Nintendo Wii

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes Review

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes box art

System: X360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS
Dev: Krome Studios
Pub: LucasArts
Release: Oct. 6, 2009
Players: 1-2
ESRB Rating: Teen
Review by Tony Capri

Review Rating Legend
1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor
2.5 - 2.9 = Average
3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
3.5 - 3.9 = Good
4.0 - 4.4 = Great
4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
5.0 = The Best

Had LucasArts completely stripped out the Jedi missions, put the camera behind the back of your clone, and discarded all the extraneous gimmicks, Republic Heroes could probably be a pretty darn fun game - Battlefront, anyone? In the end, however, young Star Wars fans are getting the shaft. The gameplay is completely derivative, sometimes broken, and usually dull.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes screenshot

Adding insult to injury, the presentation is a slapped-together collection of cheap set pieces and level design. The Clone Wars should be a great candidate to make a strong visual impression on Wii, since it's based on a cartoony take on the Star Wars universe. Instead, character models are ugly and low res, and they animate laboriously under a constantly chugging framerate. Environments do a decent job of conveying the Star Wars feel, but bland texture work makes for a mere cookie-cutter presentation.

The music fares okay, but it feels somewhat lifeless up against the experience fans are used to when sitting down to watch one of Lucas' epic masterpieces. There are a few themes that come off as fresh, though, and the fidelity is decent enough. The voice work is competent, but if you weren't sick of hearing Obi Wan yell the name "Cody" before, you will be after playing through this unoriginal and uninspiring addition to the Star Wars canon.

For some of us, Star Wars never grows old, in spite of the constant barrage of media and merchandise the Lucas empire has been throwing at fans for almost 30 years. But I sense a disturbance in The Force. The padiwans are getting one poorly conceived adventure after another, and at this point, it's really hard to convince anyone that LucasArts isn't merely going through the motions each time they set out to make another new game. Republic Heroes for Wii shouldn't be scrapped altogether, though. The clone missions have some promising elements that could likely be fine-tuned into something really entertaining. Until that time, however, fans of Star Wars should probably stick with playing one of the LEGO games.

By Tony Capri
CCC Freelance Writer

Rating out of 5	Rating Description
2.9	Graphics The visuals get the job done in terms of offering a Star Wars presentation, but the framerate is consistently choppy and character models are poorly rendered.
2.5	Control Whacking drones with your lightsaber is good fun in short bouts, but the platforming is a mess and controls are generally unresponsive. There's a spark, though, to playing as one of the clones, but it needs a bit of fine-tuning.
3.5	Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting The soundtrack sits fine alongside the overall presentation, though it does little to stand out. The voice work might prove entertaining for new Star Wars fans, yet it will likely grate the nerves of most other players.
2.5	Play Value The obligatory checklist of unlockables is present here, but it's not enough to really sweeten the pot. The gameplay feels like it was phoned in to the programmers by the creative team, and the overall execution is really sloppy.
2.5	Overall Rating - Average Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Experience an all-new and exciting Clone Wars storyline that bridges the gap between season one and two of the TV series as you learn more about the mysterious bounty hunter Cad Bane and hunt down the all-new Skakoan super villain Kul Teska.

Play as your favorite Jedi heroes including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu, and Kit Fisto.

Slice and dice your way through Separatist droids with your lightsaber and Force powers and use your agility to perform amazing leaps and navigate levels filled with interactivity.