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Intro Continuing after the large scale fight in Episode II, Star Wars: The Clone Wars puts gamers into the thick of things by having them man vehicles at the front while engaging in aggressive assaults. With a combination of tanks, fighters, bombers, speeders, and even animals, the gaming would-be Jedi will get a little of everything, including some melee combat with the Jedi themselves. Despite the fact that not everything works according to plan, Clone Wars proves that there is still plenty of gaming vitality left in the Star Wars universe. Gameplay: 7.5/10 What all Star Wars titles have lacked is the feeling of being on a side with sizable forces. Rogue Leader hinted at this, but it was only a glimpse as to just how powerful the Jedi and their allies truly are. Whether it's because of script constraints or the image of the Jedi as a nomadic warrior for good, the games merely focused on one person and a handful of others - until now. Clone Wars doesn't just toy with the possibility of mass combat; it revels in it. Taking the player and setting them smack dab in the middle of a battlefield that has androids on one side and clone troops on the other, both rushing towards each other, it's an awesome sight to behold. 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. The biggest difference in this version of Clone Wars is the addition of online play. While these modes can be played via splitscreen, the excessive units and additional player means that the framerate takes an even bigger hit, so much so that it really detracts from the fun. Awaiting those who wish to partake in challenging a human foe is a handful of modes: Academy, this has the players going up against waves of opponents - also available in non-vehicle, Jedi flavor; those wishing to go man-to-man will check out Duel; Control Zone will represent the 'king of the hill' element, as players fight to stay within a specified area for as long as possible; and, the most touted, Conquest mode. Conquest mode has two teams that fight for control of each others' forts. Each side has two specific vehicles to choose from and must destroy their opponents' shield generators so that they can make their way into the HQ of the enemy. In-between the HQs are a series of outposts that can be taken over; once taken over, the player must stay within a docking station so that defensive turrets can be built, once they are, AI units will then be made. AI units can take simple orders - defend, attack, etc. - but they will not be made if a turret is knocked out. Outposts can also provide bonus power-ups, so controlling these becomes crucial. Taking full advantage of Live, LucasArts also has the option to download new maps - but I still want to know, why no co-op mode? While the new Live features will sway some, I didn't find them all that entertaining - wait, let me change that; I couldn't find them all that entertaining. When I went to play, Conquest would be the only mode that people were playing, and those experiences were bogged down with lag. My ping, and almost every other player's, would be solid green, but the game would chug along a few seconds after the round started. My ping would also fluctuate, before one game it was green, and then the next round it would be yellow. As if the lag wasn't bad enough, all the action on the screen would further affect the framerate, making things really slow. I applaud LucasArts for taking advantage of Live, this needs to be ironed out; and, I wasn't the only once experiencing this, I heard many vocal complaints, both in-game and in the lobbies, about the very same thing. The single player still remains a fairly enjoyable action-romp, despite the fact that the controls for the Jedi still haven't been addressed and that the game still wasn't optimized to handle the cutscenes and excessive action. Those who want this solely for the online feature may want to wait a bit until everything is fixed - if it ever is. Graphics: 7/10 Sound:
8/10 Control:
6/10 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:
6.5/10 [ top ] | |||
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