Factor 5's newest Star Wars game is packing tons of new gameplay features, including two-player cooperative missions.
Today, the June issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly is expected to arrive in the hands of a few lucky subscribers. We'll have more info on the issue's top story, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike, later on. However, EGM's online partner, Gamers.com, has posted the first info and screens already.
Stop reading and click the link above to see their exclusive info and screens.
Done? Good, then let's get into the details. Two major new gameplay features are prevalent in the screenshots. First, there is a two-player mode. Info from Gamers.com suggests that it is a cooperative mode that allows you to play through the missions in Rogue Leader, the previous Star Wars game from Factor 5. It is unknown whether the new missions will also be enabled for multiple players.
It's also quite evident that players can now climb out of their vehicles and perform tasks on foot. Factor 5 tinkered with third-person gameplay in Rogue Leader, by allowing you to control your pilot in the hangar when choosing a ship for each mission. Details are of course scarce at the moment, but it seems you can now exit your craft at any time during planetary missions, and presumably you can run over to another vehicle as well as fight with blaster and/or lightsaber on foot. One screen even depicts Luke Skywalker climbing up to the underbelly of a giant AT-AT walker to cut out its insides, just like in the movies.
There are also new vehicles to pilot, including a speeder bike for a mission on what appears to be the forest moon of Endor, as well as an AT-ST walker in the same environment. Obviously, some Imperial vehicles will finally be at our disposal. Other screens show a Rebel fighter riding a Taun Taun on Hoth and Chewbacca fighting Stormtroopers inside a ship, but those screens appear to be taken from cinema scenes, judging by their lack of on-screen displays for health, weapons, etc.
Graphically, Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike looks to be properly upgraded from its predecessor, although a few areas are still obviously unfinished. One screenshot shows an X-Wing flying into a horde of Imperial craft; there are at least fifty (we counted) TIE Fighters, Interceptors, Bombers, and Gunboats on-screen at once.
We'll have more information on this game as soon as it becomes available, and of course, more impressions than are probably necessary once E3 begins next month.
