Less is more. That seemed
to be the secret behind the extraordinary popularity of Boba Fett among Star Wars fans.
His suit was cool and it had all kinds of secret weapons. He said little, but in no more
than a few minutes of screen time he accomplished what no other bounty hunter could: he
captured Han Solo (in your face, Greedo). For those of us who were fans (or even alive) in
1980, when a pre-Special Edition Empire Strikes Back was released, Boba Fett was
the strong arm of an ominous and unseen threat: Jabba the Hutt. You
can see why I was more than a little worried when I heard that Attack of the Clones
would prominently feature a young Boba Fett, and his father Jango. Delving into this
characters history was dangerous at best. Who would have known that AotC
would not only succeed in making Boba Fetts origin interesting, it would make our
beloved bounty hunter cooler than ever. Turns out that we were seeing a lot more of the
Fetts in the original trilogy than we could have imagined, as the army of the Empire was
created in his image, and just about any Empire underling behind a face plate might share
his visage.
So, now I am thinking that more Fett is better. How could we not be excited to
take on the role of Jango Fett in Star Wars Bounty Hunter? Fans have been rabid for a trip
through the seedy underbelly of the Star Wars universe for a long time, and from what I
experienced at E3 2002, it was well worth the wait.
In
the game, Jango Fett has been hired to find and deliver the leader of a mysterious
cultdead or alive. As the story progresses, players will accept other bounties, each
of which includes its own circumstances and conditions. It also promises to explore Jango
Fetts past, ultimately revealing why he was chosen as the genetic template for the
clone army.
Bounty Hunter is a third-person action-adventure game with lots of action and
exploration. There are 18 levels that take place on 6 different planets, including
Coruscant, Tatooine, and a maximum-security asteroid prison. Throughout the game, you will
encounter over 100 unique characters ranging from the humans, aliens, and droids seen in
the movies, to all new creations like the fearsome Krayte Dragon.
You
will also have full control of the wicked arsenal contained in Jango Fetts battle
armor. At any time you can whip out your dual blasters, scorch the scene with your
flamethrower, zoom in on your enemy with a sniper rifle, fire toxic darts, launch a
missile, or take to the air with your jetpack. And if all of those methods fail, you can
beat your targets into submission with your fists. Whats more, when wielding your
dual pistols you can target two different enemies, and when youre hanging on a ledge
you can use your free hand to pop shots off. Although Jango cant use his jetpack for
extended flights, he can hover above his enemies and gun them down from midair.
The
game also allows you to decide whether you want to bring your bounties in dead or alive.
Some of your employers will offer you a bonus for a live capture, which consists of
snaring your target with your wrist cable. Others merely wish their adversaries would
cease to exist. In addition, you can pretty much go anywhere. Jango can use some of his
tools to force his way into buildings and passageways. There will be no arbitrary keys to
pick up throughout the game. If Jango wants in, Jango gets in.
The playable demo at E3 was limited to a small section of Coruscant (the
environments in the finished game promise to be huge), and there were only a small number
of opponentss to overcome. Still, the game is beautiful. Jango Fett in particular looked
amazing, and the special effects are terrific. The control set-up takes a little getting
used to, especially on the Gamecube version, which necessarily has more buttons performing
double-functions. But after a little practice things become pretty intuitive. The entire
time I was playing Bounty Hunter I had a big, goofy grin on my face. The game does an
incredible job of placing you in the role. I was engaging enemies, taking flight with my
jetpack, the whole time thinking
Im him! Im Jango-freaking-Fett!
Bounty Hunter is being developed entirely by LucasArts, with cinema screens
rendered by Industrial Lights and Magic and sound design by Skywalker Sound. Portions of
John Williams Attack of the Clones soundtrack will be mixed with all new
music for the game. Voice talents include actors from the film, such as Temuera Morrison
as Jango Fett and Leeanna Walsman as Zam Wesell, as well as Clancy Brown (Highlander,
The Shawshank Redemption) as Jango Fetts arch nemesis Montross. From the
looks of things, Star Wars Bounty Hunter is going to be something to beholdone more
in a string of incredible Star Wars games. Star Wars fans are very lucky people.
Available on the PS2 and Gamecube, Fall 2002.