‘Star Fox Zero’ Delay May Help It Rise From Mediocrity
Star Fox is one of Nintendo’s fan favorites, Just about everybody played Star Fox 64 at some point, and knows the tagline “Do a Barrel Roll.” He’s top tier in Super Smash Bros, causing the creation of hundreds of memes of him, and after two okayish games we finally have a new Star Fox game on the way! And … it’s just okay.
To be honest I wasn’t very impressed with Star Fox Zero when they showed it at E3. According to Platinum Games they are calling it Zero because they want to retell the story of Star Fox to a newer audience and generation. Sure Star Fox 64 is amazing, and a very well made, fun game. But after all these years I was hoping for more.
The gameplay is very similar to the typical “Star Fox on rails” shooting, using lasers and bombs to take out enemy opposition, and switching from that to an all-terrain mode in which you have free flight in an enclosed area. But a new feature is the Arwing transforming into a walker to allow combat on the ground. A feature that was in the unreleased Star Fox 2 back in the day, the walker is a new element added to the game and honestly a well welcomed feature. It allows you to traverse the narrow landscape adding a new platforming element that was not prevalent in previous Star Fox games. This transforming ability seems to go for the Landmaster tank as well, transforming it into a spaceship allowing flight for a limited amount of time, and even a new vehicle which appears to be a helicopter-hovercraft hybrid.
Honestly, gameplay is probably better than in the previous couple of games. There is even the ability to change from first person to third person utilizing the Wii U gamepad. I do look forward to the game, particularly since it’s being made by Platinum Games which has yet to disappoint me with its game titles.
Since the launch was delayed from last month (Nov. 2015) to April 2016, the devs have more time to improve on the lackluster elements of gameplay. Hopefully my views on the game will change come this Spring.
