Gaming Target - PlayStation 2: Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

Written by Adam Woolcott on August 30, 2002

First Impressions: Jango Fett finds the toughest paper towels just for you!

Of all the major-budget movies that exist in Hollywood, it seems that the Star Wars franchise is the one that best translates to video game form. That's not saying that the current batch of Star Wars games are any good Ц but the SW worlds translate perfectly into a game. When Episode 1 was released, a ton of licensed turds came out, such as Jedi Power Battles. And only a couple were better than decent Ц these being Episode 1 Racer and Starfighter (you could make a strong case for Obi-Wan on the Xbox, but it was released so late in the game that it really doesn't matter).

With Episode 2 now a memory in theatres and set for a big DVD release, the direction is aimed at the video games. Lucasarts has wised up Ц instead of bringing out a horde of terrible games, they've focused on making less games that are much higher quality Ц as seen by the release of Jedi StarfighterЕthe only EP 2 game released thus far. However, another one is coming soon, and it's possibly the most anticipated of them all Ц Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. Telling the tale of bounty hunter (and father of the cult favorite Boba Fett) Jango Fett, SW:BH is a radical new direction for a Star Wars game; putting the player in control of an Уanti-heroФ instead of one of the many Star Wars heroes. While the games' release is still a while off, early looks into the game show one that has tons of promise, as well as being one of the better Star Wars games in quite a while.

Bounty Hunter ties in with Episode 2, as you might expect. You start off doing a simple bounty mission, but after Count Dooku issues a giant bounty on an insane Jedi (as well as find out who's behind the Clone Army, but that's a touchy subject with Jango if you've seen the movie), Jango heads into action on a trek to collect the bounty and find and deliver this Jedi in question. Along the way Jango still collects some bounties of seedy members of the Star Wars universe, but the main point of the game never strays.

As you might expect, Jango is loaded with super-duper weapons to fight enemies and collect bounties with. Besides the famous dual blaster and thermal detonators (he's holding a thermal detonator! Err..sorry, flashback), Mr. Fett carries around a sniper rifle, a torch to cut open steel (or maybe even torch a living thing), a flame projector, and of course the Episode 2 special, the Toxic Dartcaster. Jango also uses his nifty jetpack to leap tall buildings in a single bound, as well as hover and shoot as he's railing in a bounty or executing some pains in the ass along the way.

Of course, Jango isn't alone and interacts with many of these enemies, most of them famous figures and items from the vast Star Wars universe. For example Jango deals with Tusken Raiders (or the sand people as Luke would say), Greedo look-alikes, tons of different droids Ц especially protocol droids, as well as the oft-forgotten Jawas (who-tittie!). You'll also come across many humans, such as the Coruscant Police. Finally, you'll interact with Count Dooku (Darth Tyrannus), and Darth Sidious (Chancellor Palpatine & future Emperor). That's just a sample of the many life forms that exist in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter (there's at least 100 different kinds) Ц it's possible that the game will have the most variety in a SW game in a long time.

Bounty Hunter should be a long game Ц with 18 different levels including 6 major boss battles, all spread on 6 different worlds, there should be plenty to do here and a ton of variety. With all the cool gadgets in place and such a vast array of things to interact with (and kill), this looks like a can't-miss Star Wars game that will make the past SW duds all but forgotten.