Released back in 2002 for the PS2 and Nintendo's Gamecube, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter follows Jango Fett, the man who was cloned for the purposeReleased back in 2002 for the PS2 and Nintendo's Gamecube, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter follows Jango Fett, the man who was cloned for the purpose of creating the Clone Army seen in Episode 2 and in the Clone Wars animated show. Re-released onto the PS4 in 2015, players can now step into the armor of the Mandalorian bounty hunter and see how Jango got his ship, the Slave 1, how it was decided that he should be cloned and why he decided to have his son Boba, who is also his clone.
The story kicks off with Count Dooku issuing a bounty on the head of Komari Vosa, a Dark Jedi and leader of the gang Bando Gora. Jango and his rival Montross both accept this bounty and begin to search for their target. The narrative shows our protagonist slaughtering many enemies on various planets such as Coruscant, Tatooine, the asteroid prison Oovo 4, Malastare and Kohlma. The story is average as Jango goes to locations, spills the blood of the locals, fights a boss and move onto the next chapter. We barely see any cutscenes featuring Vosa in them and we know exactly what happens to Montross the moment he starts scraping with Jango. Montross is the stereotypical hunter who enjoys killing his targets and claims that he and Jango are the same. He's an annoyance and is boring. The story does have some interesting moments, like when Montross reminds Jango of his adoptive father's death alongside the slaying of many other Mandalorians in the past prior to the game, which piqued my curiosity and made me wonder how that happened. Another moment that seemed interesting came from Rozatta, a motherly figure to Jango, who tries to coax him into starting a family. The moment happens at the start of the sixth and final chapter and explains why Jango wanted to have Boba created, so I won't spoil it here. We also see the relationship between both Rozatta and jango as they both care about each other, which is seen once again in the aforementioned cutscene that I won't spoil. Jango himself isn't too interesting, being solely focused on bounty hunting and nothing else. He also has that rivalry with Montross and the decision to create Boba at the story's conclusion helps to develop his character but besides that, he's rather bland and nothing else. The story isn't worth being invested in at all.
Gameplay sees you wielding an arsenal of weapons against hostile aliens. Your standard arms are two laser guns which fire whenever you press the button. Button mashing can lead to you firing barrages of laser blasts at foes. You also have a sniper rifle used to take out long distance targets in two or three shots, a rocket launcher used to kill clusters of foes through its explosive splash damage, a flamethrower to set living beings alight, grenades that cause a smaller explosion that rockets and poison darts that can kill most enemies instantly. You can also pick up a machine gun found in various locations that does high damage but is limited to 99 rounds of ammunition. You also have a jetpack used to fly and reach high places, though lasts a very short amount of time when being used and regenerates its fuel when not being used. Said fuel is also used to power up and fire the flamethrower. Part of your kit also contains a scanner and whipcord, used to identify bounty targets and to tie them up, respectively. Bounties are difficult to find in most stages since you will be shot on sight by enemies and they might die in the crossfire that ensues. Some targets are either wanted dead or alive and this will be shown on your scanner when identified. Bounties must be marked first to be claimed or else they are worthless when killed unmarked.
Enemies can be downright scary during later levels as they will be in numbers and are equipped with high power weapons like snipers, rockets and machine guns which can tear through you like tissue paper. The game has a continue mechanic, meaning that if you use up all your chances and don't beat a level, you must restart said level from the start. These unfair deaths are caused by said foes, who are positioned in ways that cause you to easily die to them many times due to their locations and the high damage they can dish out to you. Unless you follow a guide, it's unlikely that you'll beat a level on your first try. It's because of said enemies that I decided not to finish the story, as they were a nightmare to deal with and weren't worth the effort.
Boss fights have you firing your guns at a boss while dodging their attacks and any normal enemies shooting you within the arena. That's it. If you didn't need to dodge, I'd say these fights were brain-dead. There are seven fights, most taking place by a chapter's third level, excluding the sixth chapter, having two fights at levels one and three.
In summary, Bounty Hunter has a high barrier of entry for players and demands you to finish tough levels with no chance of forgiveness if you fail. Don't buy it unless you want to torment yourself as you play.… Expand
