''Star Wars: Lethal Alliance'' is an
action adventure video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
based on the ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...
'' franchise. It takes place between the events of ''
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith'' and ''
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''. It was developed by
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., doing business as Ubisoft Montreal, is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Montreal.
The studio was founded in April 1997 as part of Ubisoft's growth into worldwide markets, with s ...
and released by
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
in December 2006 for the
PlayStation Portable
The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 200 ...
and
Nintendo DS. ''Lethal Alliance'' received a mixed reception.
Gameplay
''Star Wars: Lethal Alliance'' is a third-person action game. It focuses on platforming and shooting mechanics rather than
lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the or ...
s and
the Force
The Force is a metaphysical and ubiquitous power in the ''Star Wars'' fictional universe. "Force-sensitive" characters use the Force throughout the franchise. Heroes like the Jedi seek to "become one with the Force", matching their personal wi ...
. The player controls a female Twi'lek named Rianna and by extension her companion droid Zeeo. Rianna can perform several acrobatic moves as a means of traversal and defense while in combat. Zeeo enhances Rianna's moves, providing access to control panels, becoming a ride-able platform, and creating a shield to absorb enemy fire.
The two releases of the game, while following the same overarching gameplay design, have a number of differences. The DS version of the game makes heavy use of the touch screen for gameplay, while the PSP version utilizes the handheld's buttons. The PSP version lets the player utilize "stealth" features such as stealth attack moves, sneaking past enemies, wearing disguises, while the DS version has an exclusive weapon called the Dual Cannon. The Dual Cannon can only be used once the player has obtained "Maximum Alliance" between Rianna and Zeeo. Once the Dual Cannon is used, it greatly drops the character's alliance bar, and must be filled to use again.
Both versions utilize
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio w ...
and local area connections for multiplayer gaming. The Sony PSP version features Twi'lek (Rianna's species) vs. Twi'lek, while the Nintendo DS features droid versus droid.
Plot
Having escaped from enslavement by Zarien Kheev,
Twi'lek Rianna Saren is a
mercenary
A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...
opposing the
Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
.
Kyle Katarn of the
Rebel Alliance
The Alliance to Restore the Republic ( colloquial: Rebel Alliance; the Rebellion; the Alliance; or the Rebels) is a fictional stateless interstellar coalition of republican dissidents, imperial defectors, revolutionary factions and anti-imper ...
hires her to destroy an Imperial shipment of mirkanite going through a Black Sun warehouse on
Coruscant
Coruscant () is an ecumenopolis planet in the fictional ''Star Wars'' universe. Its first appearance was onscreen in the 1997 Special Edition of ''Return of the Jedi'', but was first depicted and mentioned by name in Timothy Zahn's 1991 novel ...
. Rianna is suddenly captured during this operation, but escapes with the help of a droid named Zeeo. Rebel leader
Princess Leia
Princess Leia Organa is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, portrayed in films by Carrie Fisher. Introduced in the original ''Star Wars'' film in 1977, Leia is princess of the planet Alderaan ...
later sends Rianna and Zeeo to
Alderaan
Alderaan () is a fictional planet featured in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is blue-green in appearance, depicted as a terrestrial planet with humanoid inhabitants, and characterized by a peaceful culture. It is the home planet of Princess Le ...
on a new mission to destroy an Imperial ship.
On Alderaan, Rianna and Zeeo make this way through an Imperial base, opposed by
stormtroopers and Black Sun guards. Discovering that the Empire is experimenting on the scientists, they blow up both this ship and the lab. They also realize that a final shipment is heading to
Mustafar
Mustafar () is a fictional volcanic and lava planet in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Introduced in the final prequel film, ''Revenge of the Sith'' (2005), it also appeared in the films ''Rogue One'' (2016) and ''Episode IX – The Rise of Skywal ...
, and Leia sends them after it. Rianna and Zeeo search an Imperial mining facility on Mustafar, eventually finding and destroying the drill. Rianna finds out that Kheev is going to
Tatooine
Tatooine () is a fictional desert planet that appears in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. It is a beige-colored, desolate world orbiting a pair of binary stars, and inhabited by Human (Star Wars), human settlers and a variety of other life forms. T ...
, and heads there herself.
Rianna's ship is shot down over Tatooine by
Boba Fett
Boba Fett ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. First appearing in the '' Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and preque ...
in his ''
Slave I
The following is a list of starships, cruisers, battleships, and other spacecraft in the ''Star Wars'' films, books, and video games.
Spacecraft appearing in the original trilogy
Death Star
The Death Star is the Empire's battle station whi ...
''. Rianna and Zeeo track down Kheev, who sets a
Rancor
This is a list of creatures in the fictional universe of ''Star Wars'', a space opera media franchise. The types of creatures in this list are listed by category and then in alphabetical order.
Humans and humanoid sentient species
Humans
Human ...
loose on them in an arena. They kill it, but are captured and brought to Despayre where the
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional space station and superweapon featured in the ''Star Wars'' space-opera franchise. Constructed by the autocratic Galactic Empire, the Death Star is capable of annihilating entire planets into rubble, and serves to e ...
is being constructed. Escaping, they hear Kheev talking to
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the ...
about the construction on the Death Star. Donning a huge robot suit, Zheev attacks Rianna. She kills him, and shows the Alliance that she and Zeeo have uncovered the Death Star.
Development and marketing
The game was revealed in August 2006, as was the partnership between
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
and
Lucasfilm
Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is a business segment of The Walt Disney Company. The studio is best known for creating and producing the ''Star Wars'' and ' ...
. It was announced for the Sony PlayStation Portable and the Nintendo DS.
Bertrand Helias, Senior Producer on the game, noted that the team closely with LucasArts to define the game and the story. "They have been excellent collaborative partners, and have also given us the freedom to implement the game mechanics we wanted to develop."
The developers split their focus based on the two platforms' advantages. For the PlayStation Portable they focused on higher definition graphics. On the Nintendo DS they focused on interesting ways to make use of the touch screen.
David Lodge provides the voice for
Kyle Katarn and
Boba Fett
Boba Fett ( ) is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. First appearing in the '' Star Wars Holiday Special'' (1978), where he was voiced by Don Francks, he is an armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and preque ...
.
Fred Tatasciore
Fred Tatasciore (; ) is an American voice actor who has provided voices in animated and live-action films, television shows, and video games. He is known for voicing the Hulk and Beast in various Marvel media and Solomon Grundy in various DC m ...
voices
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the ...
, and
Julianne Buescher
Julianne Buescher (born February 4, 1965) is an American actress, writer, and puppeteer who performs in film, television, radio, and on stage. As a voice actress, she is known for many roles including Anko Mitarashi on ''Naruto''. She hails fro ...
provides the voice protagonist Rianna Saren.
''Star Wars: Lethal Alliance'' was released initially on December 5, 2006 for the Sony Playstation Portable.
The Nintendo DS version was released a week later on December 12, 2006.
Reception
''Lethal Alliance'' was met with a mixed reception.
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
and
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
gave it a score of 64.18% and 61 out of 100 for the PSP version,
[ and 64.93% and 57 out of 100 for the DS version.][
Reviewers for the PSP version of the game noted that it was unremarkable compared to similar games on the same platform. The critic from ''GamePro'' said there "are much better action games out on the PSP than this one, so pass it by unless you're obsessed with Star Wars."] ''GameZone''s Angelina Sandoval noted that while the levels have variety and teamwork elements were fun ''Lethal Alliance'' is "ultimately ..a portable action game that could have a lot better."
References
External links
*
*
{{Star Wars games
2006 video games
Ubisoft games
Nintendo DS games
PlayStation Portable games
Lethal Alliance
Third-person shooters
Video games developed in Canada
Video games featuring female protagonists