video game reviews

Star Wars The Clone Wars Lightsaber Duels

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels allows players on the Wii to step right into the world of the all-new Star Wars: Clone Wars animated feature film and television series, ready for action with a lightsaber at their side. Set in context between Star Wars movies, Episode II: Attack of the Clones and Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, it unveils a whole new and interactive chapter in the Star Wars saga.

Clash with old enemy Grevious. View larger.

Swing away with the Wii-Mote. View larger.

Duel as new Jedi characters. View larger.

A Fully Integrated Storyline
Designed from the ground up as a counterpart to Star Wars: Clone Wars both visually and narratively, Lightsaber Duels follows the plot line of the animated feature and series closely. Here players will encounter familiar faces representing both sides of the Force, as well as many new ones, as they take on missions on behalf of the Jedi Council, or in spite of it, during the troubling times of the Clone Wars. The highlight of these missions will be the memorable lightsaber duels and the Jedi and Sith players will battle against in them. These duels are designed to mirror as closely as possible the encounters faced in the animated adventures, to the point that they are even introduced by cinematic segments pulled right from the series and feature film. In addition, utilizing writing talent from both of these related projects, as well as a majority of the voice talent as well in a truly collaborative manner, players can expect to see things in the game that eventually make it to the TV show and vice versa.

Gameplay
One of the most anticipated uses of the Wii Remote and Nunchuck controller configuration in the history of the Wii gaming system, gameplay in Lightsaber Duels is all about introducing players into the civilized but deadly world of hand to hand Jedi combat techniques. That means no blasters here. As the game’s subtitle suggests, whether playing as a servant of the will of the Jedi Council or the Dark Side of the Force, players will wield a lightsaber in one hand and the power of the force in the other. This is where the Wii Remote and Nunchuck come in.

Far from requiring players to build up their skills and knowledge of the Force, the goal of the control scheme of Lightsaber Duels is actually designed to make even beginning gamers a force to be reckoned from the first duel they face. The Wii Remote controls your lightsaber through a series of tiered attacks. Left and right motions of the remote equate to light damage, up and down slashes represent medium damage and stabbing motions do maximum damage. The remote’s trigger provides a blocking mechanism, while the Nunchuck controls your Force powers. In addition, each character possesses unique combo abilities, but keeping with the simplicity of the control scheme all players need to do is memorize these simple combos to take advantage of their power.

Key Game Features:

• Fight the most memorable duels from The Clone Wars feature film and TV series.
• Wield your Wii Remote like a lightsaber and experience first-hand the unique weapon of the Jedi Knights with intuitive controls, so no matter what your gaming experience you can become a lightsaber master.
• Play as your favorite Clone Wars hero or villain – from familiar characters like Anakin Skywalker and General Grievous to new faces like Ahsoka Tano and Asajj Ventress – each with a unique fighting style and set of skills.
• Exploit your interactive surroundings to defeat your opponent: slice down pillars and Force throw them against your foe.
• 2-player multiplayer support in Battle Modes
• 60 frame per second performance ensure smooth gameplay.
• Duel your way through significant Clone Wars locations, such as Tatooine and Teth.

Playable Characters
In Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels players can take on the role of one of ten characters. These include, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, Kit Fisto, Yoda and Plo Koon. Each of these possess their own abilities and can unlock items as the game progresses. In addition, with over 4,000 lines of dialog recoded for the game, characters are programmed to respond to other characters based on their relationship, not randomly, making for the truest Jedi experience yet.

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars You must discipline your mind and let go of your feelings!!!
Let me first start by saying that I have owned this game now for nearly 3 months. I will say that it is better today than the day I bought it. Those people here who are whining about the controls and it not being “saberlike” while still being huge Star Wars fans obviously aren’t true Jedi (fans.)

I will admit that after the first day of gameplay, I could have easily fallen into the “toss it aside as shallow” mindset as most reviewers here, but I decided I’d completely beat the game first. Well, I challenge the people who have reviewed this game negatively to do the following things:

1. Play the game on Jedi Knight or Master instead of being chumps on Padawan. Once Dooku or Obi-Wan hand you your rear a few times, you will realize that mindless wii-mote swinging is not the proper way to play.

2. Once you do this and realize that you might want to actually think a little, go ahead and try to complete all of the challenges to unlock the other characters. The challenges will force you to use strategy & timing, along with having to play at a higher difficulty. You will then gather a greater appreciation of movement, timing, and force energy usage/conservation.

3. Then find a friend or family member who will do both 1 & 2 and actually care to play! This game becomes immediately 10 times better when playing against a real gamer. My newfound appreciation after 3 months of owning this game has come from finally convincing one of my gaming buddies (whom I reguarly engage in hours of Fight Night 3, Madden, and Street Fighter) to get into this game and really learn how to play. We now have consistent 5-8 minute per round duels with crafty parrying, flipping, and force attacks with the varying fighting styles of the different characters.

I will repeat, this game takes DISCIPLINE and patience! And it is awesome if you care to make it so!

The cons I have for this game is I wish there were more characters (such as Yoda) and more variety in the one-liners. I also wish that the between round cut scenes didn’t obstruct the battle flow so much. There could be smoother transaction between rounds/battles as the menu screens are abrupt as well. Another con, as someone else pointed out, is that it is very easy in the heat of battle to hit the pause or menu buttons during a swing. VERY annoying during an intense match trying to concentrate. I have also noticed this same phenomena while playing Madden ‘09 All Play when making a juke or tackle, so it is a common Wii annoyance during games that require quick reactive movements.

3 Stars IT’S STAR WARS
It’s star wars, so the kids lke it. My almost 7 years old found it a little too violent. He is used to Wii STARWARS and CLONEWARS but I think the sound the lightsaber made it a little scarier.

3 Stars short very short storyline.
Ok I got this game for my son, (4 year old). He had finished the campain section of game play on the Padawan level in one hour after opening it.

I was a little disapointed, but he found the Freeplay section and that he could fight as any character in the game that he wanted. He was happy so the game wasn’t a bust. He was also hopeing to play as a Clone (Rex). Lightsaber duels… is not a clone tropper thing, i explaned to him.

Over all I as a game it is very short, but there are other levels to the game to keep it going. Star Wars Clone Wars fans will like it.

5 Stars Light Saber Warrior
I purchased this game for my Grandson. He lives in CA and I in WI. I wanted to get him something he would like and find exciteing. I also got 2 Light Saber to go with this. Although the recommended age group is a little older, I was told he plays the game well, and really loves both items.

4 Stars Where’s Yoda?
(Imagine this being said in Master Yoda’s voice…)

Without the Master Jedi Yoda this game is not what cracked up to be it is!

Fought I did with all characters and fun it was… Each having an individual fighting style and unique combos great fun it makes it. Feelings of really being in the Star Wars Universe it made me. Reminded of older fighting style games like Mortal Kombat I was. Only the difference was the wiimote control style of swinging which was easy to master even for my padawans of the ages 4 and 9. My two only complaints are when playing Sith characters like Count Dooku, Ventress and EG-5 Special Moves (force lightning and Dark Blast) were not listed in the combo list anywhere, yet it required its knowledge to complete challenges… and of course where is master Yoda, he is in the movie and the cartoon show… where is he in this game I ask you?

Buy/More Info