STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE
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Sabre the moment...

By JAMES ANTHONY

We reckon that by now you've seen the movie, want to keep the Star Wars experience going and want to know if The Phantom Menace from LucasArts will maintain the high level of excitement and adventure.

Well, it pretty much follows the film's storyline, but does allow you to get stuck right into carving up battle droids and fighting the cohorts of the conniving Trade Federation.

The action is fast, furious and one heck of a lot of fun as you follow the adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi, jedi master Qui-Gon Jinn, the Queen of Theed and Captain Panaka. Death awaits in a variety of forms - droids, armored attack tanks, mines, giant fish, Darth Maul - but the designers have come up with an excellent interface that makes life, and saving games before you die, a piece of cake.

The style of game is very much Lara Croft, without the buxom one, as not only do you have to race around and hack or shoot things, but you need to solve puzzles in order to progress. The mind games are not that testing and in fact gameplay borders on being a little simple. However, as survival is also the name of the game and the enemy does throw a host of opponents at you, it is well balanced.

This also allows for a more fun experience as you can set about enjoying the adventure rather than worrying which button it was that arms you with Gungan powerballs.

Your weapons include the light sabre, which also can deflect blasters, a pistol blaster, a machine gun blaster, explosives and the powerballs, which stun droids. While blasters come in handy, as does the Force push (z) and mind control, the sabre is where it's at for any would-be jedi.

Keeping a good sense of direction is important in The Phantom Menace as the default view, from up and behind, makes it tough to see too far ahead (Read on for a view cheat) and in the swamps of Naboo it is easy to lose track of where you are. Still, the designers pretty much lead you (or force you) to eventually go the right way and you can guarantee you won't be lost for long.

The graphics are a little up and down - leafy branches, some walls and other objects that can block your up-and-behind view are pretty ordinary - but then there are just sensational pieces of artistry such as the various fish swimming about in the swamps, rivers and pools.

The main characters are fine and their voices okay, but boy would I love to take a light sabre to Jar Jar Binks and hack the annoyingly-voiced flop ears into silence.

Overall, The Phantom Menace delivers a really enjoyable way to venture into the Star Wars universe. It is fair to say that the game has been aimed at younger teens but it will appeal to all ages.

There will be cheats and a walkthrough available soon on GameBlitz, but to give you a first-person perspective on the game hit the backspace key and type in naughty naughty.

Hey, we're only here to help!

ORIGINALITY 75%
SOUND/GRAPHICS 85%
PLAYABILITY 90%
ADDICTION 80%
ENJOYMENT 90%