Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance

"�THE FASTEST HUNK OF JUNK IN THE GALAXY�"

Stretching out over fifty varied missions that take place in all corners of George Lucas' celebrated Star Wars galaxy, X-Wing Alliance offers players a space flight adventure that is complex, challenging and surprisingly emotional. The story for X-Wing Alliance runs parallel to the events featured in the film, Return of the Jedi, with the final battle of the game staged around the ominous Death Star II that hovers over the forest moon of Endor.

Players assume the role of Ace Azzameen, the youngest son of respected intergalactic shipping magnate, Tomaas Azzameen. The family business, Twin Suns Transport Services, has struggled to survive against underhanded competition from Viraxo Industries, a shipping company with ties to the Empire.

During the prologue, players discover that the elder Azzameen has diligently tried to keep his family out of the Rebel-Imperial conflict. Unfortunately, the galactic war comes to the Azzameens' back yard and Tomaas is powerless to keep his family from harm's way. Affected by the struggle are Tomaas' sons Ace, Galin and Emon, his only daughter, Aeron, and Tomaas' brother Antan.

It is this awesome familial struggle that anchors the story line of X-Wing Alliance and helps the game become more than just a "blast the baddies" affair. Players shouldn't be surprised to discover that during the course of events in the adventure, tangible feelings of loyalty and vengeance bubble to the surface. There's something to be said about the depth of this generation's connection to the Star Wars milieu.

IT'S NOT LIKE DUSTING CROPS, BOY!

The centerpiece feature of this game is the wide assortment of unique spacecraft available in the single and multiplayer missions. In addition to the Rebel wing class fighters and the Imperial TIEs, look for Dash Rendar's (the hero from Shadows of the Empire) Outrider, Han Solo's Millennium Falcon and a host of other useful Corellian transports. Players will also discover the Firespray, a craft suspiciously similar to Boba Fett's highly coveted Slave 1.

In amidst the familiar is a vast collection of ships that the less eagle-eyed Star Wars fan may have missed along the way. The bat-shaped Supa Fighter is a particularly attractive space ship. The Pinook Fighter, with its unique bulbous cockpit looks more practical than threatening. It's ironic that the least visually exciting spacecraft in the game will provide the highest level of annoyance for wannabe Skywalkers. The pesky Xg-1 Gunboat and the thunderous Missileboat are utilitarian fighters with great speed and mobility, and armaments from hell.

The keys to successful piloting in X-Wing Alliance are a good, flexible flight stick and over-familiarity with the keyboard commands necessary to keep a bird safe in space. Toggling between engine, laser and shield resources is crucial. A Star Wars spaceship only has so much power to use and finding the right balance of offensive and defensive energy is a vital element of every moment in the game.

Thankfully, the controls of X-Wing Alliance have been finessed to perfection. Veterans of the X-Wing games will have little trouble finding the keystrokes that will lead them to victory.

The presentation of X-Wing Alliance is top notch. Beautiful, full-color backdrops illustrate the majesty and mystery of deep space. Pristine rings around planets, space clouds formed of amber and purple-hued particles and of course, the ominous Empire-created monstrosity that is as large as a small moon, are just some of the tantalising background visuals waiting to astound players during their fiery missions. Obligatory, awesome Star Wars cut sequences and a terrific front-end interface are also included in the impressive visual package. LucasArts knows how to make Star Wars fans drool.

Another highlight in the game is the stupendous audio design. John Williams' resonant movie themes permeate the experience and add weight to all of the high-flying action. Meanwhile the voice actors on the disc flesh out an impressively large collection of well-written characters. Sprinkled overtop of this confection is an array of laser blasts, explosions and TIE Fighter swoosh sounds that have echoed in our collective consciousness since 1977. This is definitely the right game to show off on a 3-D sound system.

X-Wing Alliance is a fantastic ride. Carefully constructed with a craftsman's attention to story as well as air combat strategy, Alliance will more than satisfy the escapist cravings that Star Wars fans all over the world are feeling right now.

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