Star Wars: Lethal Alliance

good
key review info
  • Game: Star Wars: Lethal Alliance
  • Platform: PSP
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: N/a
  • Reviewed on:

Star Wars is one of the most famous franchises in the world and it seems that this phenomenon will never end. It's already a cult for some and each new product with the Star Wars logo on it is a must-buy for the fans. There have been both good and bad games linked to the masterpiece created by George Lucas, but few have had the chance to shine, no matter the platform on which they surfaced. Ubisoft gave Luke Skywalker's universe a shot and created Lethal Alliance, one of the few Star Wars-related games that doesn't feature a Jedi as the main character.

Story You play as Rianna Saren, a Twi'lek mercenary that joins the rebels in their struggle to overthrow the Empire. The story is pretty thin and it doesn't feature famous characters, but you'll recognize some familiar locations like Tatooine or Coruscant. Some might wonder what's Rianna's motivation for taking on the Dark Forces. Being a slave in the past, the female alien searches for her former master, Zarien Kheev, trying to get her revenge. She'll join the resistance and engage in a quest that has the purpose of finding the secret plans for building a Death Star. Here's where the little Zeeo tags along. He, or better said, it is a Z-58-0 Security Droid that teams up with Rianna during one of her missions. For the die-hard fans of the movies and games out there, I must mention that the action in Lethal Alliance takes place in the years between Episodes III and IV.

Concept Star Wars: Lethal Alliance is a sci-fi action adventure game that features a female Twi'lek creature and her droid in their attempt to battle the forces of the Empire. You'll control both characters, mostly Rianna, because she's the fun and sexy member of the duo. There's not much you can do in Lethal Alliance, because it's a typical action game with lots of running around in sci-fi backgrounds, shooting Stormtroopers or aliens and collecting pickups. The fun part of the game is rather found in the so-called "on-the-rails" missions, when you ride Zeeo and avoid various obstacles, lasers or flying vehicles. Everything takes places at high speeds and you'll get a pretty nice adrenaline shot while trying to avoid moving blocks that are heading your way. Start the game by creating a profile and naming your character and then you'll be taken directly to the Star Wars universe with an explanatory cutscene. Select a single or multiplayer game and start battling the Stormtroopers for the millionth time. There will be combat sequences and even some platforming you'll have to do during the game.

If you're stuck and don't know what's next, the select button brings up the objectives. Ubisoft tried to create something new out of a concept that seemed to have died in the past years. A dynamic duo, that's not Batman and Robin, but rather a pale attempt of recreating the Jak and Daxter couple is the perfect key to get a PSP game going. I'm talking about fluid action and the possibility to move around the levels through patterns that look nice, because they use the characters' abilities to the max. For example, Zeeo will be perfect for climbing to the upper levels and he's also the perfect transportation device. Ubisoft insisted on this motto just before releasing the game: "Alone, you are strong, together you are invincible." This talks about the whole gameplay and the fact that it relies on the cooperation between Rianna and her mechanical sidekick. There's a meter for that cooperation called alliance meter and each time you'll use the little robot, it will increase, heading towards the max and an ability powerup.

Lethal alliance struggles to be an unique experience, but what it delivers manages to be fun, failing a bit in the uniqueness field. The main reason for reaching a "mission failed" screen is the control system and once again the PSP's analog controls don't quite work as we'd like them to. There are parts of the game when you can use the directional pad to move, but usually those buttons are assigned to weapon equipping. No gamer will complain about the difficulty of the game and you can select easy, normal or hard in the menu, but none of them will give you headaches.

There are tons of checkpoints to reach and after dying you'll be transported to the last one, while loading a save game takes you all the way to the beginning of a mission, even if you thought that you saved the game at a certain checkpoint. This being a 3D game, with an Unreal engine, you'll be able to spin the camera however you like with the R and L buttons , which are also very important for the targeting part. Dialogs, tutorials and pieces of information are delivered through rectangular windows that appear on-screen and they can become really annoying, since you're not going to be a clueless noob the whole game.

Gameplay It surprised me to find out that there are no Jedi knights and no lightsabers in this installment of the huge Star Wars saga. I didn't miss them, considering that Rianna has quite an arsenal to battle the Dark Forces. She'll use a blaster, a heavy blaster and a blaster riffle, that's some sort of a sniper gun which requires a zoom-in and first person view. In case the things get ugly, you might want to resort to close-combat, by using a lightsaber-wannabe called Thorn of Ryloth. You'll enjoy the fights while playing Lethal Alliance, because they are fast-paced and require a lot of acrobatic moves, strafing, jumping around and reward the player with slow-motion sequences.

The AI is not something you should worry about, at least not the AI of the human enemies. Aliens and most robots will give you a hard time and sooner or later you'll get to the targeting system problem. Yes, there is such an issue and sadly it will change the gameplay dramatically. Imagine having to shoot a couple of robots and deactivate some traps at the same time. You'll have to use the L or R buttons to cycle through the targets and although the game has an auto-lock system, it won't help you much, because there's a lot of selecting to do if you want to target one certain foe or object. Zeeo might be the sidekick, but he is essential for every mission's success, opening doors, deactivating traps and even stunning enemies.

Our little droid friend is an excellent tool for long-range combat sequences, being able to stun or hit any opponent just by having the player press the triangle button. Sometimes the little Zeeo will announce Rianna that she can eliminate the resistance by using a nearby turret. Also the little mechanical critter will assist her by repairing the turret, hacking into networks, opening doors, or setting booby traps. During combat you can press the square button to activate Zeeo's defensive abilities, like the deflector shields that sends laser beams back to any turret firing at you, destroying them instantly. Those defensive abilities also include a pulse field that involves Rianna getting into a close combat sequence and pushing the square button. The result? Everyone gets stunned and we move on to the next mission petting the little droid and thanking him for the vital help. There are moments during Lethal Alliance's gameplay, when the player will assume the droid's control and sneak through air ducts avoiding laser traps and mines with the sole purpose of deactivating energy fields. This mode is played in first person only and the reality seen through Zeeo's eyes is blurry and resembles the visual of an old TV screen.

We don't use laser weapons nowadays, so I guess it won't seem weird to run out of ammo while shooting a blaster. That will happen a lot and you should start picking up bullets or health powerups, because they might come in handy, especially before a boss fight. Ubisoft tried to create interactions between the characters and the environment as often as it can be done with the Unreal engine on the PSP. You'll shoot barrels, operate turrets, hang on ledges and all sorts of mechanisms or avoid entering the range of land mines. Rianna is a very acrobatic character and her tricks remind me of Prince of Persia that had similar flick-flacks and aerial super jumps. Zeeo will also be useful in that area, enabling an anchor jump that uses him as a platform. There are times when you can end your series of jumps with a jump kill by pressing the X button and it all happens in a marvelous slow-motion cutscene-like event.

I mentioned before that the battles against the AI are fairly easy and you'll even get to see their health points anytime you want during the fight. A circle is displayed above their heads and it's initially red, but when it gets yellow the Stormtroopers or aliens are in big trouble. Every weapon fires laser beams and sometimes they can do a bit more, because you can charge the shot by holding the X button and release a charge that looks like a mauve bubble. It's finally the moment to mention the funniest part of the game: riding Zeeo. It's almost like surfing and there will be moments when you'll be hanging on to the little guy and squeezing through small spaces or avoiding ship traffic in the sky. The action gets so crazy during these missions, that you can compare it to the crazy taxi driving that Bruce Willis did in The Fifth Element.

Video The Unreal engine pushes the PSP to the max, or even beyond and I bet you'll be surprised when you'll look outside some window and see ships flying by. Also riding Zeeo above the lava or in the forest created a great sense of speed and showed what the game's engine can do. There are a couple of bad things, like bugs that make you go through walls or float in the air, or the fact that the foes vanish after they are killed. Back to the eye-candy, there's a lot to be seen in Lethal Alliance, as every explosion leaves a cloud of smoke behind and when a mine blasts the screen will vibrate and your character will be thrown towards the camera. Zeeo and Rianna can catch fire in a pretty realistic way and since we're playing with lasers I must say that they are similar to the ones in the movies. The character movements are natural and fluid, also the camera angles didn't cause as much trouble as other famous games nowadays did.

Sound R2D2 has some serious competition and his or rather its name is Zeeo. The little droid can't make coffee, but he'll make funny sounds and his lines will be almost as fun as his predecessor's. Each shot equals a laser sound that seems taken directly from the Star Wars movies. Speaking of which, the soundtrack contains the trademark songs that have been in the heads of the fans for years now. Rianna will scream if she gets hurt or hit by an explosion and so will the Stormtroppers, just before dying. Notice how the music changes when the combat starts and it will be more alert and suited for a violent situation that's about to take place.

Multiplayer You'll be able to play the multiplayer mode through the ad-hoc option and one player will be the host and the other one will have to join in. The host sets up the customizable aspects in the game. One of the sub-modes is called Smuggler's Run and it's a one-on-one game that implies using Zeeo to collect pickups scattered throughout the level. Every item can be sold and the player with more cash at the end of the round wins. The game can also be turned into a deathmatch, because the host can add a time and kill limit to the game's options. Check out the Upgrade menu and don't forget to use the cash to purchase more abilities for your character. This mode is fun to play, but you'll get pretty bored of playing it one-on-one, mostly because of the endless corridors you'll have to run through and the bad controls.

Conclusion Ubisoft used the Force wisely and created a fun game to play, but they haven't reached perfection yet. Fluid gameplay, high-speed Zeeo surfing and short combat sequences make Lethal Alliance the ideal game to play in your lunch break. However, if you're looking for a complicated storyline, Jedi abilities and a lengthy game, this Star Wars title is not the one for you. While fans and fanatics will buy the game to complete their never-ending collection of Star Wars memorabilia, there will be hardcore action gamers that will hesitate when acknowledging its merits.

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story 6
gameplay 7
concept 8
graphics 8
audio 7
multiplayer 6
final rating 7
Editor's review
good
 
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