Star Wars Week - Bounty Hunter Review

I've collected Star Wars videogames ever since the Atari days. Some were better than other, but LucasArts has hit its stride putting out entertaining games one after another. I have yet to get the Revenge of the Sith tie in game as I'm avoiding all types of spoilers until I have seen the movie. Sadly that won't be tonight, but I will be seeing it this weekend. Don't expect a review of it either as will be too tempted to spoil things myself. Expect a full review when the DVD comes out. But back to the videogame theme, my favorite game that has anything to do with the movies is Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. And yes, I did get a copy with the Limited Edition Cover Art (not pitcured above). Granted it's only special in that it has Limited Edition Cover Art written on it and a different, yet cooler, picture of a close up shot of Jango Fett's helmet. Here's a review.

One of the most popular characters from the original trilogy was the bounty hunter Boba Fett. And being one not to pass up a marketing goldmine, George Lucas brought back Boba back for the prequels, showing up in Episode II: Attack of the Clones as the only son of another bounty hunter, Jango Fett, the prototype fore thousand or possibly millions of clones that populate the end of the movie. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter actually takes place between Episode I and Episode II and shows why Jango was chosen as the template for the clone army. The storyline of Bounty Hunter starts off with Count Dooku hiring most relentless bounty hunters to hunt down and deal with a rogue dark Jedi who threatens Darth Sidious' master plan. And whoever succeeds with then become that spawns the clone army. And for anyone who has seen Episode II knows who is going to win (or anyone who was paying attention earlier in this post). But knowing the outcome doesn't ruin the game.

The game play in the game is really smooth. The best part of the game play is Jango’s jetpack. If you get ambushed, all you have to do is power your jetpack backwards and shoot your enemy with your blasters. Other weapons that Jango uses throughout the game are missiles, a whipcord (think Indiana Jones) toxic darts, grenades, and a sniper rifle. How Jango can keep all of these at the same time is beyond me, but I’m glad he can. And since he has some extra time, there are a few bounties that Jango can pick up in each level which he can spot with his ID Scanner. Granted this option is a little tricky switching to this and back to the weapons with ease. But once you capture some one, or some thing, you unlock bonus material including outtakes and concept art.

Since Jango is not the only bounty hunter hired by Dooku, he is frequently running into his competition, Montross, who cares more about the kill than he does the money and Komari Vosa, a former Padawan. Jango even pick up an ally in Zam Wesell, who makes a brief cameo in the beginning of Episode II. He is also helped out by Rozatta, who is basically a female equivalent to Watto, Anakin’s former owner. Jabba the Hutt even makes a brief appearance. On his journey, Jango visits such planets as Coruscant and Tatooine.

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.