Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D

With clear mission goals and easy-to-fly spacecraft at your command, Star Wars--Rogue Squadron 3D offers hours of player entertainment. It has an arcade-style sensibility, scoring your success in each level with a gold, silver, or bronze medal. Enough medals translate into promotions and access to better technology. The action takes place over planets established in Star Wars film and comic book tie-ins; this, when combined with the familiar Star Wars music and sounds, renders pleasing--almost homey--familiarity. The worlds and ships are drawn in meticulous detail, right down to effects like dust plumes that rise from the deserts of Tatooine when you're about to crash into the sand.

Unfortunately, the game allows single-player action only, with no multiplayer options on either a local network or Internet. Some players may find this disappointing. But for fans of the movies or anyone looking for high-flying solo fun, Star Wars--Rogue Squadron 3D may be exactly what you seek. --Alyx Dellamonica

Amazon.com Product Description
In Rogue Squadron, your missions take place during the time between Star Wars: A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. Your superior officer, General Rieekan, briefs you on your mission objectives and advises you on tactics that will help you defeat your Imperial opposition. Wedge Antilles and other Rogue Squadron members are your wingmen on your missions, which range from rescue and reconnaissance to search-and-destroy campaigns.

Like "Alliance" there are a series of missions to perform, a rich audio environment, and the fun of flying.

But "Fandango"'s sumptuous graphics and building storyline are here too. Far from the simplistic, spacy sameness that plagues "Alliance"'s missions, each new level here is an entirely different, planetary environment. So rich are the graphics that you're bound to spend some time in each level just gazing at the surroundings. When you finally dig into the hard work of your mission, veteran game players may find parts of the levels somewhat easy, but there are always one or two trouble spots that elude even the greatest of space pilots for a while.

Most importantly, like "Alliance"--which has entirely more missions than it should--"Rogue" knows when the party's over.

This is, in short, an adventure gamer's flight simulator. It keeps you going by having a story unfold while entertaining with exotic locales. No, you can't share these locales with friends over a network. But you can feel as though you are actually part of a Star Wars movie. And that, it seems to me, is the precise point of a Star Wars game.


LucasArts Has Done it Again   November 11, 1999
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This game takes a step down from X-wing vs. TIE Fighter. The controls are much easier, consisting mainly of shooting and steering. This game also brings the classic down to earth, literally. Instead of engaging enemies in space, you are attacking planets in many choices of vehicles. Rogue squadron also has much more of a storyline to it unlike many other starship games where you are merely assigned missions. It is a great game for the computer because it makes full use of the graphics and sound your computer can handle. It's especially nice if you have a subwolfer to crank up the base. Music to my ears. So this year, make your computer work as hard as you do, and buy Rogue Squadron, from no better place than here, on Amazon.com.


This game rocks!   November 11, 1999
Mary A. St. John (beverly hills CA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

This game explodes with awesome graphics and sound. It's like the movies. If you have a fast computer and a good video card, your all set. I liked this game better than the Rebel Assault games b/c you have full control of your ship, and in Rebel Assault, you only control the aimer. Everyone says you need a joystick to play this, but I tried it using both the joystick and a keyboard. They both work fine.


Addictive   April 18, 2000
Nathan Blumenfeld (Wilmington, DE United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Rogue Squadron is a fun, addictive, pretty game. Unfortunately, it's not perfect.

This game offers beautiful graphics, fairly interesting music, a range of different craft, with different views, functions and special abilities for them. It has clearly defined goals in each mission, although often the backstory of the mission itself was somewhat silly. And it has sixteen levels, each on different and unique worlds.

With so much going for it, why doesn't RS3D qualify as a "great" game? My biggest complaint is mission difficulty. There is no difficulty selector, and the levels are not paced very well. For example, the entire first chapter is extraordinarly easy, each level being completed withing five to ten minutes. Afterwards, some of the levels are equally easy, and then there are those that are impossibly, frustratingly difficult. My other chief complaint is technical -- this game takes place before Empire Strikes Back, which is when the tow cable method of tripping AT-ATs was concieved. So why is it being done left and right here? Just on a minor note, the dialogue and voice acting was also pretty bad.

Another area that's not really bad or good, but just a note -- there are no cinematics here. Before and during every Star Wars game, I have always enjoyed the high-quality videos. None of that here. Instead you just get some game-engine pictures of the starfighters flying around and hear the pilot's voices. Just, in the beginning for example, seeing Luke and Wedge talking about establishing Rogue Squadron, laying some background for the game, would've been nice.

Don't be expecting X-wing. A flight sim it ain't. But if you want a fun, good-looking, fast moving little game, then I definately recommend this one.


A Great Game With Few Flaws   August 29, 2000
Zack Rendrag (Burbank USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Rogue Squadron is a great computer game but it does have problems. For one thing the music could have been better. Also your wing men are no help at all so you have to do everything.

Even though there are problems there are many great things about the game. I love the selection of starfighters you can fly. You can fly the X-Wing,A-Wing,Y-Wing,V-Wing,Snowspeader,TIE Intercepter,and the Millenium Falcon. Also the graphics are super for a computer game.

Most of the missions take place in the atmospheres of many different planets. The first missions are easy but as you go along in the game the missions get more difficult. Some people hate it and sometimes it does get annoying but if you would like a challenge then this is the game for you!

If you like Star Wars and you want a good Star Wars flight simulater than get Rogue Squadron!