Star Wars: Heroes Path is another game with unavoidable similarities to Hitman GO. As simply put as possible, Heroes Path is a tiled, turn-based puzzle game covering the events of the first film, Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. The plot as a whole follows many key scenes and only in the end of the game does it take an intriguing turn, where you actually control an X-Wing instead of a character.
"Heroes Path Spaceport. You'll never find a more bland game of dull mediocrity."
Heroes Path is a game of strategy. Simple movements in taking turns moving around a digital board and using what skills or abilities the current character has to find ways around enemies. New elements get added regularly like moving tiles or transport tubes to "teleport" you to another place. But nothing truly clever or imaginative. All the levels feel half-assed, like they focused on the Midi-chlorians instead of letting the Force be mysterious and work its magic. None of the puzzles are that difficult, although there is a very moderate replayability through the use of a star collecting system. Each level has 3 star goals, some of which can only be obtained by a single way through solving the level's puzzle forcing you to replay it in a different way for another star. A cheap way to extend the length of playtime.
What the game has going for it is slim. The graphics are decent, and although I really enjoy the art style, the animations are merely average at best. A more stylized look, or smoother animations could've done wonders here. To be fair though, there are nice comic book-ish cut scenes that are handled well enough.
Being a Star Wars game, the sound design is top notch. Everything sounds accurate effects-wise and the music is great. Honestly, I don't recall any Star Wars games with poor sound effects or music, and that is including the really cheesy old games like the vector graphics arcade game.
The controls are adequate. Nothing amazing or notable, and I must note a couple times when the moves I attempted didn't register and the character just sat there. A small annoyance.
"That's no game, it's a cash grab."
The biggest issue with the game is actually with the IAPs. When you purchase the game you get a fair amount of levels, but none of the Han Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi levels included. To play the entirety of the game you have to pay the initial $3.99 (4 characters and 6 chapters), and then another $3.99 to get the remaining 4 chapters (24 levels). There are also purchases for hints on how to solve a puzzle or for extra special abilities for characters to use, a fact made worse by some of the level goals necessitating the use of a special ability.
This cash grab is a huge slap in the face. The game could've been an easy flat fee of $4.99, with maybe a small fee for extra hints, but this feels like it is purposely withholding parts of the game to make more money. This proves to be a great disturbance in the wallet.
"This isn't the game you are looking for."
As a lifelong die-hard Star Wars fan, Heroes Path offered roughly 6 hours worth of enjoyable entertainment. As a fan of the game that heavily influenced this, Hitman GO, it gave me a little more joy for my dollar, but only moderately. The best thing the game has going for it is the potential for more levels. They could easily add the other 2 original trilogy films, then the prequels, and maybe even The Force Awakens as future DLC. But because this game is only mediocre it is highly doubtful that any more content will be added.
Star Wars: Heroes Path is a game I can only recommend to hardcore Star Wars fans, otherwise, just buy Hitman GO, it is a superior game in every way. One would think that if they copied from such a tremendous game, how did this end up so uninspired? And that makes me sad because this game could've held immense potential with better designers. It's clear that this game wasn't made for the players. It's too simple and repetitive, and would've been much more appreciated if it had no damn IAPs, because it's already paid game.
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