Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (video game)
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| Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Big Ape Productions |
| Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
| Designer(s) | John Barnes Mike Ebert Dan Ross Eric Wilder |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation, Windows |
| Release | PC PlayStation |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is an action-adventure game released by LucasArts in 1999. It is based on the film Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
Visually the gameplay is reminiscent of third-person shooter games like Tomb Raider, but certain kinds of actions (like jumping, climbing or pushing objects) are very limited, relying mostly on interaction and riddles. The player can control Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Padmé Amidala and Captain Panaka. The game offers also a variety of weapons.
Plot
The plot closely follows that of the movie, although it expands on some minor events that could have been silenced or cut from the movie, or shows them from a different character's point of view (for example, it follows Panaka and Amidala's adventures on Coruscant during Anakin Skywalker's interview in the Jedi Temple, something that is never shown or mentioned in the movie since it follows Anakin).
Film and game plot differences
Much of the game's plot is significantly different from the plot of the film. Many sections will force the player's character to work alone. This is most evident in the first four levels, where as Obi-Wan, the player is either cut off from other characters (the player is cut off from Qui-Gon at the start of the first level and only regroups with him at the end of the second mission, albeit with Jar Jar Binks) or sent to perform tasks alone. The third mission in Otoh Gunga sees the player travel through the underwater city and try to rescue Jar Jar. Similarly, the fourth mission is based around events which did not occur in the film (a bridge to Theed is destroyed and the player must fight through the Gardens of Theed to re-group with others). Some missions make the player escort a non-player character (NPC) though a level: in the aforementioned second level (the Swamps of Naboo) the NPC is Jar Jar and in missions five and nine it's Queen Amidala.
Additionally, in the final duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul the latter can be defeated by using the Force or a different weapon than the lightsaber.
Numerous subplots are available for the player to play through which are never even mentioned in the film. One such side-quest sees Qui-Gon free a boy named Tomo from the bondage of Captain Neg (two characters who also only feature in the game) in Mos Espa.
Several "Dark Side" acts can be committed in this game without the player actually turning to the Dark Side. For instance, Qui-Gon can kill large amounts of the population of Mos-Eisley, including many children though if he murders too many innocents he will gain a reputation as a "murderer" and Anakin will refuse to help him. Obi-Wan can kill the entire population of Otoh Gunga (except for Jar Jar and Boss Nass), and can similarly massacre all civilians in Theed. As Captain Panaka on Coruscant it is possible to kill people rather than trade with them, and on the final levels as Queen Amidala it is possible for the player to kill almost all of her allies.
Critical reception
On release the game received mixed reviews. GameSpot praised the quality of the game's sound effects (in particular the music and the "solid voice acting"). It also noted the action sequences, but pointed out that many of these were flawed. Two major problems pointed out were the third person camera perspective and the difficulty curve.[1] Many other media outlets highlighted similar problems.
In March 2004, GMR Magazine placed The Phantom Menace number 4 on its list of the 5 worst Star Wars games.
In 2007, Swedish Videogame Magazine Level placed The Phantom Menace number 5 on their Top 10 list of worst games ever created. The quality of that list has been highly criticized, possibly due to the placement of classic fan favorites such as Dragon's Lair, as well as the incredibly mixed opinions written in the article feature.