Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Score: 80% ESRB: Teen Publisher: LucasArts Developer: Pandemic Studios Media: DVD/1 Players: 2 Genre: Action/ Miscellaneous
Graphics & Sound: Following Episode II: Attack of the Clones there is a long span before the inevitable fall of the Galactic Senate in Episode III. Luckily, LucasArts was willing to fill some of that space in with the release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which covers battles in a few select places beginning with the Geonosian battle briefly seen at the end of Episode II. The flight engine in The Clone Wars is similar to the other flight simulators released by LucasArts in the past, which is good. Some of the problems with those games haven't left, though, such as poor frame rates in a few areas and disorienting camera angles after crashes. Everything required to show a Clone War really takes a toll on the reaction time during missions on foot. Music is always phenomenal in Star Wars games, and this one might even surpass the others with the license to the awesome Episode II soundtrack. Voice-overs aren't bad, but they obviously aren't the same actors from the movie.
Gameplay: The gameplay in Star Wars: The Clone Wars is, again, similar to the previous Star Wars games such as Jedi Starfighter and Dark Forces II: Jedi Outcast. Fortunately there are many different units to use on this one with enough fire power to give any droid a good scare - if that is possible. The single-player levels begin at the end of Episode II on Geonosis and progress through sixteen other levels, based in 6 other worlds. These are great fun, and each mission is original, but there is a real problem with the levels in which you control a Jedi on foot. Aside from the framerate issues, the people run terribly slow and have practically no defense. Luckily these sequences are short and the objectives are always obvious. The multiplayer option makes it all worth while however, and now you aren't limited to just Republic ships. From the start, the player has access to a slew of federation units as well. And this time, the split-screen framerate isn't too bad.
Difficulty: Star Wars: The Clone Wars is relatively easy, although some missions can get hairy. I finished one world per sitting with only a few deaths, and that was on the medium difficulty setting. Thankfully, missions are (almost) always obvious.
Game Mechanics: There are a few camera issues but none of which are terrible. Also it would have been nice to see the Jedi with more attack options than the usual slash/throw and push. In all, the interface and input is elementary. Since most of the Star Wars fanatics have already bought Star Wars: The Clone Wars, I'll say to the general customer that this is one great flight sim. If you don't enjoy air combat, you probably won't miss this one. And if you are into Star Wars and still haven't bought it, this is a good way to pick up where Episode II left off.
-Goat, GameVortex Communications AKA Brandon Arnold
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