The “Break it Down” Blog

Summary [7 out of 10]

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels is a 3D fighting game that focuses on using lightsabers and force powers.  There are ten playable characters including: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu, Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, General Grievous, Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, and EG-5 Jedi Hunter Droid. It follows the graphical style of the Clone Wars animated film. The game is targeted at a younger teen audience, but I just could not pass up trying a game that lets you play as a Jedi and uses the Wiimote as a lightsaber.

The Good

• You get to play as a Jedi and fight by waving around the Wiimote like it is a lightsaber. As a Star Wars fan this is the kind of game that makes me happy. Instead of just another 3rd person adventure/platformer they took advantage of the Wii’s unique abilities and controls.
• The Story. I’ve not seen the film so I don’t know if the game is the same as the movie or a supplement to it, but I really liked how the story was presented in between fights.  There ware nice cut scenes that advance the story in the game abut instead of just playing them they have a great voice over that makes is seem like you’re watching a news broadcast of these events.  The story typical Star Wars plot with bad guys trying to kill everyone and a few Jedi’s tying to stop them.
• The Graphics. For a Wii game, these are the best looking graphics I’ve seen in a non-Mario game. I have only seen a little bit of The Clone Wars animated series, but the game looks like what I remember the show looking like.
• The Difficulty Curve. I was surprised how nicely the difficulty advances through the levels.  They did not do the typical thing of making your hits weaker and te enemies stronger.  They actually made the Ai get smarter. As you move to harder difficulties your enemies block/parry more and string together their own combos.

The Bad

• The Length. The campaign and challenges are not very long.  I completed the whole campaign on the middle difficulty in one sitting in just a couple hours. The challenges are also pretty quick to complete.
• The Control Depth. There are combos and moves you can do, but you can just as easily wave your Wiimote around widely and land combos to win.  On harder difficulties it helps to block ocasionally but even then you can mostly just go on the offensive.

Conclusion [7 out ot 10]

This game is fun but very short. It was nice to play a Star Wars game that is not their typical third-person adventure style, but unless you are planning to play a lot of multiplayer with your friends or kids I’d just rent it. If you’re really into fighting games the lack of control depth and precision would be really frustrating, but for the average gamer they work just fine.