Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

aka: Star Wars Episode III: Die Rache der Sith, Star Wars Episode III: La revanche des Sith, Star Wars Episode III: La venganza de los Sith, Star Wars Episodio III: La vendetta dei Sith, Star Wars Episódio III: A Vingança dos Sith
Moby ID: 17831

[ All ] [ PlayStation 2 ] [ PlayStation 3 ] [ Xbox ]

Critic Reviews add missing review

Average score: 58% (based on 25 ratings)

Player Reviews

Average score: 3.7 out of 5 (based on 21 ratings with 4 reviews)

A far better game than the reviewers make it

The Good
A title long in development, it was something I had eagerly been anticipating even more so than the stellar Star Wars Battlefront.

SW:RotS is most similar in game design to The Two Towers or Return of the King, but not nearly as good as either. You go through the game's single player playing as either Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi or Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker. The game is a third person action game, consisting of waves of enemies and situations that you need to fight your way through using either your lightsaber, the force, and any handy object that you can Force throw.

While many may consider it a typical hack and slash title, the Star Wars theme and it's nuances provide a fresh perspective on this genre. The single best feature of this game is the use of the Force (if you don't know what that is...so help you). With it, you can pick up enemies and toss them around; levitate them and stick your lightsaber into their guts; shoot lightning from your fingertips; throw your lightsaber into a group of enemies; or even unleash devastating attacks that clear the screen.

The combat in the game, while consisting of the standard light, medium, and heavy attacks, is upgradeable, and you will unlock new combos as you gain points for how well you destroy enemies. Many of the attacks would have been impossible to perform in real life; however, some classic moves like Obi-Wan's backward lunge is included.

The game ties into the movie of the same name surprisingly well, and even triumphs the movie at times. Scenes that were cut out from the film are included in the game, and provide some excellent character moments. Probably the coolest fight in the game is a duel between Anakin and Mace Windu, which would have been an amazing sight in the movie.

This game also includes one of the coolest unlockables I have ever seen: a different ending to the movie. It's the scene I wanted to see after watching the movie...but since Episode 3 will probably be the best of all the Star Wars movies, I'm not complaining.

The Bad
The game includes both a co-op and versus mode. However, unlike the one in Return of the King, it isn't a true co-op mode. Both players are thrown into situations and have to survive waves of enemies in a single room instead of actually working through the story together. The versus mode is actually pretty entertaining though, and always you to play as multiples characters such as Darth Vader, General Grevious, and ANH Obi-Wan.

The Bottom Line
Overall, this is a really fun game that works really well mainly due to it's Star Wars theme. While I made the mistake of buying the game the day it was released, anyone now can pick it up for a much more reasonable $20 or $30.

If you are a fan of hack and slash, or want to know more about the story of Revenge of the Sith, this game is for you. Easily one of the better movie based games released in recent years, on par with the excellent but flawed Enter the Matrix.

Xbox · by STU2 (52) · 2005

Another movie-promoted game, but isn't all that bad.

The Good
I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, in fact the last Star Wars game I played was Shadows of the Empire and The Phantom Menace so for me this was really a new experience. This game is like so many of the many games made to promote movies, you can feel the rush they had to make the game, but still it has some good points.

I like how they kept with the movie, following it almost to the letter at times, but added extra content to it without really deviating from it. Getting to fight as Yoda against the Clones at the Jedi Temple, playing as Anakin as he decimates the Temple and fight Mace Windu, getting to tear apart Grievous with Obi-Wan and then fight off his own clones, I love this.

It also incorporated scenes that were a concept for the movie, fighting through the bowels of the ship and fighting Grevious' magna-guards as the ship is turned upside down, it's a nice touch, it's like your watching the movie and experiencing and interacting with deleted scenes all at once.

I also like how cutscenes from the movie were incorporated, spliced in with the in-game cutscenes to further the story while at the same time not giving away key plots in the movie, except for the ending. It does give away the ending for the movie, but it was kind of a gimme, since everybody knew that Anakin would become Vader just not how, but I do like how they did it for the game.

While in the movie it showed Obi-Wan tearing apart Anakin, the birth of the twins and Vader's construction, the funeral, the giving away of Luke while the game's was much more straightforward and in my opinion better. Right after you see Anakin torn apart in the in-game cinema it cuts to the movie scene where he is rising up like Frankenstein with the Imperial March blaring loudly, that actually gave me goosebumps, it immediately takes it to Obi-Wan giving away Luke. Simple and straight forward.

I do like the two player head-to-head battles you can have against a buddy, even better is that you can use characters from the original trilogy as well, whereas can you play as Luke and take on Grievous. The co-op mode is novel and can be fun with a buddy, the only problem is that if one dies the game is over, almost like Battletoads in a way.

While I did like the cutscenes and the fact you get to play as so many characters and experience new surroundings, this game did have some really, really bad flaws.

The Bad
The thing that stood out to me is the in-game cinemas where the graphics just look jagged. Now I do have to admit the environments are nice, the character modeling looked like crap. Obi-Wan looks OK, but regular battle droids look like they were going to be cell-shaded but the outline was forgotten, the clone troopers look like they were modeled after 14 year olds in Halloween costumes and Anakin looks like a cross between Seth Rogen and a Hobbit.

What also killed it was the horrible voice acting, sadly they didn't use the actually actors just stock footage, although I have to admit the guy who did Anakin did sound like Hayden Christensen and so did the guy who imitated Ewan McGregor, sadly though the guy who did Mace Windu's really butchered the role.

While they do try to imitate their movie counterparts, they just sound emotionless, especially Anakin, it's almost like you can see the guy reading from a teleprompter. Plus there's inconsistency as well, for example on the first stage you have to jump down into a hole a destroy a control panel and to disable a force field generator, Obi-Wan will tell you what to do in the most calmest of voices, but they second you get down he yells out the instructions like someone is holding a gun to his head.

Plus repetitive lines can get on your nerves, Anakin commenting on Obi-Wan for destroying a droid "Nice one Master", or Obi-Wan telling Anakin to "Use the force" or worst yet Yoda "Attacking the clones are". Now I have to admit the first couple of times he say's it is funny, but after the 20th time you want him to shut the hell up.

Sadly the gameplay can get repetitive too, run here, battle these guys, jump here, pick up power-ups, beat more bad-guys, fight boss, next. After the few stages you just can't wait for the game to be over. I do like the control scheme, there is a lot to learn, but once you get used to it, it really isn't that bad, the only problem I have is when you use the left analog to deflect shots, especially turrets. The problem with it is that when you perform the move, your open to attack to enemies with melee weapons and it can wear out your analog stick (experience talking there). The "alternate" ending was OK, but was nothing to write home about.

The Bottom Line
While the cutscenes make this game at least worth a look, the bad acting and jagged graphics will make your eyes and ears hurt. But the chance to play as head-to-head against many main characters throughout the Star Wars universe can offset them easily. If you are looking for this game it should be easily found, especially in the used bins, mine I actually got new at a Wal-Mart for $9.00, so that tells you how bad they wanted to get rid of this.

All in all, if you're a casual fan of the Star Wars franchise, at least give it a rental, but if your not really into Star Wars and want to start out, skip this one, actually try out the new Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (preferably PS3 or 360, I've played the PS2, but just by looking at the next-gen versions it looks better, but I'll get to that another time).

PlayStation 2 · by Big John WV (26954) · 2008

The story was better than the film, but it was still a soulless rental.

The Good
I was a major fan of the original trilogy growing up. I was burned by the prequel trilogy, though admittedly the third was better than the other two. Despite countless games based on Episode I and II, I thought that the third film would make for a good game.

There are lots of options available to you, as you can build up your characters as you progress and gain experience. You're not limited to hack-and-slash, as you can also improve other skills, such as grapples, force powers, and finishers. Nobody has to play the game the same way.

The control is responsive, but takes a little getting used to. Nearly everything on the pad is utilized, which isn't always a good thing for such a fast-paced game.

As with any Star Wars game, audio is top-notch. Sound effects are clear, as is the music.

If there's one thing to be said about the story, it's that they actually managed to improve upon the plot of the film. Certain battles have been lengthened, such as the battle against General Grevous. The scene where Anakin slices off Mace Windu's arms actually turns into a long battle sequence with a plot, rather than being an instant Dark Side transition.

The Bad
I didn't really enjoy the game. I love beat-em-ups and hack-and-slash games, but Revenge of the Sith felt more like a chore than anything else. There wasn't a real balance to it. Everything was either too easy or too hard. Trying to perform combos while getting shot in the back tends to be more frustrating than fun. It's like a spiritual sequel to Jedi Power Battles, but they tried to put too much in.

There's no excuse for such an ugly game on the Xbox. The models aren't very good, the textures are very grainy, and the lighting effects aren't what they should be. The cutscene quality is pretty shabby. It's not particularly grainy, but it's got the look of a 3-hour movie that's been ripped to DivX and then converted to DVD-5. It has a sort of blurry, washed-out look to it. There are also video cutscenes made using the game engine, rather than just using the game engine to render them in-game. Again, the quality is terrible and looks much worse than the game itself.

While voice acting was handled well for the most part, there are a few standouts. The actor who voiced Anakin must have really disliked Hayden Christensen more than I do, because he managed to make the virtual representation more annoying. Mace Windu, however, is completely out of character. Rather than portraying Mace Windu, they decided that the actor should poorly portray Samuel L. Jackson, spouting lines that are uncharacteristic and stupid, not only for the character, but for a Jedi. At least the guy who performed Obi Wan earned his paycheck. There were times that I swore that Ewan MacGregor was handling voice duty.

The Bottom Line
Unless you like monotonous button-mashers with too much to do, I wouldn't recommend this game. It's a lazy port of a mediocre game that lacks fun.

Xbox · by DarkBubble (342) · 2007

Not bad... Not great but not bad.

The Good
Episode 3 is a great film and the game does it some justice. The graphics on the main characters are great and I'm really pleased that they used some of the music from KOTOR 2. The gameplay is great and the environments are very dense. The multiplayer mode is equally effective.

The Bad
The games secondary characters and enemies aren't looking up to much. The graphics on them are quite bad. And the levels, although detailed, are short. The force powers, like push, didn't need a blue blur, just a small ripple will do.

The Bottom Line
The game has it's downsides but generally it is a good game. My advice is buy it but don't set your hopes up to high, you may just be a tiny bit disappointed

PlayStation 2 · by M.Allen (83) · 2006

Contributors to this Entry

Critic reviews added by Big John WV, Alsy, nyccrg, Cavalary, coenak, DreinIX, Patrick Bregger, 64er, Jeanne, Cantillon, Wizo, Jacob Gens, Alaka, CalaisianMindthief, chirinea, Tim Janssen.