attempt to impersonate Ewan McGregor's Alec Guinness impression from the film. It's awful, and it's even more difficult to hear the actors butcher lines taken directly from the movie.

The level design is generally uninspired. It doesn't take full advantage of your Jedi powers. Instead it tosses in a few boxes here and there for your Force Grab attack, or maybe a precipice you can push an enemy off of. Areas re-created from the film are interesting, but they fall flat from a gameplay standpoint, given that you know it's mere busywork. Fighting battledroids or Jin'Ha in endlessly repetitive corridors isn't as fun when you know what's going to happen next in the story. The expanded portions from the film feel like padding because they are padding, and that's all they are.

But the combat is an achievement, one LucasArts hopefully will use again. There's an undeniable thrill to wading into a group of blaster-wielding bad guys. You can deflect their fire, rip a few guns from their hands with your Force Pull, slam a few bad guys into walls with your Force Push, use Force Grab to slam a box into another group, and then slice the survivors down like so much wheat -- all to the sound of John Williams' beloved score. That's all "Star Wars" fans wanted, and that's what they get. It's a pity the Force isn't nearly as strong with the rest of this game.