Following up Star Fox 64 was no easy task, but I believe Bandai Namco was on the right path to make a great sequel. The on foot combat sections are a good way to add variety to a series that had pretty much perfected on rails shooting, and having the player jump between different vehicles on these missions was the perfect way to tie everything together.
That's why it's a shame that the biggest problem with Assault is the on foot combat itself. The execution of the gameplay style has some flaws, like the lousy weapon switching or the low enemy variety, but I really believe all of that could be largely ignored had the gameplay style been reserved as something to add some variety to the game, instead of being the main focus of it. And even if all these problems were fixed the vast mayority of the missions in the game are centered around destroying X ammount of Y enemy in maps made for multiplayer deathmatch battles (multiplayer mode that I have never ever seen anyone even mention, let alone play). And those repetitive objectives are made worse by a minimap that doesn't help with finding your targets and the fact that the integration of the arwing in these missions ammounts to little more than having to fight off a handful of generic enemy pilots every once in a while. Speaking of the Arwing, it's hard not to feel short changed by the lack of on rails levels on this game when the three times you get to go through some traditional Star Fox levels are so good! Despite lacking the special objectives that made every level in 64 so unique and memorable all three levels are great fun, with the last mission being the highlight of the game, and yet most of your time in the space ships will be spent in some rather plain dogfights.
On a more possitive note, the story may be the thing people rave on the most about this game, and for good reason. The team clearly realized how and why the simple characters from this series are so beloved, and they were able to nail down their team dynamic while developing them in a way that feels natural.
It's easy to see why the game got such a lukewarm reception (especially being such such a short experience), but I'd recommend all Star Fox fans to at least try this one out, if only to see the banter between the Star Fox and Star Wolf teams.
That's why it's a shame that the biggest problem with Assault is the on foot combat itself. The execution of the gameplay style has some flaws, like the lousy weapon switching or the low enemy variety, but I really believe all of that could be largely ignored had the gameplay style been reserved as something to add some variety to the game, instead of being the main focus of it. And even if all these problems were fixed the vast mayority of the missions in the game are centered around destroying X ammount of Y enemy in maps made for multiplayer deathmatch battles (multiplayer mode that I have never ever seen anyone even mention, let alone play). And those repetitive objectives are made worse by a minimap that doesn't help with finding your targets and the fact that the integration of the arwing in these missions ammounts to little more than having to fight off a handful of generic enemy pilots every once in a while. Speaking of the Arwing, it's hard not to feel short changed by the lack of on rails levels on this game when the three times you get to go through some traditional Star Fox levels are so good! Despite lacking the special objectives that made every level in 64 so unique and memorable all three levels are great fun, with the last mission being the highlight of the game, and yet most of your time in the space ships will be spent in some rather plain dogfights.
On a more possitive note, the story may be the thing people rave on the most about this game, and for good reason. The team clearly realized how and why the simple characters from this series are so beloved, and they were able to nail down their team dynamic while developing them in a way that feels natural.
It's easy to see why the game got such a lukewarm reception (especially being such such a short experience), but I'd recommend all Star Fox fans to at least try this one out, if only to see the banter between the Star Fox and Star Wolf teams.