Star Wars: The Clone Wars Nintendo Wii - Review

Following on from the cartoon movie and now the related TV series, players finally get the chance to challenge each other to the Lightsaber Duels of this game’s sub-title.

Based on the story between Episode II and III of the new trilogy, you’re thrown deep into the battle between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy.

HOW DOES IT HANDLE? Who needs a blaster when in your hands the Wii-remote becomes a Lightsaber wielded by a hero to defeat evil.

Or if you prefer, you can take on the guise of one of the villainous characters such as General Grievous, although there aren’t that many recognisable choices.

For decades now, young boys and big men have dreamt of having a Lightsaber and have used every manner of object to imitate that famous weapon.

Here that dream comes to life with reasonable accuracy through a mixture of levels where you fight one-on-one or hack at objects or scenery.

But while it is very fulfilling for the first half an hour, it soon gets boring and repetitive.

The moves are all very similar and there are occasions when your swings do not react as well or as quickly to the action on the screen.

This leaves you prone to being swiped and hurt by your rival.

SCREEN GRAB OR SCREEN DRAB? Graphically this is a real let-down.

With its heritage chiefly in the cartoon variation rather than the live action films, it looks very childish. The maker’s previous title The Force Unleashed was a visual masterpiece but this is so dumbed down compared to that you can only assume it’s been aimed firmly at a younger market.

Which makes its 12+ certificate surprising and personally I think it’s rated too high for the age groups likely to enjoy it the most.

HOW LONG TILL I’M BORED? This should have been the game Star Wars fans were waiting for and dreaming of ever since the original movies.

It is such a missed opportunity but perhaps it’s just LucasArts practice run for a more fully-fledged Lightsaber battler for adults only.

There’s certainly plenty of room for improvement and lots of lessons to be learned but if you can find it cheap enough in the Christmas sales, younger teens might get a Jedi night or two’s worth of excitement with their mates.

Knights of the Old Republic MMO??…

Awhile back, I posted a rumor stating that there will be a release of a Knights of the Old Republic like MMO (Massively multiplayer online role-playing game). Well according to IGN.com, it’s looking like something like this is about to be developed and is planned on being released sometime in 2009!

“Citing a source “close to BioWare,” the gaming web site Primotech is reporting that the Mass Effect developer’s Austin, Tex.-based studio is working on a massively-multiplayer online roleplaying game based in the same universe as the company’s beloved Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

BioWare has made it clear that its Austin studio has been working on an MMO since 2005, but the company has been tight-lipped about the game’s details. In an email to IGN today, a BioWare spokesman said the developer has no further info on the game or the KOTOR rumor swirling around it.

“We haven’t made any announcement regarding the content of our MMO and what you’re seeing on the net is purely that, rumor and speculation,” said BioWare spokesman Matt Atwood.

According to the Primotech piece, the game will be released in 2009.

Despite the success of KOTOR in 2003, BioWare passed on the opportunity to develop the sequel in favor of working on original IPs like Jade Empire. Instead, Obsidian Entertainment developed Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. Both games were published by LucasArts.

Publishing giant Electronic Arts announced earlier this month that it is buying BioWare and Pandemic Studios for more than $800 million in cash, equity and loans.

BioWare cals the KOTOR MMO tidbit rumor and speculation, and they’re apparently not the only ones. In one of three editor’s notes at the bottom of the story, Primotech defends its info as accurate news and digs in its heels against sceptics:

“We’ve gotten several emails asking about the validity of this news,” the note reads. “The only rumors we post here at Primotech will explicitly be stated as such.”

Thanks to IGN.com!

GameCity to Show the Wii Lightsaber in Action!…

According to PimpMyWii.co.uk, GameCity.org will be among the first to test and demonstrate the upcoming “Wii Lightsaber”, to be used with Lego Star Wars, which is due out in late Fall of 2007.

Feel and Play The Force at GameCity (www.gamecity.org). Visitors to the world’s most exciting game festival are to be the first in the world get their hands on the Wii® lightsaber, in LucasArts’ Lego® Star Wars™: The Complete Saga re-mastered and shown in glorious HD.

Since the first film’s debut 30 years ago, fans have longed for the day when they could fight their own lightsaber duels. Now, thanks to the Wii’s motion-sensitive controller, The Complete Saga will finally make that fantasy a reality, allowing players to battle with thrusts and slices of the Remote. GameCity is thrilled to give gamers a chance to be the first in the world to see and try the lightsaber first-hand in a worldwide exclusive premier of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for Wii.

Following on from Smith’s symposium is a session that gets to the heart of the question that all those not-so-stellar Star Wars games raise: just why is it so hard to get it right? ‘What Makes A Brilliant Star Wars Game’ brings together gaming experts and Star Wars specialists to hammer out the formula for the perfect Star Wars game. Is it the lightsabers? Is it the music? Is it the X-wings? Join Wonderland’s Alice Taylor, and sci-fi expert Jonathan Hamblin to find out.

30 years on from the release of the original film, science - the science behind games, at least - has caught up with science fiction. GameCity is proud to showcase ‘Euphoria’, Natural Motion’s on-the-fly dynamic motion synthesis engine which dynamically generates the movements of your character in-game. Rather than being limited by animations prepared in advance by the game’s designers, Euphoria means that no two jumps, no two punches, no two KOs need ever be the same again. Already showcased to great effect in the upcoming Indiana Jones game, Euphoria will also play a key part in the new Star Wars extravaganza. Come along and see how your actions will shape the games of the future.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – 12pm, 26th October. Broadway Cinema and Media Centre
What Makes A Brilliant Star Wars Game? – 1pm, 26th October, Broadway Cinema and Media Centre
Euphoria: Physics of the Force – 2pm, 26th October, Broadway Cinema and Media Centre

Check out the full article here.

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

Here’s some new info and new screenshots for the upcoming Lego Star Wars game. This game is actually shaping up and looking pretty good, I had my doubts at first but after looking at the screenshots, it looks awesome.

This game has a Fall of 2007, release date and is set to debut for the following systems: Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Traveller’s Tales is also creating an entirely new Nintendo DS version.

Features:

• Families can commemorate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars by playing through the events of all six Star Wars movies in one videogame for the first time ever.
• Solve puzzles that encourage creative thinking through the use of teamwork and unique building situations only possible in a LEGO galaxy far, far away.
• Adds new levels, new characters and new features to the fun, creativity and tongue-in-cheek humor that made LEGO® Star Wars™: The Video Game and LEGO® Star Wars™ II: The Original Trilogy such huge hits.
  New levels, such as Episode II’s never-before-played high-speed pursuit of bounty hunter Zam Wessell, further complete the entire Star Wars story.
• New playable characters like Watto, Zam Wessell, Boss Nass and more bring the total count to over 160. The upgraded Character Customizer includes all Prequel Trilogy characters for the first time, while also expanding its customization options well beyond those in LEGO Star Wars II, for millions more possibilities. Create cross-Trilogy mash-up characters like Han Windu and Lando Amidala.
• New game features include enhanced Force powers, new power-ups, and a new Challenge Mode.
  Levels from the original LEGO Star Wars are revamped to meet the gameplay evolutions of LEGO Star Wars II.




Add to:





Filed Under Star Wars, Star Wars Games · Leave a Comment  

Wii Motion Sensing Confirmed for Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga…

July 10, 2007

Looks like the new Wii game will be a Lego Star Wars game. I find it odd why they would do that, when so many Star Wars fans where expecting something better… not that there’s anything wrong with the Lego Star Wars games, they were great.. but come on.

“Okay, perhaps it is not the third person or first person lightsaber slashing and gashing game we were excited about with the motion sensing abilities of the Nintendo Wii Wand matching up with the Star Wars lightsaber, but it is a start! LucasArts confirmed this week that their upcoming title, Lego Star Wars:The Complete Saga (Due out later this year) will in fact including motion sensing for the lightsaber as controlled by the Wii wand. Here’s a quick breakdown of controlling it:

As for attacking, Wii Remote waggling is the order of the day. “If you waggle the Wii Remote, a character armed with a lightsaber will swing it with the same abandon you swing…Swinging the lightsaber with the Wii Remote is a bit faster than just pressing the trigger, and the effects you generate more powerful, but the real payoff is simply swinging your “lightsaber” in real life,” writes GameSpy, who managed to take a sneak peek at an early build of the game at LucasArts’ headquarters.”

Thanks to JediKnight.net
Add to:





Filed Under Star Wars, Star Wars Games · Leave a Comment  

Next Page »