Star Fox is one of the biggest franchises in the Nintendo fold, and ever since the release of the critically acclaimed Star Fox 64 on the Nintendo 64, fans of the series have been clamoring for a game that goes back to the tried and true gameplay of the Star Fox universe.
Star Fox has always been about space combat that takes place on a linear level. You don’t have the ability to explore the universe as you see fit. It’s more about dodging enemy ships, and blasting the plethora of bad things on your screen. Well that’s what the supposed gameplay mechanics of Star Fox are, because in Star Fox: Assault (SFA) once again we get another Gamecube (GC) title that strays from that mold (this is the second GC title based on the franchise).
In Star Fox: Assault, Corneria is once again in danger and it’s your job as Fox McCloud to band your merry friends together to try and repel the forces of evil. Not much to that really, but to their credit Namco who has co-created Star Fox: Assault with Nintendo, have introduced a new alien villain (the aparoids), which is quite aggressive and provide a new thread that acts, and feels different than anything Fox fans have encountered before.
The graphics are quite good during the space sequences. No matter how much seems to be thrown your way in terms of beautiful outer space environments, enemy ships, or weapon effects, it never slows the frame rate of the game down. The only real issues graphically come from the ground based missions where you’ll be on foot. The backdrop looks nice, but if you ever get too close to buildings you’ll start to get a sense that you’re playing back on the Nintendo 64 -- textures are quite washed out during these parts of the game.
The audio is going to polarize you more than anything else in Star Fox: Assault. You’re either going to hate it with a passion, or chuckle at it for being so corny. The score is actually pretty good, but you’re going to want some relish on that corn dog as soon as anyone starts to speak in the game.
When you’re inside a ship in this game you’re going to have tons of fun. What has always set the Star Fox series apart from other games in this genre is its ability to take something as simple as a rail shooter, and make it seem like it’s more than that. You’re going straight ahead in space; your movement is restricted to dodging enemy fire, and you’re pretty much hammering the A button on the Gamecube controller the whole time, but for some odd reason that never gets old or boring.
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If Namco had stuck to that the entire game, you’d have yourself a fine title. However every once in awhile you’ll be dropped on the ground, and asked to carry out a mission. These levels aren’t that fun, despite actually offering more variety than the flight missions. On the ground not only will you be able to pick up different kinds of weapons, get into tanks, but you’ll even be able to get into your Arwing. Despite all that variety controlling your character can get quite difficult, and generally things just aren’t that fun.
The single player portion of the game is very short. Even on the hardest difficulty levels you’ll blow through Star Fox: Assault in less then 15 hrs. This is a bad thing because you’ll be counting on a less than stellar multiplayer portion of the game to make up the rest of your replay value for SFA. Multiplayer drops into the ground levels of the game; gives you the option to blast your friends with guns, get in a tank, or your even Arwing. But the same issues the plague the single player game will haunt you here and unless you and your opponent both find an Arwing somewhere, don’t expect to enjoy the multiplayer for very long.
Star Fox: Assault is a mixed bag of fun. When you’re in the cockpit of your Arwing you’ll forget where the time went, but drop you onto the ground and you’ll be asking “are we done yet?” within minutes. Luckily most of the game takes place in the air, so even the most cynical gamer should get something out of playing Star Fox: Assault. Not perfect, but definitely worth a rental.
