No doubt you all remember the non-event that was Star Fox Adventures, Rare's misnomered GameCube swansong? Well, the Great Fox's crew have been leased out once again, albeit this time to arcade-goers favourite, Namco. Will this title stay truer to the series' roots, or are we in for another license tack-on-athon?

 

Short answer, no. If anything, Namco's take on the Nintendo franchise seems to feature more bang for your buck than a wad of explosive dollar bills. Whether you are taking to the enemy plagued skies in your Arwing, mowing down enemies in the Landmaster Tank, or simply Rambo-ing it up on foot, pyrotechnics are guaranteed. Rocket launchers, blasters, machine guns, grenades and the obligatory sniper rifle can all be used when you are not in a vehicle, each offering its own advantages; charge up shots on the blaster, for instance. That's right, folks, we're talking more guns than an NRA spokesman, and with hordes of mechanical enemies literally lining up to soak up your plasma, you might just need them.

But where did these enemies, the Aparoids, come from? At the moment, not much is known about the game's storyline, but what we do know is suitably ominous.

 

Set several years after the mollification of Dinosaur Planet, Lylat Central Command is once again bothering the Great Fox's occupants with requests for assistance. Of course being the legends they are, the team can hardly refuse, so off they go to foil the Aparoid's galactic siege.

Okay, so the game's plot might be following a tried and tested formulae, but hey, the series has always been about the action — well, apart from Adventures, but I think I've slated that enough already. But will you have to wade through the shallow story alone? Luckily, it seems that Namco are really catering for multi- as well as single-player for this title, a true feast for all gaming gluttons.

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Continuing with the food theme, multi-player comes in two flavours: competitive, and cooperative. Up to four players can pull up a chair, with LAN banquets seemingly not on the menu, at least at the moment. Still, gameplay promises to be amenable to all tastes, with players being able to switch between wings, tracks, and trainers at any point during the action. Presumably, this three-course gameplay structure will be balanced appropriately, with the acquisition of an Arwing hopefully not bringing with it all-terrain domination. For the humanitarians among you, up to four players can band together in order to defeat the mechanical invaders that antagonise the single-player experience. Each player can either decide to jump into their own means of transport or act as a literal wingman, squatting on the side of a friend's vehicle, picking off troublesome enemies with the firepower acquired on the ground.

 

Speaking of which, I should probably mention the types of environments you will find yourself traversing. The E3 videos primarily focused on Fox's rampage through a mechanised city, presumably an area overrun by the Aparoid's swarming minions. Some space-side Arwing action was also demonstrated, with the barrel-rolling craft carving through the vacuum with both swift manoeuvres and cannon fire. Being a Star Fox title, you can expect plenty of the latter — the clue is in the name. On the more static side of things, several screenshots have showcased a more verdant multi-player arena populated with palm trees and Aztec-like ruins. Logic suggest that this area would play a part in the single-player mission, so you wont have to spend all your time staring at the relative blandness of space.

 

So, space is fairly hard to make interesting — being in essence a matt expanse of black — but how does the rest of the game fair on the visual front? Whilst not the most beautiful 'Cube title at the show, the smoothness of both Star Fox 2's animation and frame-rate is done no justice by screenshots alone. In fact, the only real query I have is to the absence of the fur effect pioneered in Star Fox Adventures. Whilst it holds an obvious presence in the game's briefing screens it is mysteriously lacking during actual gameplay. A small quibble, perhaps, but it is all I have in stock.

The game has been scheduled for a 29th of November release in the US, a date I hope America can learn to share with its European counterparts. Whether this will be the case is still off the radar, but don't strike Fox and Co. off your Christmas list just yet; if this E3 has shown us anything it's that miracles do happen. We'll have more as an when it breaks.