The Star Fox franchise has seen a long wait between games. When I say that, I am of course talking about a real Star Fox title. A true sequel to Lylat Wars. Not a Zelda clone or an awful attempt by a third-party developer, but an actual, Nintendo-developed Star Fox.
And here it is. But by God, is it ugly.
For a Wii U game Star Fox Zero is just… yeesh. When I went hands-on at E3 — only five months prior to its November release — Star Fox Zero looked like a GameCube game. Of course graphics aren’t everything, but the Wii U has shown it can produce some incredible visuals. I just can’t understand why it looks so bad. Maybe it’s the visual style Nintendo is going with, or maybe it’s just that my benchmark has risen as current-gen games continue to impress. Whatever the case, this is one butt-ugly game.
It’s a good thing then that it’s a hell of a game. It is in fact, the only game thus far to make use of the Wii U’s dual screens in any meaningful way. Let’s be honest; every Wii U game up until this point has used the GamePad’s screen for something superfluous. Not so with Star Fox Zero. The TV presents the traditional third-person perspective, familiar to those who’ve played the previous titles. You view your Arwing from behind, steer left and right, do a barrel-roll (or two), and aim your reticule at whatever you want to die. The GamePad screen is your cockpit view.
In Star Fox Zero the cockpit of your Arwing is shown on the GamePad at all times and looking at both the third-person and first-person perspectives is the only way to see everything at once and complete each mission. In general you’ll be using the TV and only switching to the GamePad for precision aiming in certain scenarios; picking off turrets, opening up small doors, or shooting satellite dishes.
It’s actually not possible to play without using both screens and while it’s a great use of the Wii U hardware the trade-off is motion controls. If you’re rolling your eyes right now, ready to jump on Twitter and announce your furious boycotting of Star Fox Zero, trust me, I was right there with you. Even after playing for a few minutes I was unconvinced. But given a little time, the motion controls actually work and work well.
The left stick control the nose of your Arwing and the right controls barrel-rolls, loops etc. The motion controls provide fine aiming. So as you look around your cock-pit in first-person by tilting the GamePad you’re actually aiming the reticule. It sounds ridiculous and on first playing, it is, but once it clicks — and trust me it will click — it becomes second nature and you’ll begin to wonder if you can go back to a single screen for this genre.
Aside from the Arwing, I did get to spend some time as the chicken like Walker and explore some of the level on foot. It works really well, although takes even more getting used to than the flying. It’s novel and so far only seems to exist to locate hidden passageways, treasures and the like. I didn’t get to see if there were any Walker focused levels, but Nintendo isn’t one to include mechanics that don’t at least get some time in the spotlight so I wouldn’t be surprised if the finished title features all of the Arwing forms in their very own… starring vehicles.
Star Fox Zero thankfully feels like Star Fox and Lylat Wars. It is the real sequel we’ve all be clamouring for. It’s a shame it’s as ugly as all hell, but it plays like a dream.
Star Fox Zero will be exclusive to the Wii U from 20 November.
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