Star Wars: The Clone Wars

by Pandemic Studios

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000067DPK
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: December 9, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,305 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Another title to add to the Star Wars gaming shelf, The Clone Wars picks up where the movie Episode II: Attack of the Clones leaves off. In fact, the very first battle in this game re-creates the climactic battle in the movie, with you leading the clone army and blasting every droid in sight. Not big on strategy, Clone Wars is your basic arcade-style shoot-'em-up game. If you liked Star Wars: Starfighter, this game’s for you.

You control the Jedi leading the Republic's clone army, sometimes fighting as Anakin, Obi-Wan, Mace Windu, or other familiar Jedi as the war takes you from planet to planet. As the leader, you may issue squad commands to teammates, allowing them to act independently and assist you in your mission. Your ships and weapons are varied, giving you the pleasure of piloting everything from zippy speeder bikes to the impressive Republic Gunship. Soar over ice fields and desertscapes, or maneuver through labyrinthine galactic scrap yards, leaving robotic wreckage behind as you blast through enemy ranks. And every so often you actually get to use your lightsaber as well.

The game is fun to play, the controls easy to master--but you won’t find a lot new or challenging if you’re an experienced gamer. Also, unlike its sibling, Bounty Hunter, the graphics leave a bit to be desired, but luckily this aspect of the game doesn’t detract much from the gameplay. The pure pleasure in this game lies in becoming a part of the Star Wars universe. And, of course, blowing up robots. --Maile Bohlmann

Pros:

• High-intensity play
• Fun, classic Star Wars music
• Four multiplayer modes

Cons:

• Silly voiceovers
• Graphics aren’t very detailed and color palette is limited
• Plotline is threadbare
• Overall, not very challenging or unique

Amazon.com Product Description

Begun, the Clone War has, says Jedi Master Yoda, and that's where you come in. The Clone Wars starts where Episode II leaves off. As Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Mace Windu, or Obi-Wan Kenobi, you lead the Republic Army in the greatest battles of the epic Clone Wars. Your directive: to stop the Separatists from reassembling an ancient Sith weapon of mass annihilation. Battle for survival in a variety of multiplayer games, from deathmatch to king of the hill to strategic conquest games, with up to four players. Engage more than 30 unique combat units as you wage war across six worlds in the galaxy's most unforgettable conflict.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too short, too easy. 3½ Stars, July 28, 2003

By 

Mark Hills "Nobody gets me, I'm the wind, baby!" (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Video Game)

When my wife bought me my PS2, I naturally wanted a Star Wars game for it and at the time my choices were Bounty Hunter and Clone Wars. I chose Bounty Hunter and while the game play was very repetitive- run and gun- it did provide hours of game play, great voice acting and superb cut scenes. A few of the missions, such as Tusken Canyon and Gardula's Lair were very tough, but ultimately playable. Everyone else I knew who had a PS2, Gamecube or Xbox kept telling me I should have bought Clone Wars instead, that it was a better game, that it offered more and varied missions than simply running around shooting everything. Well, I have Clone Wars now, but I am at something of a loss as to how it could be perceived as `better'.

Firstly, the object of both games is to run around shooting everything in sight. The major difference between the two is in Clone Wars, you drive vehicles whereas in Bounty Hunter, you're on foot. Essentially, the game play is the same- run and gun. Admittedly in Clone Wars you do get different vehicles from the TX-130 Republic Fighter Tank- a hover craft with guns and missiles; a Speeder Bike; the AT-XT, a precursor to the AT-ST- missiles and guns, plus a plasma shield. My favorite, the Republic LAAT/I Gunship with its multi-rockets, rapid fire blaster cannons and wicked continuous beam lasers, and the silliest one yet- the Maru, which is kinda like a big tauntaun with dual blasters mounted on it. However, regardless of what you're in the job is still basically the same.

Count Dooku, along with his allies the Trade Federation, the Galactic Banking Clan, the Commerce Guild and the Separatists armies are waging war across the galaxy, and looking for an... wait for it... an ancient Sith artifact, (surely not! -ed.) Don't get me wrong, I like ancient Sith artifacts, but given the volume of Star Wars stuff I have read, there have been an awful lot of them. The game begins right in the middle of Attack of the Clones- with Mace leading the infiltration into the Geonosian arena escorting transports full of Jedi, destroying anti-orbital cannons and finally using a Republic gunship to take out Techno-Union and Trade Federation Core Ships. Next, it's on to the planet of Rhen Var to evacuate it before the Trade Federation invades.

Then to Raxis Prime- a junk planet and the location of the Sith artifact, the Dark Reaver- the first mission of which is an irritating speeder bike chase where the terrain frustrates, because places that look clear of debris seem to have invisible walls that damage your bike and prevent you from going forward. Next it's on to one of the moons of the Wookie homeworld, Kashyyyk where Dooku plans to test the Dark Reaver- a tough mission as Anakin attempts to escape the life-leaching field of energy. Back to Rhen Var for some fun gunship missions- lots of stuff to shoot as you fly around attempting to bring down the planetary shield so the Republic forces can invade. Finally, all forces converge on the planet Thule, the planet where Dooku has set up the Dark Reaver, which resembles a giant segmented sphere that sprays out purple energy. You must also defeat Dooku's bounty hunter henchman, Cydon Prax.

Graphics are pretty good, but the PS2 really starts to strain when there is a lot of stuff going on around you and it starts to drop frames making for some pretty choppy visuals. Plus, if you get too close to objects and vehicles, the texture quality is quite low, as is the polygon count. For the most part I found the architecture, vehicles and visuals to be quite pleasing, especially on the planets Raxis and Thule. Mission maps, while pretty linear, are quite large, giving the player lots of places to go. Sound quality is excellent, but pretty standard effects for a Star Wars game- I did encounter some music problems where it seemed as though that part of the audio track was skipping. The big downside for this game with me was the fact that I finished it in less than 15 hours- less than half the time it took me to complete Bounty Hunter. Then going back to try to get as many bonus points to unlock extra features took perhaps another five.

DVD Extras include unlocking four two-player maps- big deal, playing games split screen just doesn't interest me. A unit viewer that enables you to look at all the 3D models from the game, a `making of' video, the quality of which is so lousy that it's annoying to watch, a jukebox function that lets you listen to music from the game, and a sketchbook of some very nice concept art. Plus you can watch all the cut scenes whenever you want. I must admit, Matt Lucas, who does the voice of Anakin almost convinced me that it was Haydon Christensen until I checked the booklet to make sure. LucasArts games can always be counted on to provide lots of little extras making their games a good value for Star Wars geeks like me.

A good game? Yes, it's a good game, just too darn short for my liking, plus I like a little more meat to my stories and game play. It's probably better on the Gamecube or the Xbox and would have been better on the PC, especially when it comes to graphics.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Begun, the Clone War has!" - Jedi Master Yoda, January 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Video Game)

This game ROCKS!!! Who could ever imagine, when watching A New Hope and Princess Leia mentioning the Clone Wars, that 25 years later, there would be a video game about it!? A MUST for the old AND new trilogy fans! Pilot a Republic Tank, Republic Gunship, speeder (like one from Return of the Jedi), AT-TE walker and EVEN a maru! You can even be MACE WINDU, the second baddest Jedi in the universe (after Yoda, of course). Fight hailfire droids, homing spider droids, dwarf spider droids, super battle droids, battle droids, AAT's and fighter tanks! Get this game, fight in the most epic war in Star Wars history!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could Have Been Better., April 24, 2003

By 

tvtv3 "tvtv3" (Sorento, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Video Game)

As an inexperienced gamer and a STAR WARS fan, I enjoyed playing THE CLONE WARS. The game starts off with the Battle of Genosis from the ATTACK OF THE CLONES movie and fills in a few plot holes from that film. However, the main point of this game involves an ancient, destroyed Sith device called the "Dark Reaper". The Reaper was an almost invincible weapon the Sith used in their battle against the Jedi 1000 years ago. The weapon was defeated and destroyed, but not totally. Rumor has it that Count Dooku has located the remains of the Reaper and plans to resurrect it in the Clone Wars in order to eleminate the Jedi.

The story is a bit far fetched, but this is the STAR WARS universe we're talking about; things get that way every once in awhile. The graphics are decent, but could have been better. Levels do tend to go from being easy to difficult to easy, but the easy levels give a person a break posed by the challenges in the previous and next level to come.

My favorite part of this game are the dual player games. My brother and I thoroughly enjoy those. We especially like the Genosis Academy. The best duo to have in that level is "Wookie" (type in NERFHERDER in the Options/Bonus menu) and Yoda (whom is opened after you beat 45 bonus missions). The double team of those two together is almost unstopable.

Overall, I found THE CLONE WARS to be a fun and exciting game. The graphics and story could have been better and some of the challenges aren't that difficult. Nevertheless, it is a fairly challenging game and has some great dual player options. Recommended for any beginning to average gamer and any STAR WARS fan.