Star Fox: Assault
GameCube
I feel like I'm finally starting to make a little progress working through my backlog of games. I've played through most of the big-time classics from my childhood - so now I am moving on to games that I've purchased in the last 10 to 20 years that I never got around to playing for some reason or another. My last review (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow) was such a game, and so is this one: Star Fox: Assault.
Even though I was a big fan of the Star Fox games for the SNES and the Nintendo 64, I never bothered to check this game out. I think I ended up buying it in the mid to early 2010s, but never played it because I'd heard it had received bad reviews. I finally played it here in 2020, 15 years after the game's initial release. Would I like it or would the bad reviews be right? Let's find out.
Story:
This game takes place after Star Fox Adventures, which took place after Star Fox 64. The universe is still feeling the aftereffects of Andross's defeat. An old threat has returned - the Aparoids, an insectoid creature that nearly destroyed everyone in the galaxy seventeen years ago. Some of Andross's old goons try to use these creatures to win the fight against Star Fox, but as expected it doesn't go well. The whole game basically consists of you (as Fox) fighting the Aparoids. An old foe you might remember from Star Fox 64 - Star Wolf - arrives to fight alongside you and your crew.
This game's story isn't too horribly deep or memorable. In fact, I think it may be the weakest of any of the Star Fox stories, which is a shame because you can tell it is really trying. I can't say I was into it. One little touch I do appreciate is how the lore of Star Fox Adventures is woven into this tale. It was fun seeing Krystal as a part of the crew, and unexpected seeing Tricky again. I can't deny that his cameo brought a smile to my face. I thought we'd seen the last of him!
Gameplay:
While I enjoyed this game's predecessor, Star Fox Adventures, it didn't feel like a true Star Fox title to me with its Zelda-inspired gameplay. I wanted to see how the Gamecube would handle a "classic" Star Fox Arwing flying title, but I didn't really get what I was looking for.
Things started out okay. The first level seemed like a good warmup. It looked like Star Fox, it felt like Star Fox. Then I moved on to the second level, which is where the game nearly lost me. Now, I knew coming into this that there would be levels where you get out of the Arwing and proceed on-foot. In fact, I was looking forward to these levels. If done right they could have added a lot to the Star Fox experience. But therein lies the problem: they weren't done right.
The controls are never really explained. You're just dropped off into a battlefield and it's like: here you go! I figured out quickly that you can run, jump, shoot, and collect items. You walk around the open environment, blasting away at all the targets highlighted in red on the map. You can enter tanks to fly over walls, shoot down doors, and fight some of the tougher enemies. If the tank is destroyed you find yourself back on foot again. Don't worry, the tank will respawn almost immediately. But sometimes there are areas you have to enter on-foot because the tank won't fit. And that's about it: destroy all the targets, pass the stage. On to the next one.
My problem with these stages is that they don't feel like Star Fox at all. Not only that, but they feel very generic and sloppily put together to me. You just walk around spamming the shoot button. I didn't even know you could change weapons since the game doesn't explain this LITERALLY EVER so the first several stages I walked around trying to fight off enemies with my generic default pea shooter weapon. When I eventually found out how to change weapons, I ended up with a sniper rifle and a machine in my arsenal, among other weapons. It still didn't make me enjoy these on the ground segments of the game. They just felt so horribly outdated and out of place. If this wasn't a Star Fox title I never would have even given this game a second look.
The saving grace of this game, however, is luckily the flying stages. I wish there were more of them. Instead, it is more of a 50/50 split between ground and flying missions. But like I said earlier, they look and feel like Star Fox. I mean, no these segments aren't as good as they are in Star Fox or Star Fox 64, but they are still entertaining. It was a delight seeing the Star Wolf group again and engaging in space duels with them. Some of the missions are pretty clever and fun and engaging. I had a good time with these stages.
But those ground stages... they really made this game a chore for me to play and I don't know if I can forgive them for that.
Graphics:
This game looks pretty good. Bright colors, clever environments, fun lighting effects, well-designed characters. It was a treat for me seeing the world of Star Fox brought to life with the power of the Nintendo GameCube. Seeing how far things have come since the very basic looking original Star Fox game is a fun thing for someone like me who grew up in that era of gaming.
Sound:
Star Fox 64's soundtrack brings me much joy, and it was fun for me to hear some of those tunes adapted and remixed for Star Fox: Assault. The game's original music didn't really do much for me, however. And the voice acting seems like it has gotten worse since Star Fox 64. I mean it technically has probably gotten a lot better, but there is just something about Star Fox 64's voice acting that worked whereas to me it didn't work here. The characters in the N64 version of the game had such memorable and distinct voices. This game? Not so much.
Overall:
I wanted to like this game, I really did. I was hopeful the bad reviews I'd read were wrong. But they weren't. I mean, this isn't necessarily a BAD game. Yeah I didn't like the on-foot stages but I wouldn't say they were unbearable or awful. They were tolerable, just not very fun. Nothing special whatsoever. The flying stages are fine but to me they were nothing too great either. I like that it feels and plays like classic Star Fox, but there's not a single iconic stage or moment in this game that rivaled anything seen in Star Fox 64. The flying stages are missing that game's heart, and it's missing it badly.
The combination of this game's weird story and its snooze-inducing dialogue and its barely fun ground stages and its mediocre flying stages and its inconsistent pace really kills it for me. Some parts of this game are good but the end result of everything together: no. I could not garner any excitement when playing this game whatsoever. It's such a middle of the pack game. I'd play two stages and get bored and turn it off and go do something else. It should have taken me a day or two to beat this game and it took me almost two weeks instead.
And like I said, I can't even say this game is bad either. It doesn't do anything extremely well, and it doesn't do anything extremely poorly either. It's just so... average. But it is so average in a way that makes it below average. If that makes any sense whatsoever. I don't know. And I really don't care.
Is this a good game?
Nah. Sorry, I can't recommend this one to you, even if you are a die-hard fan of the franchise.
Final Score:
D
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