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	Star Wars: The Clone Wars
	Developer: Pandemic Publisher: LucasArts Genre: Action Players: 1-4 Similar To: Rogue Leader II Rating: Teen Published: 11 :20 : 02 Reviewed By: Ryan Newman Overall: 7 = Good

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Taking up where Episode II left off, Clone Wars follows the main Jedi - Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, etc - as they track down Count Dooku and eradicate his remaining forces. The chase will give way to missions that include protecting cannons so that they can fire upon the huge troop transports at the end of Episode II, ambushing the enemy, escaping from a prison camp, saving a remote Wookie village, and of course, helping to assault massive waves of droids. The missions are laid out well, but unlike past Star Wars titles, Clone Wars has extensive objectives per level. Oddly enough, no matter how many there were or just how difficult the situations become, I was able to beat most on my first try - quite often with no life left. The auto-save feature was an interesting feature: it worked well most of the time, but in some particularly difficult levels, the save feature would fail to kick in after an objective was completed, and so death would lead to repeating large portions of the level. As with past titles, there are plenty of bonus objectives and goodies to unlock; no matter how many titles do this, the unlockable features in Star Wars titles always rank among the most enjoyable.

To see to it that those missions are completed and the goodies opened, gamers will have a plethora of vehicles to pilot or ride. Each with its own special attribute, the vehicles vary greatly and serve as more than just image replacements, as they also have their own unique handling methods. Tanks will lumber around with missiles and speed boosts aiding their laser fire; walkers can turn its turret, but not side-step; bombers will have multiple guided lasers and missile barrages; and there's even a stealth mission where a droid tank will be taken, complete with its devastating charged beam. Of particular note were the speeder levels, which were nothing short of a pure adrenaline rush; their nimble handling, lower resistance to hits, and object-littered levels were made only more dramatic when the speed boost would cause the screen to warp around them - these were a high point. Some portions will even use the ol' standby method of having wingmen controlled via the directional pad, but it's a shame they are nearly worthless with their brain-dead A.I. Rounding out the attack variations are Jedi-based combat portions that are very clunky; great idea, poor implementation.

This is a straight run-and-gun title and it makes no pretences to be anything but. The smooth pace, additions to the Episode II story, mountain of vehicles, and varied levels all pave the way for a thoroughly enjoyable title. While it has its flaws, the game's fun factor overrides most complaints as this fast-action release is a nice change of pace from the past titles and is a positive omen for things to come.

Graphics: 7.5/10
Some really great-looking environments and vehicles can be overshadowed by some popup and slowdown. Outdoor levels have beautiful foliage, but rocks will appear and disappear out of nowhere. More confined levels will have nice-looking structures, but slight stutter will occur onscreen when the action heats up. Likewise, rendered cutscenes will have nicely modeled characters, but with a mannequin-like skin tone and very rigid movements; however, Yoda looks completely badass, and that's always a plus. There's constant give-and-take, but you can't fault the fantastic animations of vehicles exploding and their hulls bouncing around off the ground with debris shooting everywhere, plus the levels featuring hundreds of droids and clone troops marching and fighting. It's the small details like these that add so much to the game and really makes this look like a low-grade Rogue Leader.

Sound: 8.5/10
The classic Star Wars soundtrack returns and finds a comfy home on the battlefields of Ginoca. It's a shame that the music is drowned out by constant laser fire, especially considering how they don't need to be recharges, and it'll be all gamers hear. Swapping things around a bit, the excellent voice-overs were lowered and drowned out by the music in the cutscenes. All are of equally high quality, though the constant laser fire does get tiresome after a while. A few times I heard a crackle as well, but that's a handful of instances out of the entire time I played.

Control: 6/10
For the most part, the controls for all crafts and situations are handled well. The problems arise in two main situations: the squad mates and the ground-based portions that have the Jedi fighting in melee combat. To put it bluntly, your fellow soldiers are idiots. They will refuse orders, run right into your vehicle, go as far from the action as possible and seem to wander around, or do very little to achieve victory. The moments when they do what they are told are wondrous, but those are only after having them ram into your side or just loaf around while you do all the work.

The Jedi portion is also a pain, although there's mercifully few of these missions. For some odd reason, the Jedi move like there's a lag between pressing the controls and their actual movements. They also turn as if a pole is sticking out of their foot and into the ground, causing them to just circle a certain point. They have also seemed to have lost their ability to jump, so cool acrobatic maneuvers are out of the question, although they can pull off a mini-jump as part of one of the few combos. Attacking with the lightsaber is a potshot since it seems to miss so much, and their swing animation is so long that enemies will have an easy time getting out of the way, not to mention that reflective laser blasts also do no good. One of the saving graces is that the force-push has been amped up so small platoons of droids will be eradicated at the push of a button. This is a cool idea and, even though it isn't an integral part of the game, it could've still been handled so much better - Jedi Knight II this ain't.

Overall: 7/10
Fans expecting a bit more strategy will come off disappointed, but those just wanting to jump into the fray with blasters blazing will find Star Wars: The Clone Wars a welcome addition to their gaming library. The absent-minded teammates and half-hearted Jedi-based portions are disheartening, but they aren't disappointing enough to pass over this latest venture into the Star Wars universe. A white-knuckled action romp awaits those who are tired of endless forays into space and want a little earth-bound action.

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