tar Wars: The Clone Wars is the latest in the series of LucasArts Star Wars vehicle combat games. The company has made so many of these since the release of the first movie that they are almost a genre to themselves. Most of these games have been about flying the various star fighters pictured in the movies, but this time out the action is not among the stars or in the skies, but rather (mostly) on the ground. The storyline takes place sometime between Episode II and Episode III and centers on the war between the Galactic Republic and the Separatist movement spearheaded by the Sith master Count Dooku. Different missions give the player the chance to take the roles of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu as the Jedi lead the Republic's brand-new clone army into battle.
The various characters have a variety of ground vehicles at their disposal. For the majority of the missions, the player controls the characters in the standard Republic hover-tank, but the changeups are frequent. The characters get to drive everything from two-legged walkers to the speeder bikes from Return of the Jedi to dinosaur-like beasts called Marus. Occasionally, a mission needs air support, so the characters take the wheel of a Republic gunship, as seen in the climactic battle scene from Attack of the Clones. A few levels even have the characters abandoning their vehicles to accomplish the goals on foot, using their lightsabers and Force powers to mow through the enemy infantry.
Each mission has three secondary goals, consisting of time limits, "enemy units destroyed" and making sure all of the character's squad-mates survive. Completing these unlocks all sorts of fun extras for the multiplayer game. A "boss" of some kind caps every level, primarily in the form of a gigantic droid vessel. The multiplayer mode allows two to four players to duke it out against each other in a variety of Republic and Separatist vehicles.
A sure cure for Wars withdrawal
The storyline of SW:TCW holds up well compared to the recent Star Wars films, and the voice acting features passable imitations of the actors from the movies. It begins as a series of standard actions against the Separatists for the characters, but it soon turns into a mystery and then a race against the clock as Count Dooku strives to uncover an ancient and devastating Sith weapon. The story provides a pretty decent fix for the Star Wars junkie who's counting down the days until Episode III.
As in any fighting game, there is a lot of repetition in SW:TCW, but the changing of fighting vehicles and the occasional foot battle keeps the game from getting boring. The boss battles also help vary things, but players will have to beware, as the boss battles usually mean a sudden sharp rise in the difficulty level. The same tank that flew through the entire mission with hardly a scratch suddenly seems to be made of crepe paper when the bosses come out.
The best thing about the sub-missions is that players don't have to accomplish all three at once. They can speed their way through a mission, avoiding enemies to get the time bonus, then play the mission again, taking their time to wipe out as many enemies as possible. Keeping the computer-controlled allies alive is the easiest of all, as the A.I. is good enough to keep them alive without too much effort from player.
The many different multiplayer modes extend the game's shelf life considerably. "Control Zone" mode, for example, where up to four players compete to retain control over a specified area, is far easier described than done. "Academy," a co-op game where players team up to take on wave after wave of enemies, has two modes: vehicle and Jedi. Jedi is the best, as much fun as the story game, as the players take control of Jedi on foot in the arena on Geonosis from the end of Episode II. The players must dispatch waves of Geonosians and Battledroids, but as the difficulty mounts, characters like Padmé and squads of clone troopers will show up with blasters to help out.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars isn't groundbreaking, but it has enough new elements to help it stand out from the pack of Star Wars-inspired shooters. Anyone who has shelled out the bucks for a full load of Gamecube controllers will appreciate the multiplayer mode.
— Eric
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