Star Wars Demolition

Pros • Cool opening cinematic • Delivers for what it is • Great multiplayer game • John Williams’ score and Ben Burtt’s sound design	Cons • Multiplayer limited to two players • not enough Big name characters and vehicles from the films and expanded universe
Bottom Line Combine visual stimuli like explosions, lasers, and a half naked dancing Twi’ lek, add high-powered, suped-up imagineered vehicles, and toss in Boba Fett and Aurra Sing and you’ll get Star Wars Demolition, an endorphin rush for Star Wars geeks. Da da ta ta ta da da. Yes, it is here, another Star Wars game, only this time the characters and their vehicles have been thrown into a wrestling-style cage match with the last one standing emerging victorious. It can only be an event devised by the sinister Jabba The Hutt. Combatants from the outer rim to the core systems wage combat for Jabba’s entertainment…and ours.

You’ll probably have to be a Star Wars freak, geek, or nerd, such as moi, to comprehend the overwhelming endorphin rush I received as the opening Star Wars crawl came to a close and Slave 1 streaked across a star field in the outer rim before giving way to a crescendo of vehicular mayhem—(I use the word mayhem too much, check the thesaurus…ahh)—bedlam, I like bedlam. Anyway, from the get go, not only am I psyched for the game, but even more so for Episode II: The Wait Continues, as I have come to dub it.

Before you shrug Star Wars Demolition off as just another Twisted Metal, Vigilant 8 rip-off (Luxoflux, the team behind V8, developed this title), consider that, although the overriding theme is to destroy other vehicles, there are various platforms in which to inflict your carnage. Battle Mode is a mad free-for-all pitting your ship, speeder, jet pack, creature, whatever against four others; you must win in order to advance. Tournament Mode is comprised of four rounds beginning with one opponent, with each proceeding round adding another challenger. Then there is High Stakes Mode—my personal favourite—where one can gamble on the outcome of each round. Odds are based on win-loss records with wager amounts corresponding to the odds; 100 credit increments with 100 credits as the minimum bet. From there you can bet on yourself (win only, you can’t throw a match), if successful the odds are recalculated and the process begins again; the game ends when someone wins 10,000 credits or loses everything. And finally, Hunt-A-Droid is in essence a training mode in which players must seek out and destroy as many probots as possible in the allotted time.

With a tight turning radius and quick response, each vehicle handles exceptionally well. Special Weapons, ranging from the ho-hum tow cable of the snowspeeder to the primal grab and throw of the rancor—extremely cool and powerful—are unique to each vehicle. An arsenal of varying weapons and devices float and hover throughout each location, however in some levels these items seem a tad more scarce. And keeping in line with ancient gladiatorial bouts, a Final Blow can be executed after a character has been demolished, but before they are destroyed. Three combat droids can be picked-up to repair vehicle damage and speed-up the recharging process of laser batteries and shield generators; they can be scarce and are usually hidden where you least expect them.

Although you won’t find staples like Han, Luke, Jar Jar, and Qui-Gon up for grabs, you will find Boba Fett, Lando Calrissian in his Tamtel Skreej skiff disguise, uber bounty hunter du jour Aurra Sing, and three hidden characters that will look quite familiar—a little hint: all three have head gear of a sort and really cool and devastating special weapons.

Throughout the mazes are facilities in which to recharge weapons and/or shields, however, in certain scenarios you will be charged five credits for each point of energy. Be wary, for these services can be destroyed and revitalizing your energy without these amenities takes a lot of time, which can and will be used against you by the opposition. Not only can these refill stations be damaged beyond repair, but so can the rest of the surrounding structures, from ancient bridges and sun-dried adobes to downed spacecraft and mammoth trees.

Going in, I really thought that Star Wars Demolition was just going to contain straight ahead shoot and destroy gameplay, and essentially it does, but that’s not necessarily a negative aspect. SWD features some unique options allowing for, somewhat interesting and varied gameplay—it is worth a try at the very least. The genre is more suited to the multiplayer aspect ‘cause beating the crap out of your friends is always entertaining; unfortunately, this is where the PlayStation version falls short with only two-player capability—the Dreamcast offers four. Nonetheless, Star Wars Demolition is an entertaining game for what it is, and even strives for and achieves a bit more.

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