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lieselstarwarsgamesPodrace time!
You know, I’ve been calling these “levels” when they’re more like segments. Yeah, you go from Point A to Point B, but what you do on the way is entirely up to you. (And yes, I know what an open world game is, I speak gamer.)
Anyway, let’s continue.
The opening crawl still hasn’t changed. I mean, we’ve found Anakin, you’d think that would be worth mentioning now. Oh well, we have to get to the arena to enter Anakin into the race now. Of course, on the way we’re going to be lightsabering everything, including someone’s sandwich that they left sitting around.
I found a spot where you can raise flags in order to hoist yourself up to a roof to get a Kyber Brick . . . which is sitting by a pair of lounge chairs. Who the hell is dumb enough to sunbathe on Tatooine? Five minutes in the twin suns and you’ll be red all over.
When we reach the arena, Anakin’s already there waving at us. Wait, how did he get there so fast? Did he use his high midchlorian count to Force-teleport? It wouldn’t surprise me if Force-teleportation actually became a thing someday even though it would be ridiculous.
Well, I think we’re gonna get something like an actual level now, so let’s sign Ani up.
We get a cutscene of the race starting, which goes pretty much like it does in the movie, except Jabba’s tail knocks a Jawa over the rail. Don’t worry, he’s fine – a Tusken catches him. Can’t depress the players with a senseless Jawa death.
The race goes similarly to how it’s set up in The Complete Saga with boost pads to give you a speed boost and rocks to crash into to get studs, but there are two big differences. The first is that you race in a first-person view, which can be a bit disorienting until you get used to it. I know I’m in the minority, but I actually find third-person games more immersive than first-person games and I tend to find first-person controls incredibly awkward.
The second major difference is that as your pod takes damage, your power coupling eventually snaps and you have to reattach it as quickly as possible, which involves aiming an extremely finicky cursor at the cable and feels more annoying than challenging.
If you lose, Qui-Gon almost falls off the audience box, Sebulba kisses his trophy, and you get a chance to retry. I won on my second try and the following cutscene, the Tusken tosses the Jawa he caught, Jar Jar falls off the audience box and bounces off the pods, and Qui-Gon celebrates by picking Anakin up with the Force. Then Anakin and Shmi have their tearful goodbye and it’s time to head back to the ship.
Oh, and Jar Jar worries that Obi-Wan might have taken off without them because he doesn’t like Jar Jar, but Qui-Gon says that he’s sure Obi-Wan thinks Jar Jar is charming. Well, he’s charming when voiced by Ahmed Best and I will die on that hill.
Young Anakin’s playable now. He can punch, but he doesn’t have any weapons (duh, he’s nine) and he can’t jump very high. Course, in the Complete Saga, he had a use since he could get through those chutes that only small characters can get through, but I haven’t seen any of those chutes in this game.
As soon as we start heading for the ship, we see a suspicious-looking protocol droid carrying what looks like a Kyber Brick into a building. Should we divert from our path to follow him? That’s a stupid question.
The menu calls this place “Haunted Hovel,” so are we gonna see some Force ghosts? As soon as we enter, the droid runs to another room, but when we reach the room, the droid has vanished, leaving behind only a key. Hmm, there was a giant contraption in the other room with a keyhole – do you think that might be where the key goes?
Unfortunately, using the key reveals a panel that only a protocol droid can activate. Where’s incomplete 3PO when you need him? Since the droid that led us in here vanished mysteriously, we might need to put this quest off.
But hey, remember those blueprints that the first guy in Mos Espa alluded to? We can actually go to Anakin’s house and look for them and with a little help from the Force, we can find them and get a Kyber Brick (Qui-Gon also says he “hasn’t seen one of these since I was a boy,” whatever that means).
Anyway, as you well know from the movie, Darth Maul attacks when we reach the ship, but unfortunately, we don’t get to actually fight him. The fight happens in a cutscene that ends with Jar Jar and Qui-Gon both escaping via Jar Jar’s tongue, which got caught in the hatch. We also have a hilarious little moment of Palpatine contacting Maul and still trying to figure out which way to face when talking via hologram.
See you for Coruscant!
You know, I’ve been calling these “levels” when they’re more like segments. Yeah, you go from Point A to Point B, but what you do on the way is entirely up to you. (And yes, I know what an open world game is, I speak gamer.)
Anyway, let’s continue.
The opening crawl still hasn’t changed. I mean, we’ve found Anakin, you’d think that would be worth mentioning now. Oh well, we have to get to the arena to enter Anakin into the race now. Of course, on the way we’re going to be lightsabering everything, including someone’s sandwich that they left sitting around.
I found a spot where you can raise flags in order to hoist yourself up to a roof to get a Kyber Brick . . . which is sitting by a pair of lounge chairs. Who the hell is dumb enough to sunbathe on Tatooine? Five minutes in the twin suns and you’ll be red all over.
When we reach the arena, Anakin’s already there waving at us. Wait, how did he get there so fast? Did he use his high midchlorian count to Force-teleport? It wouldn’t surprise me if Force-teleportation actually became a thing someday even though it would be ridiculous.
Well, I think we’re gonna get something like an actual level now, so let’s sign Ani up.
We get a cutscene of the race starting, which goes pretty much like it does in the movie, except Jabba’s tail knocks a Jawa over the rail. Don’t worry, he’s fine – a Tusken catches him. Can’t depress the players with a senseless Jawa death.
The race goes similarly to how it’s set up in The Complete Saga with boost pads to give you a speed boost and rocks to crash into to get studs, but there are two big differences. The first is that you race in a first-person view, which can be a bit disorienting until you get used to it. I know I’m in the minority, but I actually find third-person games more immersive than first-person games and I tend to find first-person controls incredibly awkward.
The second major difference is that as your pod takes damage, your power coupling eventually snaps and you have to reattach it as quickly as possible, which involves aiming an extremely finicky cursor at the cable and feels more annoying than challenging.
If you lose, Qui-Gon almost falls off the audience box, Sebulba kisses his trophy, and you get a chance to retry. I won on my second try and the following cutscene, the Tusken tosses the Jawa he caught, Jar Jar falls off the audience box and bounces off the pods, and Qui-Gon celebrates by picking Anakin up with the Force. Then Anakin and Shmi have their tearful goodbye and it’s time to head back to the ship.
Oh, and Jar Jar worries that Obi-Wan might have taken off without them because he doesn’t like Jar Jar, but Qui-Gon says that he’s sure Obi-Wan thinks Jar Jar is charming. Well, he’s charming when voiced by Ahmed Best and I will die on that hill.
Young Anakin’s playable now. He can punch, but he doesn’t have any weapons (duh, he’s nine) and he can’t jump very high. Course, in the Complete Saga, he had a use since he could get through those chutes that only small characters can get through, but I haven’t seen any of those chutes in this game.
As soon as we start heading for the ship, we see a suspicious-looking protocol droid carrying what looks like a Kyber Brick into a building. Should we divert from our path to follow him? That’s a stupid question.
The menu calls this place “Haunted Hovel,” so are we gonna see some Force ghosts? As soon as we enter, the droid runs to another room, but when we reach the room, the droid has vanished, leaving behind only a key. Hmm, there was a giant contraption in the other room with a keyhole – do you think that might be where the key goes?
Unfortunately, using the key reveals a panel that only a protocol droid can activate. Where’s incomplete 3PO when you need him? Since the droid that led us in here vanished mysteriously, we might need to put this quest off.
But hey, remember those blueprints that the first guy in Mos Espa alluded to? We can actually go to Anakin’s house and look for them and with a little help from the Force, we can find them and get a Kyber Brick (Qui-Gon also says he “hasn’t seen one of these since I was a boy,” whatever that means).
Anyway, as you well know from the movie, Darth Maul attacks when we reach the ship, but unfortunately, we don’t get to actually fight him. The fight happens in a cutscene that ends with Jar Jar and Qui-Gon both escaping via Jar Jar’s tongue, which got caught in the hatch. We also have a hilarious little moment of Palpatine contacting Maul and still trying to figure out which way to face when talking via hologram.
See you for Coruscant!
