Review: Star Wars: Trench Run - Plus Video

Overview

Star Wars: Trench Run puts you in the cockpit of the X-Wing to allow you to play one of the most famous scenes from Star Wars. You get to play from the dog fight against TIE fighters to flying through the trench until finally firing away at the thermal exhaust port of the Death Star. THQ allows you to play as Luke Skywalker, and truly feel the force.

Features

The game is split up into mission and arcade modes. In mission mode you play through five missions in sequence with the movie. You begin with the dog fight then descend into the trench blasting base cannons. You them have to maneuver through tight squeezes, and next Darth Vader is on your trail. Finally it’s just heading towards the exhaust port with one shot to destroy the Death Star. In arcade mode you get to jump straight into dogfight or trench mode. You play through all the levels of either mode going for the highest score. Online high scores are provided for all modes as well. The controls are straightforward. You control your ship using the accelerometer using entire rotation in dogfight mode, and just forwards and back in the trench. Tap the right side of the screen to fire, and the left side of the screen to use the force and slow down action. Also there are two camera modes, either 3rd person or in cockpit.

The Good

The best part of this game is it lets you play one of the most famous scenes from Star Wars. The controls are set up to make it really easy to do so especially compared to other Star Wars games I’ve played on the computer. You actually feel like you’re in control as you move up and down, squeezing through obstacles in the trench and blasting cannons. If you’ve ever watched the original Star Wars then you will absolutely love playing as Luke Skywalker flying down the trench. The game plays so well that you can feel yourself right in the fantasy of Star Wars. It’s a fun experience to tilt up and down and side to side avoiding obstacles, and making it through tight squeezes. The game is visually outstanding from the design of the Death Star trench to your X-Wing and the TIE-Fighters. The trench is rendered nicely in 3D, and so is your X-Wing hurtling forward against green cannon blasts. The entire game looks and feels just like a Star Wars movie. Movie clips are also interspersed to put you right into the film. Also straight from the film is the soundtrack. The varying soundtrack from Star Wars is intermixed, and they’re all the songs that aren’t the main title theme as that has been overplayed anyway. The sound effects are authentic Star Wars as well, and you’ll feel right there with the varying laser blasts, and flying sounds. The trench controls work great from the flying to the firing. A nice save system is included that pick up at you most recent checkpoint with your score intact.

The Bad

The dogfighting mode isn’t as good as the trench mode. The controls don’t nearly work as well, and don’t even compare to F.A.S.T. It’s tough to get the TIE fighters in firing range, and the only way to really shoot them is using the Force mode. Also force mode makes the game too easy, as it never ran out for me. The game is short as I made it through the entire mission in around a half hour. Then you’ve seen everything in the game, and arcade mode is just playing the same game for high scores. That’s great for a casual $0.99 game, but this game is $4.99 so I expect more play time. You play through once, and you may never play through again. As you progress if you die you start at the beginning of the level, and the trench is made up with the exact same cannon and obstacle layout. The included online high scores are extremely basic only giving you the top 10, and your ranking number with no achievements or anything like we’ve come to know and expect.

The Verdict

Star Wars: Trench Run has found a good home on the iPhone, as the platform is perfect for the experience. If you’re a Star Wars fan, then you know the Trench Run, and it’s a great experience on the iPhone. It’s designed wonderfully from the visual layout of the Death Star trench to the X-Wing and TIE Fighters. The games has the perfect soundtrack from the movie, and controls nicely. The game is very short though, and costs $4.99 with the price seemingly on name alone. The game is worth considering depending on your love of Star Wars, but don’t expect too much time out of it.

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