In the same aesthetic vein as the Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the trailer focuses on a poorly voiced Yoda and — big surprise! — the possibility that failure means “all will be lost.” Dare we say it? The graphics just aren’t that impressive, especially compared with last year’s The Force Unleashed. Still, the game’s only out (on every system ever) by September 15th. Perhaps it’ll catch our eye before then!
We were holding out hope that The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels would be a competent fighter, as we’re a fan of the genre, as well as Star Wars. But, you know, the good Star Wars. Which, we suppose, this isn’t, based on the reviews below. So, without further delay, let’s get to it!
GamePro (70/100) says this one is for the younger fans: “The shallow fighting system, the teenage snark and animation won’t impress older fans of the series, but it’s good fun for younger Jedis in training.”
GameSpy (60/100) is of the mind that this is a good prequel to the inevitable MotionPlus-enabled sequel: “Lightsaber Duels may not be exactly what fans were clamoring for when Nintendo unveiled the Wii’s lightsaber-esque controllers, but it’s still quite enjoyable. The single-player experience won’t last you long, though, so you might not want to invest in the game unless you plan on playing with a buddy. If nothing else, it’s a good sneak preview for the inevitable 1:1 sequel when the MotionPlus is released.”
Variety (50/100) thinks the game failed in the multiplayer: “The biggest potential for “Lightsaber Duels” lies in multiplayer — which is also were the game is at it’s worst. Fighting a friend in the same room is fun enough, but there are no options besides one-on-one combat until one person gets knocked down for the count. The lack of different competitive modes, as well as any options for online play, keeps “Lightsaber Duels” from becoming the awesome sci-fi fighting game it has the potential to be.”
Gallery: Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Lightsaber Duels
People are kind of stoked for this The Force Unleashed thing, enough so that the book for the game has managed to score a spot on the NY Times bestseller list. Written by Sean Williams, the piece of fiction managed to top the hardcover list over the weekend, showing that this whole Star Wars thing is pretty popular. Could this be indicative of strong sales for the game that’s planned to release on September 18th in North America? We’d tell you, but the Dark Side the future has clouded.
The homebrew community is the best. Not only have they allowed us to do things that we never thought possible on the Wii (like play GoldenEye 007 and watch our favorite movies), but now they’re hard at work coming up with ways for us to enjoy classic point-and-click adventure games on the platform. While we won’t be able to, say, play Sam & Max Hit the Road yet, the current release (version 0.12.0) has support for 5 games. These include:
The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Two: Hand of Fate
The Legend of Kyrandia: Book Three: Malcolm’s Revenge
Lost in Time
The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble
Drascula: The Vampire Strikes Back
Sure, it’s no Secret of Monkey Island or anything, but progress is being made so that we need not rely entirely upon Telltale for our point-and-click fix. We’re excited for a future where we can enjoy all of those classics on our Wii.
With the time of year being what it is and all, we imagine inside the empty and very penniless chasms of our wallet is a faint and very tortured voice crying out for help. It wants us to stop spending, but we can't. Oh, we just love the Q4 season and our awe of the Wii grows and grows.
Tim Schafer worked at LucasArts for 10 years making adventure titles like The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. He’s known for working heavy doses of humor into his games, in 2000 Schafer left LucasArts to start his own company, Double Fine, which went on to release the critically acclaimed Psychonauts in 2005. In a recent interview he talks about how he’d love to make sequels yet would rather make something new, but first about some choice quotes about the change of times…
Schafer: “In 1990, Monkey Island took nine months to make and cost $200,000. In the early ’90s, we were really excited if we sold 100,000 copies of a PC graphic adventure. I think Monkey Island 2 sold 25,000 copies. Full Throttle is the first game I made that cost $1 million. That was 1995 and we were shocked. Before that they had cost around $300,000. And Full Throttle took a year and a half to make, which was crazy at the time. Now games take us at least three years. Psychonauts took five, only sold half a million copies and we’re still in business. The quality of games matters more than people give it credit for.
We like to make things hard on ourselves. We like to try new things. I think it’s important that every time you do a game, you do something that’s the exact opposite of the last one you did. Full Throttle is very different than Day of the Tentacle, and Grim Fandango is very different than Full Throttle. Part of the fun of it is doing a complete 180 every time.”
Does that mean we’re not going to see a Grim Fandango 8?
Schafer: “I’ve toyed with that because I love those characters and that world. I would love to go back and spend time with the characters from any game I’ve worked on, and I would love to make a sequel to any of them. But I also want to make something new. If there were five of me I might make sequels, but there’s always some new idea I want to explore.” (more…)
Today is a big week for releases on the Wii, as we not only get one first-party Nintendo game, but also two very high-profile third-party titles. It can only mean one thing: we're getting closer and closer to the holidays. Oh, will someone think of our poor wallet, please?
After finding out that the newest Star Wars game would be gracing the Wii also, we were all kinds of excited. Then, we actually got to see some behind-the-scenes stuff and we found out what it was truly like to be excited. We're pumped for this game.
Now, some more info on the game has trickled out of camp Lucas. Most of the information revolves around a couple of locations players will be able to traverse in the game, including a TIE fighter construction yard, the wookie homeworld of Kashyyyk, the planet of Felucia and also Raxus Prime, an interstellar dumping planet. There is also some details on the Apprentice's droid compantion Proxy.
We'll save you the spoiler-worthy details here. So, if you want to know the juicy stuff, head on over to CVG. But, don't say we didn't warn you.Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
LucasArts and BioWare today announced that they have entered into an agreement to create an interactive entertainment product. Us gamers call this thing a “game” and you’re out of luck if you were hoping for some details, because none were given, except that it will be “Ground-Breaking” and “will push the boundaries of the gaming market by utilizing the strengths of both companies to deliver an innovative, high-quality experience.” In other words Bioware will be developing and Lucasarts publishing and likely (our guess) providing them with an IP (Intellectual Property) they own.
“LucasArts has a deep commitment to developing compelling stories and characters for the unique medium of interactive entertainment, and we have been searching for a developer that shares this value. We found this in BioWare,” said Jim Ward, president of LucasArts. “Through our previous collaborations, we know that BioWare has an impressive ability to blend gripping stories with technological advancements, and we believe that our upcoming product will deliver an experience that will span the traditional boundaries of video game entertainment.”
“BioWare’s mission is to deliver the best story and character-driven games in the world, delivering powerful emotional experiences to our fans.” said Ray Muzyka, chief executive officer, BioWare Corp. Added Greg Zeschuk, president of BioWare Corp., “The collaboration with LucasArts allows us to combine our passion for creating high quality and innovative experiences with those of a company dedicated to bringing only the finest games to market.
Bet you didn’t expect to hear a new game announcement so soon after the take-over of Bioware by Electronic Arts. I wonder what Lucasarts franchise they might use, maybe a Star Wars MMOG (Massive Multiplayer Online Game) or Monkey Island adventure-RPG?
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron is an all-new project in the Battlefront saga exclusively for the PSP, designed to offer an all-new storyline in the single-player mode and extremely robust PSP multiplayer options.
The story in this game follow the previously secret “Renegade Squadron” that was made up of the galaxy’s toughest scoundrels. As the plot unfolds, players will learn how Han Solo recruited and assembled his team and used their many talents for missions in Korriban’s Valley of the Sith, the rocky remains of Alderaan, and the fiery ashes of the volcanic planet, Sullust. In addition to single-player story missions, Renegade Squadron allows up to 16 players to compete in the online mode (eight-person support for local multiplayer), with a special 100-point spending system to purchase custom kits with more than a million different combinations that can be used to create unique Star Wars characters.
Is the Force strong with this one? The video review answers:
The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes confirmed, trailer released originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 09 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
