[GameCube Centraal] Deel 117: Resident. Evil. 4.

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omdat zij dus nevernooitniet een spel gaan kopen

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Closing Comments
While somewhat fun, Star Fox: Assault fails to impress. It lacks the originality, mechanics and style of a next-generation sequel. Playing through the game’s opening sequence will rekindle your love for the franchise, only to have it betrayed by the shoddy control and repetitive play of successive levels. And the multiplayer, while dishing out mild entertainment, wears thin excessively fast. It would have been nice to see a greater variety of modes, not to mention better maps and more of them. Still, Star Fox: Assault will definitely appeal to fans of the series.

Another Take from Matt Casamassina
Star Fox Assault is a solid shooter and I'm sure that some die-hard fans of the franchise will even find that developer Namco has done a decent job of presenting the license. Control is tight when Fox is in his trusty Arwing, and it's during these on-rails levels, which pay homage to the design of the original game and its N64 sequel, that Assault is at its best. The problem is that Namco has decided to focus instead on creating new stadium-type stages where Fox and crew engage in various battles as though they were trapped in a generic first-person shooter. Sadly, these latter level types outweigh the on-rails selection by a margin of at least two-to-one, which is bound to disappoint purists looking for something truly reminiscent of the older titles.

Namco has been at this game for a good while -- a couple years at the very least. In certain respects, the studio's time and effort shows. Assault has a clean, polished look to it in most regards. Nearly all of the Arwing-based missions run at 60 frames per second despite some impressive graphic displays, which include exploding asteroids and scrolling 3D structures. The game even runs in progressive scan mode, which makes me happy. On the other hand, this is 2005, and Assault's recreation of Dinosaur Planet looks nowhere near as crisp or detailed as the original Rare-designed level from Star Fox Adventures, which shipped for GameCube some three years ago.

Unfortunately, Assault is over before it really gets started. The game can be blasted through in five hours or less and while the archaic multiplayer mode is fun for short bursts, it's neither particularly innovative nor ultimately satisfying. It's just sort of there. To be perfectly honest, the multiplayer dogfights in the game are outclassed by the ones in games like Crimson Skies, whose physics and control are all-around deeper and more engaging.

Assault is a great rental, especially for Star Fox fans. But I wouldn't recommend buying this game because it fails to deliver either a mind-blowing experience or a long one.

7.0 Presentation
Super slick space battles are countered by so-so ground missions. Overall, a nice package with a lack of bugs and a decent interface.
7.5 Graphics
A mixed bag of awesome effects and limp textures. Animation runs smoothly, even though what's being animated suffers from "blah" design.
7.0 Sound
Fans will love the retooled Star Fox theme, but will cringe at some of the voices. Sound effects are generally weak.
6.5 Gameplay
The same Star Fox we've all come to expect. Arwing missions rock, while ground missions suffer from sloppy control.
7.0 Lasting Appeal
You can unlock three classic Namco games, and play the multiplayer forever if you wind up loving it--which isn't too likely.
7.0 OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)
9,2 Reader Average