Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Review from Anna - Tuesday, 30 March 2010 @ 12:30pm

I have become greatly jaded with the Star Wars franchise. That is, apart from the the Knights of the Old Republic Series. That was pretty amazing. And the upcoming Old Republic MMO is looking so spiffy it might actually make up for Galaxies...

If this image reflected what this game was really like, they'd be holding pillows.

This game comes from that animated feature length movie that came out a while ago and disappointed nearly all the Star Wars fans who decided to gamble on their love of the canon. The movie seems to show Lucas Arts pulling towards the children's entertainment scheme of things and while it's all very well and good to appeal to the kiddies, it's not fair when the older fans have to suffer for it. Star Wars shouldn't have to be dumbed down and that what this game feels like, a dumbed down version of real Star Wars. It's all nice to have aided jumping – the Jedis will automatically gravitate towards the ledge you're aiming for even if you have no depth perception and are aiming only vaguely – but the crux of it is that the Star Wars franchise, while it can appeal to children, shouldn't be aimed at children. Since when was the story of a farm boy on an isolated moisture farm meant for children?

I should stop ripping into the poor decisions of Lucasarts and focus on the game for what it is. A tv/movie tie-in that doesn't fare much better than any other tv/movie tie-in game.

One of the most annoying things about the level design is the decision to use the traditional Star Wars cut aways when they want to change the perspective or suddenly move you to a new area without proposing any reason why. It at first disorientated and then irritated as it is nearly on any corner you encounter. The camera is fixed and follows you but for some reason when you get to a certain area and fight off the droids in that area and get ready to move on, you have to wait for precious seconds to pass as the scene slides across the screen. Sometimes when it's a new area, I could forgive it, but every time they want to change the camera perspective?? I had to wonder what was so wrong with having the camera follow the player like any other game.

I wonder if they had identity theft issues?

Something positive... something positive... oh! You can play as a clone trooper. Yay! It actually gets quite fun and I never knew about the trooper's martial arts prowess against droids (and how susceptible the droids are to a well placed kick). It was slightly reminiscent of Republic Commando but with a more family friendly vibe to it. The game gives enough variety by allowing you to take a break from lightsaber-toting, speech-muddled Jedi to want to continue, at least for a while.

When I gave it to my ten year old sister to have a go, she had many of the same concerns I had encountered in my play-through. There was very little challenge and a lot of hand-holding - with these criticisms from a member of the audience for which I was willing to give a little bit of leniency. She also got very bored quickly and gave up quite early in the game. A bit later than when I first wanted to throw in the towel - but then I was trying to get her to play it as much as possible to give me some sort of contrasting opinion. But no, no contrasting opinion.

The graphics on the 360 looks alright and the character models do what they're supposed to but by no means is this a graphical masterpiece. There's the same artistic quality that they've used in the movie on their interpretation of the Star Wars universe but it is as appealing in the game as it was in the movie. Sure, you want to follow on with the series, but that doesn't mean you have to keep using bad ideas. If they'd toned it down a little, it would have more of the charm of Banjo Kazooie. As it stands, the blending of asian anime styling over traditional western animation is proving to be more of a bad idea than ever. I don't think I've ever seen that particular hybridisation work anywhere.

I care so little for this character, I still don't know her name despite playing through the entire game.

The soundtrack is suitably reminiscent of the subject matter at hand, though it's definitely more aligned with the prequels than the sequels. Yes, the story is set during that time, and yes, it makes sense to have that music to keep people linking it to the movies but that doesn't make it a good idea. Most people want to forget those movies. When the first announcements into the exploration of the Clone Wars stories was announced, I was excited. My excitement was unwarranted as I realised they were just going to keep going with the horrible direction they had followed in the prequel. I think everyone would have preferred it if they'd stepped aside and thought about making a trip down a different path. One that would extend the life of the Star Wars universe instead of constricting it even further. At this time the only area I see Star Wars growing is in the Old Republic canon. The opportunity they had with the Clone Wars was ruined the moment it was dumb downed to cash cow status. Star Wars can be enjoyed by kids, doesn't mean you have to market it to kids.

Back to the game. I can't honestly recommend this unless you really enjoyed the Clone Wars movie. And you don't mind a game that has little to no challenge whatsoever. It lasts for forty levels and keeps it varied enough that you can keep going without feeling like you've accidentally started the game over. But it's just so pedestrian! Even boss fights are a walk in the park. The game makes it crystal clear how you get through and the only reason anyone would die in this game - no matter how horrible they are at playing games - would be from the horrible controls that has you falling in a ridiculously tiny gap as often as landing on the right platform.

Pros

More Star Wars Clone awesomeness. Can play co-op.

Cons

Prequel regurgitation. Unappealing character styling. Anakin keeps talking. Pedestrian, overly easy and straightforward. Unpredictable controls - as often to keep walking than to jump when you want them to.