LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Preview
The Force as a Building Block
by Maja
previewed on PS3
The Saga Continues with LEGOS!
What do you get when you bring together the all-time favorite building blocks known as LEGO, the Star Wars franchise and a videogame? The answer is simple: pure awesomeness. LEGO is a Danish brand of toy bricks which enable you to create different models and structures in numerous creative ways. Interestingly enough, Star Wars is their first entertainment-related licensed product, followed by LEGO Batman, Harry Potter, and Indiana Jones to name a few. The LEGO Star Wars franchise proved to be very successful, selling over 20 million units across the globe and attracting a huge fanbase.
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is an upcoming video game published by LucasArts and developed by Traveler’s Tales, the same team which created the successful LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Indiana Jones series. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is a sequel to LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game and LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and will be available on all major platforms.
The story of this new sequel, set in the Star Wars universe, was labeled as non-canon (or N-canon), which means that it directly contradicts other canons that more or less stick with George Lucas’ original idea as expressed in the films. The purpose of the Star Wars canons is to present a unified history of the Star Wars galaxy, while the so-called non-canon stories are mostly ‘what-if’ stories interpreting Lucas’ vision in different, often conflicting ways. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is shaping up to be quite a game, combining the very best from the previous LEGO games with novelties which will certainly thrill kids as well as adult players.
The Force is Strong with This One
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars seems like the most action-packed LEGO game yet, with stunning graphics, new battle modes which enable hand-to-hand combat, the creation of battle fields, new character abilities and other enhancements and refinements of fan favorite elements from previous sequels. As before, you assume the role of well known Star Wars characters and collect various items at each level, using the characters' special and unique abilities which include commanding your team, lightsaber jumps and slices, Grapple Tie-Ups and navigating hubs.
The numbers of characters at your disposal is quite impressive and all possess unique abilities and a few new moves. For example, Jedis can throw their lightsabers around to kill their enemies and use the Force to lift battle droids off the ground and use their guns. Yoda moves like a skilled Jedi knight, chopping everything in sight with his lightsaber which will definitely thrill younger players with its comic potential. Another new feature is scene swap, which enables you to switch between teams and battle fields and enhance your battle performance by bringing your teams together in killing an enemy or breaking a gate mechanism. You can play it by yourself or with another player, cooperatively or competitively. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is also larger than any other LEGO game before – the screen can hold up to 300 LEGO bricks at once for epic, chaotic and exciting battle scenes.
As a game demonstration, and as a way to increase our anticipation, the game’s co-project leader Andrew Bell showed off his favorite feature of the massive ground battles. You can build a cannon by pressing a button, jump into it, destroy a barricade, jump back into your speeder boat and attack an enemy base, destroying it and taking it over. Taking over enemy structures is also a strategic defensive move: if your enemies have a giant protective shield, you cannot go in using a vehicle, so you need to jump off your ride and deactivate it yourself, and then simply bring in your vehicle and troops to destroy it. The game also offers you 20 different environments to play in, explore, solve puzzles and enjoy the Star Wars atmosphere.
May the LEGO be with You
A result of an awesome, inventive and imaginative combination of ideas, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is bound to give us many positive surprises. Although it may seem it could end up living off the glory of its predecessors, this game holds many novelties and stunning graphics which will make the LEGO Star Wars experience a truly unique one. In Yoda’s words, “always in motion the future is”, a future which will bring us this interesting game which might live up to its predecessors, if not as surpass them.
