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Star Wars: Obi-Wan Review - Xbox

Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the Star Wars Saga's most popular characters. From the wise old man in 'A New Hope' to the witty Jedi Knight from 'Attack of the Clones', Obi-Wan has garnered a legion of fans. The time was right for his own game. Originally slated for the PC, this 3rd person actioner turned into a X-Box title along the way. Would this be the console answer to Jedi Outcast??

Gameplay

Set just before and during the events of Episode 1, a young Padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi is commissioned by Mace Windu to investigate a new threat, the Black Heth, who has increased criminal activity in the seedy underworld of Coruscant. Your investigation will take to you other planets known to Star Wars fans in Naboo and Tatooine.
Playing as a Jedi you are armed with the Jedi weapon of choice, the lightsaber. Along the way you get access to a rifle and grenades, but you'll primarily be using the saber. As you are a Padawan learner, some force abilities are at your beckon: force push, force jump, force pull, force throw, force view as well as force-related lightsaber attacks. Activating the force is quite simple, hold down the left trigger and hit the appropriate button. The left stick controls movement while the right wields your saber. 'A' jumps, 'B' does an acrobatic move while the right trigger locks onto your nearest enemy. This is one of the major problems with Obi-Wan, the control set up leaves a lot to be desired and in the frantic moments of action you'll end up pushing as many buttons as you can and hope for the best. The lock-on is totally useless, often locking onto an enemy out of range instead of the one a few meters away. Another major problem is the camera angle. The camera movement has a mind of it's own and there will be plenty of times where you'll fall to your peril after misjudging a jump. Makes for a very frustrating game. There isn't a lot of variety in the game, and after a while, when the effect of using the lightsaber and force powers wear off, you'll realise what a boring game it is. Essentially it's just a hack n slash affair- with whatever small puzzles present being so basic and requiring little thought. As you progress through the game, you'll have to do battle with other Jedi (Saesee Tiin, Mace Windu) in an arena as part of your training. These are quite challenging and provide a little variety, but even then you're still hacking and a slashing!! As with most Star Wars titles, a medal system is in places that unlock extra characters and other bonuses.

Graphics

The X-Box is a pretty powerful machine, but you wouldn't really know it with Obi-Wan running on it. Background detail is kept to a minimum and are very bland and boring. All the enemies look the same and even the creatures that appear ... (continued next page)