| Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developers | |
| Publisher | LucasArts |
| Director | Julian Eggebrecht |
| Producer | Brett Tosti |
| Artist | Paul Topolos |
| Composers |
|
| Series | Star Wars: Rogue Squadron |
| Platform | GameCube |
| Release | |
| Genres | Action,arcade flight |
| Mode | Single-player |
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is aflight action game developed byFactor 5 andLucasArts and published by LucasArts for theGameCube. The second installment of theRogue Squadron series, it was released as alaunch title for the console in North America on November 18, 2001, Europe on May 3, 2002, and Australia on May 17, 2002. Set in the fictionalStar Wars galaxy, the game spans all three original trilogyStar Wars films. The player controls eitherLuke Skywalker orWedge Antilles. As the game progresses, Skywalker, Antilles and theRebel Alliance fight theGalactic Empire in ten missions across variousplanets.
The game received critical acclaim from critics who praised the game's graphics, sound and gameplay, though the lack of multiplayer was criticised. The third and last game in the series,Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, was released in 2003 for the GameCube.
Similar to its predecessor,Star Wars: Rogue Squadron,Rogue Leader is a fast-paced, flightaction game. Each of the game's ten levels introduces mission objectives such as search and destroy or protection that must be completed to progress to the next level.[2] Enemy aircraft are primarily composed ofTIE fighters,Imperial shuttles andStar Destroyers. Ground defenses are more varied and include three differentwalkers, various laser turrets, probe droids andstormtroopers.
Theheads-up display features ahealth meter, aradar, an ammunition count for secondary weapons and the "command cross" that allows the player to give limited instructions to their wingmen via theGameCube controller'sD-pad.[3] The player can control seven craft in the base game:X-wing,A-wing,Y-wing,B-wing,Snowspeeder, theT-16 Skyhopper and theMillennium Falcon. Each vehicle offers a unique armament arrangement, as well as varying degrees of speed and maneuverability.[4] The game initially restricts the player to a particular craft for each level; however, after a level has been completed, it can be replayed with any available craft.[5] Some levels offer the player the option to change craft mid-level.[6] Eleven bonuspower-ups are hidden in different levels throughout the game. These bonuses improve a craft's weapons, durability, and targeting computer and are applied to each eligible craft for the remainder of the game.[7]
The player's performance is measured throughout the game, and performance statistics are checked after each level against three medal benchmarks.[8] Each benchmark contains six categories: completion time, number of enemies destroyed, shot accuracy, number of friendly craft and structures saved, number of lives lost and targeting computer efficiency.[9] If a player's performance meets or exceeds one of the level's three benchmarks in all six categories, a medal—bronze, silver or gold—is awarded on completion. Acquiring these medals promotes the player's rank and helps unlock hidden content.[8] Once the player completes all of the training missions and achieves gold medals on all 15 levels, the opportunity to activate "Ace Mode" is awarded. The player may then achieve one more medal per level by completing them with this mode activated.[10]
Rogue Leader includes a number of unlockable secrets. The player can unlock five bonus levels. Two of these levels allow the player to pilot theMillennium Falcon, while two others allow the player to fight against theRebel Alliance asDarth Vader.[10] The fifth unlockable level is thetech demo thatFactor 5 produced to be exhibited atNintendo'sSpace Worldtrade show in 2000.[11] These levels can be obtained after the player obtains enough points accumulated via the game's medal system. Alternatively, they can be unlocked viapassword. Several craft are also available when unlocked. TheMillennium Falcon, theTIE advanced, an Imperial shuttle and theSlave I may be selected after the player meets or exceeds various medal requirements or enters the corresponding passwords. ANaboo Starfighter and a TIE fighter may also be selected after the player completes in-game tasks dependent on the time as dictated by theGameCube'sreal-time clock.[10] A playable model of a 1969Buick Electra 225 based on a car owned by the game's sound designer, Rudolph Stember, can be unlocked via password only.[10]
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader is set in the fictionalStar Wars galaxy, where a war is fought between theGalactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance. The game spans all three original trilogyStar Wars films:A New Hope,The Empire Strikes Back andReturn of the Jedi. Young pilotsLuke Skywalker andWedge Antilles have recently joined the Alliance to help defeat the Empire and restore freedom to the galaxy.[12]
The game opens with anopening crawl resembling those featured in theStar Wars films. Further story details are presented through the game's instruction manual, pre-mission briefings, character conversations during the game, in-gamecutscenes and movie clips lifted directly fromStar Wars films. The game begins with the Rebel Alliance launching an attack on theDeath Star, the Galactic Empire's largest space station.[12] In a reenactment ofA New Hope's climactic battle, Luke Skywalker destroys the Death Star after firing into an exhaust port.[13]
Skywalker and Wedge Antilles then accompany a rebel supply convoy fromYavin IV toHoth.[14] When attempting to rendezvous with a second convoy in the Ison Corridor, they discover that the convoy has been destroyed and are ambushed.[15] After fighting off the attack, the rebels continue on to Hoth. As depicted inThe Empire Strikes Back, Imperial forces locate the rebel base on Hoth and begin an invasion. Despite Skywalker crash-landing,[16] Rogue Squadron is able to hold off the Imperial attack force long enough for the Rebel base to sufficiently evacuate.[17]
A secret Imperial installation is then located in The Maw. As the Antilles-led Rogue Squadron approaches the base, they receive a transmission from a prisoner who identifies herself as Karie Neth, a rebel who was taken prisoner after the Battle of Hoth. Neth informs Rogue Squadron that she and a few others have escaped from the prison, but need help freeing the remaining Rebel prisoners.[18] By providing cover fire, Rogue Squadron is able to successfully escort the prisoners out of the base. Skywalker then obtains data important to the rebellion, and Rogue Squadron is asked to escort theblockade runner carrying the data to rebel high command.[19] However, the blockade runner is captured by an Imperial Star Destroyer while orbitingKothlis.[20] After the rebels disable the Star Destroyer, it crashes on Kothlis andCrix Madine retrieves the data.[21]
The Alliance soon discovers that the Empire is constructing a second Death Star nearEndor. With the help of Madine, Antilles infiltrates the Imperial Academy on Prefsbelt IV and steals an Imperial shuttle needed to get close enough to destroy a shield generator on Endor.[22] The rebel fleet then begins to assemble nearSullust but needs tibanna gas for its weapons.Lando Calrissian points the rebels to his former tibanna-mining operation near Cloud City onBespin. Rogue Squadron raids the now-Imperial-controlled facility and secures the gas supply.[23]
In a reenactment ofReturn of the Jedi's climactic space battle, the Alliance then launches its attack on the second Death Star.[24] When they arrive, however,Han Solo has not yet disabled the Death Star's shield generator on Endor and the Alliance is forced to engage the Imperial fleet until the generator is destroyed. Once the space station is vulnerable, Calrissian and Antilles fly into the Death Star and destroy its power generator, destroying the entire structure.[25]
Developer Factor 5 decided to create a direct sequel to their most successful game to date—Star Wars: Rogue Squadron—whenNintendo approached them about its upcoming new video game console, the GameCube, in the summer of 2000. When they received the early prototype hardware, Factor 5's development team was working onStar Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo. WithLucasArts' approval, the team immediately began developing a tech demo to exhibit at Space World, a Nintendo-hosted trade show. Eggebrecht successfully negotiated with Nintendo that if he was able to ship the game on schedule as a launch title for the console, he could borrow Nintendo of America's onlySky Skipper cabinet for his company's arcade due to the game's elusive nature.[26][27] In 19 days, Factor 5 produced an introductory cutscene that emulated a scene fromA New Hope and a playable demo to premier alongside Nintendo's GameCube hardware at the show.[11]
According toGameSpot, the cutscene "wowed audiences",[27] andIGN described the demo as "drop-dead gorgeous".[28] After the Space World demo, an artist continued working on the3D models for the player craft in anticipation of the full game's production while the rest of the development team continued to work onBattle for Naboo andIndiana Jones and the Infernal Machine until late 2000.[11][29] According to the game's director,Julian Eggebrecht,Rogue Leader's development was in jeopardy after the Space World trailer was unveiled. A LucasArts development team working onStar Wars: Starfighter, unaware ofRogue Leader before the reveal, attempted to stop its development to prevent it from possibly overshadowingStarfighter andMicrosoft offered LucasArts incentives to move the game to their new console,Xbox.[30]
[Rogue Leader's development period] was the most hectic nine months of my life
In late December 2000, the core development team met with Eggebrecht and producer Brett Tosti to start planning thegame engine.[11] According to Eggebrect, when Factor 5 was developingRogue Leader, they had access to an early prototype of the GameCube controller that incorporated motion controls. He believed that motion controls worked well for the game's style of gameplay in terms of flight, but when Nintendo decided not to incorporate motion controls into the system, the idea was abandoned.[32] Full-time development ofRogue Leader began in January 2001.[29] The game was scheduled to release simultaneously alongside the GameCube hardware as a launch title in September 2001.[31] The planned nine-month development cycle was extremely short by industry standards,[27] and it has been estimated that a game such asRogue Leader could typically take 15 to 24 months to produce.[29][11] Because of this abbreviated production schedule, the game required every development resource available during its entire production.[33] According to technical lead engineer Thomas Engel, "it wasn't long into the project before six- or seven-day weeks became the absolute norm for everybody on the team."[29] Software engineer Dean Giberson recalls that the project was "the most hectic nine months of [his] life".[31]
As withRogue Squadron andBattle for Naboo,Rogue Leader was again co-developed by Factor 5 and LucasArts, however this time the bulk of the game's development was done by Factor 5. Their in-house development team consisted of 25 people plus two freelance employees.[33] One level designer as well as the game's lead artist were employed by LucasArts.[6] The art team was unable to use the computer generated film models from visual effects studioIndustrial Light & Magic (ILM) as they were constructed usingNURBS and it was not practical to convert them to the polygonal models necessary for game development. Instead, high-polygon models of the playable craft were created usingMaya, in-house tools, and usable art pulled from archives.[11] During the early stages of development, the new and highly detailed 3D model of the X-Wing was created and perfected in approximately a month. However, toward the end of the project, new ship models were being produced in about a week because of the time constraints. The team's artists referencedStar Wars movies, reference books, and kids' toys in the effort to make the ship models look as realistic as possible.[27] Landscapes were created by applying multipletextures toheightmaps plusbump mapping to add additional detail.[29] The game has three levels of detail; the closer the player comes to objects, the more detailed they become.Draw distance, much improved over the firstRogue Squadron andBattle for Naboo, was drawn out as far as possible. A small amount of haze was deliberately added to create a sense of distance, but not to actually hide the drawing.[6] Additionally, the GameCube's increased processing power allowed the development team to giveRogue Leader's computer-controlled fighters theartificial intelligence (AI) needed to allow them to chase and fly in different formations, unlike the first game, which largely had enemy fighters fly in a predetermined path.[34] AI-controlled flight had to be balanced with creating some predetermined paths, however, to keep the gameplay fun and to not overwhelm the player.[30] By utilizing the GameCube'sgraphics processing unit's TEV pipeline, Factor 5 was able to create theshader needed to produce the visual effect employed by the game's targeting computer.[35]
Unlike the firstRogue Squadron game that was almost completely set in theStar Wars Expanded Universe,Rogue Leader more closely follows the narrative of the films.[35] Level designers used the trademark battles from the original trilogy as narrative anchors in the game which allowed them to focus on mission design and content creation. To create mission ideas, level designer Albert Chen researched obscureStar Wars lore. By looking "at everything from theStar Wars role-playing books to the radio dramas and even theMarvel comic books and expanded universe stuff", Chen increased his chances of getting missions approved by LucasArts.[31] An in-house level editing tool called L3D was used to design missions. Around since the development of the firstRogue Squadron game, L3D was outdated but Factor 5 did not have the time to program a new level editing tool. It proved instrumental inRogue Leader's development, however, despite its flaws.[29]
The theme music fromRogue Squadron was re-arranged and used forRogue Leader. Roughly half of the music featured in the game isJohn Williams' film score with the other half being new, original music from Factor 5.[36] Sound designers also had access to the LucasArts and Lucasfilm archives, which helped keep the game's audio sound authentic.[29] The developers tried to make the game as close to the movies as possible, studying ILM's special effects, using some of the same sound effects, music and voice acting from the films. The original actor,Denis Lawson, was also hired to record new lines for Wedge Antilles.[37] Having developed the GameCube's MusyX audio system in-house, Factor 5 played an important role in the development of the console's audio hardware and were therefore able to buildRogue Leader's audio on tools they were intimately familiar with.[29] MusyX allowed for seamless blending between streamed and real-time music, giving dynamic sound that could change according to the gameplay.[36] Late in the development process, the team added five-channel surround sound to the game by introducingDolby Pro Logic II (DPLII) technology into the MusyX system.[11]Rogue Leader was the first game on any platform to use DPLII.[38]
Factor 5 did not have enough time to explore adding a multiplayer mode during development ofRogue Leader because of the short development cycle.[6] When its sequel,Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, was released two years later, however, all ofRogue Leader's missions were included in the game only as a two-playercooperative mode. These co-opRogue Leader levels underwent several changes from the originals.[39] Graphically,Rebel Strike's new, more detailed landscape engine was utilized for any levels set in a planet's atmosphere. The new engine better simulates how light scatters in an atmosphere and allowed for more particle effects.[39][40] Game models also feature more polygons.[40] Additionally, in the originalRogue Leader, Factor 5 used a simple texture to simulate water. In theRebel Strike release, water physics were simulated in real-time in conjunction with complex shaders. The gameplay was also reworked in almost all of the missions to better suit co-op,[39] and the difficulty was increased to account for the second player.[40]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 90.04%[41] |
| Metacritic | 90/100[42] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| AllGame |   [43] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 9/10[44] |
| Eurogamer | 9/10[45] |
| Game Informer | 9.5/10[46] |
| GamePro | [47] |
| GameRevolution | B+[48] |
| GameSpot | 9.4/10[49] Editors' Choice |
| GameSpy | [50] |
| GameZone | 9.2/10[51] |
| IGN | 9.1/10[2] Editors' Choice |
| Nintendo Life |  [52] |
| Nintendo Power | [53] |
| The Cincinnati Enquirer | [54] |
| Playboy | 90%[55] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Game Critics Awards | Best Action Game (2001)[56] |
The game was met with critical acclaim, as onGameRankings it holds a score of 90.04%,[41] while theMetacritic score was 90 out of 100.[42] David Trammell ofNintendo World Report gave it nine out of ten and called it "a visual and aural masterpiece. The game has all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a next-generation game including bump mapping and 480p support on the visual end, and five channel surround sound via Dolby Pro Logic II on the aural end."[57] Marc Saltzman ofPlayboy gave it a score of 90% and stated that, "The combined package of beautiful graphics, intense action (including force-feedback rumble support in the controller!) and familiar Star Wars ditties all work together to create an immersive, outstanding experience from beginning to end."[55] InThe Cincinnati Enquirer, he gave the game four stars out of five and stated that, "If there was ever a reason to purchase this compact new console, this is it... [but] there's no multiplayer mode. It would have been fun to fly alongside or against another player in some of the missions."[54] Alex Porter ofMaxim gave it a similar score of eight out of ten and said: "More than a Jedi mind trick to make you buy Nintendo's new whiz-bang console, this is the closest a video game has come to recreating aStar Wars movie."[58]
Rogue Leader was among the highest rated GameCube launch titles, and praised for its gameplay and graphics.[59]Official Nintendo Magazine ranked it the 100th best game available on Nintendo platforms. The staff called it an essential launch title for the GameCube.[60] It was a runner-up forGameSpot's annual "Best GameCube Game" and, amongconsole games, "Best Shooting Game" awards. These went respectively toSuper Smash Bros. Melee andHalo: Combat Evolved.[61]
Rogue Leader won theE3 2001Game Critics Award for Best Action Game.
During the5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards,Rogue Leader received a nomination for the "Art Direction" award by theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.[62]
Rogue Leader was the 7th-best-selling video game in November 2001, the title's debut month.[63] These sale figures made the game the best-selling third-party and second-best-selling overall GameCube game during the console's launch. LucasArts stated that the title had sold faster than any of its previously published games at the time.[64] When both the game and console were launched in theUnited Kingdom over six months later, the title entered the charts at number one, making it the first ever third-party game to hit the top spot during a console's launch.[65] In May 2003, Nintendo addedRogue Leader to its best-sellingPlayer's Choice collection.[66]Rogue Leader sold 1.03 million copies in the United States,[67] and over 100,000 in the UK.[68]
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