[Insert clever Star Wars reference here]... Seriously, it's gotten to the stage where we've seen and played so many damn Star Wars games that it's hard to muster the effort and enthusiasm Xbox World Australia prides itself on for this introduction. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the games aren't fun or that we've stopped loving Star Wars; it's just hard to shake that feeling of deja-vu-been-there-done-that banality. LEGO Star Wars (XBW: 75%) was a breath of fresh air to be sure, but can the same be said for the movie tie-in, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith?

As you've probably gathered, the Episode 3 game is the requisite videogame title to go along with the blockbuster movie, which is the final in the Star Wars series. Designed to wrap up a lot of the loose ends of the double trilogy, Revenge of the Sith is at once both an ending and a new beginning, and the film itself does a lot to redeem the series after the cinematic travesty that was Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. Rather than just being a cheap cash-in, Lucasarts commissioned The Collective- the driving force behind the brilliant Buffy (XBW: 82% ) and Wrath Unleashed (XBW: 82%)- to do the final flick justice on our beloved `box, and the results are no Jedi mind-trick!

At its heart, the Episode 3 game is a third person fighting game, with the emphasis very much on Lightsaber action rather than fisticuffs. Throughout the 16 mission singleplayer campaign, you'll play as both Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker as they duel and generally Force-smite their way through all the key moments from the film. Additionally, there are quite a few levels that take place outside the scope of the movie, some of which come from the cutting room floor and may even make it into future DVD special features. There's a great blend of movie moments and new content, so the game should please both casual players and Star Wars fan-atics.

Becoming a master Lightsaber duelist couldn't be easier, which is a blessing and a curse as far as the game is concerned. On the one hand, anyone can pick it up and enjoy a frustration free, easy-to-average difficulty game, but on the other cybernetic replacement mitt, it's probably a little too simplistic to appeal to hardcore players. Holding down the left trigger will block 90% of the hits coming your way, for example, and there's little reason to use the tricky 4-5 move combination special attacks when button-mashing with X and Y gets the job done.

Despite this, the game has a nice role-playing element that sees your two Jedi guys earn experience for defeating enemies; the more you drop without taking a hit, the higher your rating and thus the more experience you earn. This is then used to increase your Force proficiencies like Push, Grab, Heal and Lightning, or to unlock new powerful moves. Unlike Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (XBW: 86%) however, you don't have control over the finer points here; rather than selecting individual abilities, you put your points into broad categories like Jump Attacks or finishing moves, and each time you level up you get two or three new skills to master. It certainly encourages you to perform better to earn more experience, but just whacking X and Y incessantly will have pretty much the same effect, it just doesn't look as cool.

And cool it does look: the animations are brilliantly vivid and frantic, resulting in incredibly fast paced battles that look elegant and deadly. Even those Padawans who follow the Way of the Button-Mash will be given a hell of a show, and the Lightsaber combat is really the high-point of the game. More importantly, it's just good wholesome fun to play as well as watch, and it allows you to feel like you're in control of a powerful character, regardless of how elite your skills are. The levels look fantastic as well, and do an amazing job of conveying the larger battles going on around you and making you feel like you're part of a larger concerted effort.

The problems almost outweigh the great sense of scale though: invisible walls and barriers will plague your every move, and even areas where you should logically be able to walk/jump to will be off-limits. Not only that, but even the visible world will prove a major hindrance, with simple objects like chairs and tables becoming insurmountable obstacles. In some truly frustrating cases, your opponents will even be able to access these locations and rain down blaster fire and the like with impunity. Worse still are the aforementioned invisible barriers: your foes will *always* be shooting at you from off-screen, inaccessible areas, and the complete absence of camera controls can make for some incredibly frustrating sections that would drive even Yoda to the dark side.

On the topic of Yoda and enemies, the A.I. is pretty patchy too. Your average Separatist droid is about as smart as an automatic tin-can opener, and probably about as deadly. While this may fit well with the saber-fodder mentality of the films, it doesn't exactly make for the most exciting gameplay experience. Fortunately there are tougher enemies to be had, including Jedi, grapple-droids, and of course boss enemies like Count Dooku and General Greivous. These boss battles certainly make up for the easiness in other missions, and can provide a real challenge. Compounding the trickiness is the lack of a free-save system, and only a few of the larger levels even have a mid-level restart point. The end result is a game that gravitates from too easy to unnecessarily frustrating'so it's a good thing you can adjust the difficulty on the fly.

Episode 3 is a pretty good looking game, but being yet another cross-platform release, it lacks the flair and wow-factor that you might hope. It's no Gamorrean guard by any stretch, but it ain't no Princess Leia in her slave costume either. The levels themselves are the standout, meticulously recreated from the film and concept art/sketches that didn't make it into the cinematic cut, there's never a moment that you don't feel like you're in the Star Wars universe. The Clone Wars rage around you as your character goes about their Jedi business, and there are a few scripted moments where you'll get sucked into that action which feels pretty cool. The character models are pretty basic by modern standards, and have about as much facial expression as a Bothan. That said, the combat animations more than make up for the comparable simplicity, with incredibly fluid movements that mimic the characters from the film perfectly.

The actors, by the way, appear to have lent their likeness to the videogame but not their voices, so sound-alike understudies have had to fill their voluminous Jedi robes for The Collective's game. Given the phenomenal budget behind the blockbuster movie, it's quite surprising that the o'erflowing coffers of LucasArts/Film couldn't spring for at least *one* of the cast members- Christopher 'Sauruman-Scaramanga' Lee is usually up for it! At any rate, the foreign voices attached to familiar faces is quite a jarring experience, especially in cases like Mace Windu, whose voice sounds absolutely nothing like Sam Jackson. Nor does it help that the spoken dialogue ranges from tolerable at best to cringe-inducing drivel at its worst. Picture the most painful one-liners in the new trilogy, times it by Jar Jar, and you've probably got an all-too vivid mental picture. As always however, the stellar soundtrack we all know and love is omnipresent throughout the course of the game, and you can always crank it up a few notches to drown out the voices.

Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith is a pretty short game, and most people will bring the final act of the first trilogy to a close in under ten hours. As you battle your way through the space opera you'll have the chance to unlock a Hutt's ransom worth of goodies, including concept art and sketches heretofore unseen, some of which is from scenes cut from the movie. Speaking of the movie, there's heaps of DVD quality clips from Episode 3 that look fantastic (and have the added perk of making you desire the actual DVD immediately!), so if you haven't seen the film yet there could be a few spoilers involved. In addition to this you can unlock new singleplayer and multiplayer content: new arenas, bonus Challenge missions, and new characters to play in the Versus mode.

The multiplayer component is surprisingly good, coming in both versus and co-operative modes. The co-op is only four missions long which is a shame, because teeming up with a fellow Jedi adds a whole new dimension to the experience. Naturally Obi-Wan and Anakin feature most prominently in these missions, but the final mission is two minor Jedi characters who are also playable in the adversarial mode. Versus is a straight up, one on one fight, which allows you to reenact famous battles, or create a few that could never happen. Dueling against human players is far more challenging and enjoyable, but like the main game, button-mashing will more often than not carry the day.

The other Challenge missions are a single-player affair, and tend to pit you against overwhelming odds as a minor character to see if you can somehow come out on top. They're a nice addition to the mix, but there's no perks to be gained from beating them, which makes them a little redundant. On the whole though, there are more than enough goodies in the game to keep fans happy, or just entertain casual players in an overnight rental.