This is one of the most exciting reviews that I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing for Vooks. There’s a few reasons for this. First off, I’ve been really disenchanted with a lot of the stuff that Nintendo has been putting out lately – most of which are reeking of rushed projects mired with the reuse of recycled assets. Second, I’ve never really thought Star Fox would ever come back to home consoles in a big way. Third, I’d never really thought that Star Fox Zero would actually turn out to be good. Much like everyone else on the internet, I was sceptical of the footage. I thought it looked dull. Thought it was yet another tired filler project from Nintendo. But boy was I oh so wrong.’
Star Fox Zero is a really difficult game to describe however. It is apparently not a remake nor is it a reboot as it very briefly mentions prior events in the series throughout its rather light story. But at the same time there are many situations that are just a little too familiar. The story is just as you’d expect it to be – Corneria is under attack by a maniacal scientist named Andross, who has a link or some history with Star Fox’s leader, Fox McCloud’s father. Driven to do the right thing, General Pepper enlists Star Fox – that’s Fox, Slippy, Falco and Peppy – to travel the galaxy and take down the threat that Andross poses. The story is nearly identical to every major Star Fox game previously released and thus there are really no surprises.
Star Fox Zero is quite a new beast in terms of gameplay though. It plays just like the classic Star Fox games you remember – the original game and the Nintendo 64 one are the ones that it shares the most in common with. You’ll be deployed on missions, fly through them in on-rails segments or take part in more free roaming dogfights. This is without a doubt classic Star Fox gameplay that fans of the series know and love and have been clamouring for while Nintendo released off brand spin-offs or attempts to spice things up with segments that didn’t really fit. Not quite a remake and definitely not a sequel or prequel, its hard to define Zero. But there’s a lot that’s familiar about it.
The most controversial element here will easily be the control scheme which makes great use of the GamePad but takes a little bit of getting used to. If there’s anything I want anyone to take away from this review – it’s that you must simply persist with the controls. You’ll find it weird and disorientating at first but after an hour or two you’ll have most of the nuances of it down pat and you’ll be able to enjoy everything Star Fox has to offer. On the screen you have the typical Star Fox layout – as the ship flies. Of course you can just use this screen, but using the GamePad for the cockpit view allows you to get a greater degree of control over your aim especially during some of the more hectic boss battles.
At first I was sceptical as to whether this was a feature that would improve my aim – that every time I was looking at my GamePad the game somehow purposefully made it easier for me to hit my targets. But then I realised that the game didn’t know when I was looking at the GamePad, that using this aiming method, which allows you to fire in one direction while flying in another, is actually much more beneficial to the gameplay.
Star Fox Zero was developed by Platinum Games and it really shows – mastery of the control scheme will easily help you conquer the battles designed around it. There’s nothing like watching a member of Star Wolf tail you on the television, dodging their attacks, somersaulting and then just as you let them pass you lining up the perfect shot on your GamePad. It’s a system that works amazingly and really helps to get you in the game and pull off those perfect shots to maximise your score.
There are a few new vehicles to play around with in Star Fox Zero too, and while these aren’t your typical Star Fox segments they still feel like they belong within the game. There’s no awkward hellish on-foot segments like in Assault. There’s no boring and empty battles like in Command. There’s just the action, the set pieces and the variety of experiences that keep Star Fox Zero feeling fresh. You’ll fly in an Arwing, you’ll dash in a Landmaster and you’ll cover great distances in your walker which carries over from the cancelled-but-finished Star Fox 2.
The Walker is easily one of the highlights here and once again the Platinum Games pedigree begins to show when you start to control it. While in the Walker you’ll be able to lock on to enemies, dash and dodge left and right as well as pull off stylish jumps to evade attacks and quickly change your facing direction on the spot. The Walker being integrated into most missions helps to break up the aerial dogfights with some on-foot action that isn’t monotonous or poorly paced while still maintaining the speed and momentum of the standard flight segments.
There are some times when the action comes to a halt, however, but this is by no means a bad thing. The gyrocopter allows Fox to hover and lower his drone, called i-Direct, in to investigate and hack terminals that are in areas that aren’t easily accessible. These segments are slower – but once again help to better pace the action of the rest of the game. They still feel like Star Fox. They don’t feel out of place. But they are slightly more straightforward than the rest of the game which some players may find disappointment with.
What isn’t disappointing is how Star Fox Zero gives you a little bit more freedom to approach your battles. As you progress you’ll eventually be given the ability to change your form on the fly – the Landmaster can now turn into a fully featured aircraft and the Arwing can turn into the Walker during most battles and vice versa. It’s a nice way to accommodate those players who might want to approach a level differently and it’s done with the press of a button too. All of your vehicles feel like they are useful in certain situations though – some enemies can be hacked with the Walker or blown up with the Arwings lasers. There are different ways to take down certain enemies and it’s appreciated.
Those worrying that Star Fox Zero would be a largely linear affair should fret not – there’s still the classic Star Fox experience here. While not entirely obvious – certain levels can branch off into another depending on your performance or actions during certain stages. To give an idea of the variety, we played about eleven or so levels in our initial play-through but had eight that we had missed. Much like the original game, Star Fox Zero is designed to be played more than once and has a great deal of replayability as a result. This is a Platinum game through and through – in that the more you familiarise yourself with the gameplay the more you’ll get out of it on repeat plays.
The encounters with enemies and bosses are quite fun and varied too. You’ll have some fairly standard battles in your ship with other ships that really require you to utilise all of the manoeuvres available to you. You’ll have some battles with giant ships that break apart as they become damaged – requiring you to use both cameras to both damage and dodge debris as they fall apart. The point is there’s a mix of big and small encounters in Zero to keep things interesting.
On our first run the game took us roughly five and a half hours to complete. Of course, those wanting to discover everything the game has to offer – including the multiple paths – could easily take upwards of ten hours. Even more to find every medal (collectibles hidden in each stage) and get the top scores in each level.
There was some controversy that Star Fox Zero offers an invincible ship option for those who might die a lot in the game. Thankfully, this can be avoided should you wish. In fact, those who want a harder experience that encourages the learning of the games controls, mechanics and skills should invest in a Falco amiibo. The black Arwing packs more firepower but takes more damage as a compromise. The result is a harder, challenging and yet more rewarding game in the long run.
There are some multiplayer options to further improve the experience but unfortunately nothing like the skirmishes of previous games. Instead, the game can be played cooperatively – with one player being in the gunner seat of the ship while another pilots it. This mode is fun and works well, but it would’ve been great to have an arena competitive mode included as well.
From a presentation standpoint, Zero is a bit more of a mixed bag. Up close there are some clear concessions the developers have had to make in order to get the game running at a fluid framerate of 60fps – and even then during some more visually spectacular explosions it still manages to slow. But in motion Star Fox Zero looks fine. The ships look great, the flares on the engines billow and recede as you manoeuvre across reflective waters and amongst enemy laser fire.
It’s a game that looks better in motion than in screenshots but one where the quality of some of its visuals is wildly variable. Some aspects look great – General Pepper looks realistically fluffy for example but then other character models look rough. To be fair, you’ll not see them a lot, probably for a grand total of four or five minutes in cutscenes, but its still kind of jarring to notice them.
The sound design is fantastic however. From the get go you’ll have both friendlies and enemies yelling at you on the battlefield. Steal a kill from a squadmate and you’ll hear about it from them. If they need help they’ll yell. Enemies will berate you when you shoot at them or they shoot you down. Nintendo’s goal was to evoke a similar feeling to Thunderbirds and the constant dynamic chatter means they’ve nailed it pretty perfectly.
Chicken Walker Artwork
The music on the other hand is just there. It’s not fantastic – though some of the faster paced pieces towards the end are really exhilarating and get the mood going – but it does the job. Given the “new but old” feeling of most of Zero, many of the pieces are reimagined tunes from previous Star Fox games. They help set the scene well but unfortunately don’t match the greatness of Assaults strong orchestral offering.
Most noise that comes out of the GamePad (and only the GamePad) is fantastic – every piece of radio chatter, every ship related noise (whether it be the boosters powering on or you taking damage or just the whirr of a helicopter blade or engine) comes out of it. The result is a more immersive experience than if all that audio was just barked at you from the television.
Review concludes below.
