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If you’ve ever wanted to participate in some of the cool ship battles and action you see in the original Star Wars trilogy or just get into dogfights in the Star Wars universe, there’s actually quite a few options out there. I would definitely recommend the Rogue Squadron series of games. The first game introduced players to a Star Wars brand of classic arcade style flight action and Rogue Squadron II improved and refined the formula, making it one of the best Star Wars games ever made in my opinion. But the series doesn’t stop there. A third game was eventually released, aiming to expand things even more. Developed by Factor 5 and published by LucasArts, Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike was released for GameCube in October, 2003. Much like its predecessors, it’s an arcade style flight action game set in the Star Wars universe and one of the biggest new features introduced here is the ability to participate in ground battles in a third person shooter style of gameplay.
Once again the player assumes the role of multiple pilots and the story features two campaigns if you want to call them that. You’ll get to play as Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles and participate in missions that more or less fill the gaps (so to speak) between certain events in the films. Story beats are conveyed through mission briefings, dialogue, and clips ripped from the movies. In addition to destroying shit, protecting ships, and shooting down foes in typical Rogue Squadron fashion, players will also get to participate in many familiar sequences including the rescue of Princess Leia, Luke’s training to become a Jedi, and chasing Imperials on a speeder bike on the Forest Moon of Endor. Rogue Squadron III seems to go all out with fan service by placing a big focus on sequences from the films and more so than the previous entries or at least that’s how it felt to me.
I’m going to come right out and say it. Rogue Squadron III is just okay. The game is structured much like its predecessors. You complete missions to advance the story and can earn medals based on your performance and you will have to work to earn those gold medals. Medals also come with points that can be spent to unlock bonus missions. The medals you earn can result in unlocks and this is yet another game with a shit-ton of stuff to unlock including classic Star Wars arcade games. From what I understand, players who pre-ordered the game received a special copy with one of the arcade games unlocked from the get-go. Rogue Squadron III is the first game in the series to feature multiplayer and cooperative modes which I, unfortunately, did not get the chance to try. The cooperative mode features missions from Rogue Squadron II. Needless to say, Rogue Squadron III should keep players coming back for a while.
The best part of Rogue Squadron III is what the series has always exceled at. Ship combat. It’s fun soaring through the skies and space flying, rolling, and dodging lasers, shooting down enemies and blowing shit up. I do think the gameplay feels easier and slightly less intense than that of the previous games. Trying to earn those gold medals and the Ace Mode will test your skills but I found just getting through the game to be fairly easy. More so than Rogue Squadron II, anyway. There are more main story missions here than that of the last game and it felt like I got through them pretty quick. You will get to pilot many of the same ships as before but also ground vehicles including speeder bikes and AT-STs among some others. Where the gameplay really falls apart is the on-foot stuff.
Many missions include on-foot sequences. You are put in the shoes of a character and can run around, jump, crouch, roll and shoot foes with a blaster. However, the controls are a bit cumbersome, the camera can be problematic at times, and these sequences become repetitive and boring very quickly. My least favorite mission in the game is by far “Trials of a Jedi”. You take control of Luke during his training with Yoda and must complete a boring platforming sequence. I can understand the developers wanting to do something different but the on-foot stuff here is clearly not of the best quality. To put it bluntly, it feels half-assed. The strengths of Rogue Squadron III lie in the ship combat and the on-foot sequences only bring the fun down. If you replaced all of these sequences with Rogue Squadron’s excellent brand of flight combat, I have no doubt it would be a much better game.
With the way the things are structured, you can choose what missions you want to complete and when. As indicated earlier, many missions and sequences attempt to fill the gaps between events in the films. Although, some sequences feel more like re-enactments like the speeder bike chase from Return of the Jedi. Most objectives you’ll be required to complete should be nothing new for veterans of the series. You’ll have to protect ships, eliminate enemy ships, and destroy things.
Just like the previous games, the missions are meant to be replayed whether it’s to try for better medals, trying your luck in the Ace mode, or to try different ships and approaches. But as mentioned before, I just don’t feel the flight action is quite as intense as that of the previous games and as a result, not as exciting, either. It comes with all the same bells and whistles as Rogue Squadron II, including the command system, but I feel the game just doesn’t reach the same heights. Maybe it’s because of the bigger focus on filling the gaps of the films or maybe it’s because Rogue Squadron II re-enacted the more memorable battles and the developers didn’t want to rehash the same stuff. That’s not to say the ship stuff here isn’t fun because it is. You’ll participate in cool battles with ships and lasers flying every which way, turrets aimed in your direction, and your squad mates and TIEs engaged in combat all around you. Those are the best parts of the game. The on foot stuff sucks and while it’s fun being able to pilot AT-STs, these sequences, too, don’t match the quality of some of the best ship action the series has to offer. You stomp these thing around the battlefields, shooting foes and blowing shit up. It’s cool and all but the heart of Rogue Squadron is clearly in the skies and space.
The audiovisual presentation is one of the better aspects of Rogue Squadron III. Just like the previous game, other than the noticeable jaggies, it looks great for the hardware its running on. I would even say it looks better. The ships and environments look great and I really enjoyed some of the new visual effects here. If there’s anything positive I can say about the on-foot stuff, it’s that destroying Battle Droids looks cool. They explode into parts which I found to be satisfying. The audio work is on par with that of the previous game and the soundtrack is excellent. This is yet another entry that nails the Star Wars look and sound. On the technical side, the game ran pretty smooth and I encountered no major bugs or issues.
Rogue Squadron III is a game that could have been better. I did a little research and apparently the game ran into some troubled development so maybe that had something to do with it. The on-foot sequences really bring down some of the enjoyment. I don’t want to make it sound like this is a terrible game because it’s not. I would say it’s actually a good game, even a good Star Wars game. But playing it, it becomes obvious fairly quick that the developers lost focus on what makes these games so much fun. I respect them not trying to do the same thing again but it’s just a huge drop in quality from the last game. The on-foot stuff really hurts the experience. I want to point again to the mission “Trials of a Jedi”. What were the developers thinking? It’s not fun. It’s not particularly challenging. And it doesn’t even fill in the movie gap (if you will) in any meaningful way. I also feel the ship stuff, while fun and the best part of the game, doesn’t quite reach the same heights as Rogue Squadron II. But maybe that’s just me. On a positive note, there is a lot to unlock, plenty of cheats to play around with, plenty of replay value, and the multiplayer and cooperative modes are certainly welcome.
I would recommend Rogue Squadron III because it’s a fun game overall. It’s just a disappointing sequel. Its problems are immediately noticeable and do bring the experience down. Not to a level that makes the game horrible or unplayable but it does prevent it from reaching its full potential. The gameplay really shines when you’re in the skies and space, dogfighting with enemies, dodging lasers and blowing shit up. There’s a good amount of that here but with boring and clunky third-person shooter sequences mixed in. It’s unfortunate and definitely a step down from the last game but I would still say it’s worth checking out if you’re a fan of the series or Star Wars in general.