The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes Review
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20 Oct 2009 13:35 #26333
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This is just my own review of the PC version of The Clone Wars - Republic Heroes.
Obviously - the game is set during the clone wars and styled on the newer (and recent movie) versions of the animated titles.
The format of the game if a mixture of 3rd person shooter. platform and saber combat - You [play as either a jedi (one of many of the characters) or a clone trooper (again a number of characters throughout the campaign).
The games also has a two player 'drop in drop out' function - if you dont know what this means - its simply if your playing as a single player - the computer will control your partner character for you (and all the missions operate as two man team - except for clones whereby there can be as many as 6 in a squad - in the pc version anyway) - at almost anytime - a friend can take control of the partner character and 'help' out (or compete).
Another feature of the game is the points or 'force' system - as you play - you collect (or earn) points for kills, mission times and collection of items. Also there are 'artefacts' to collect which unlock other goodies. Another part of the game (on pc and xbox versions) are the live games (windows live) and on completion of certain tasks during the campaign - you can unlock even more. However - ive yet to get my live function to work. In many of the missions, there are extra sub games - or one on one challenges, like killing the most enemy in a set time or collecting tokens etc - these too earn you extra points.
More 'bugs' exist - actually - a great many of them (on pc version) - now whilst this game is surprisingly undemanding in terms of system requirements for a pc (hell - my pc is now 5 years old) there are bugs that are not related to the performance of my pc. Getting stuck on terrain is one (mainly after jumping to a ledge and fingertip gripping the ledge the character cant move - the only way out is to quit the mission and start it again) - another which is designed into the game is the assisted jumping - however - this is a pain as it often wont allow you to jump unless your in a very specific spot and the angles at which you must jump don't always make sense.
The game itself is actually quite boring very quickly and very very repetitive. Your either jumping to platforms or jumping on enemies (Bot-jacking to use them as weapons) or simply blasting anything you see. There are no real challenges or puzzles to speak of and in fact - you cant fail a mission by dying. Every time you die - you respawn at a checkpoint and you continue to do so until you beat the mission. The most annoying thing is yoda - yes, our dear lord yoda is a pain - he forever pops up giving instructions on how to do certain moves almost throughout the game - now you'd think this was cool or helpful for the first few stages but not for most of the game and worst of all he usually pops up in the middle of a critical moment - and there is no way to disable him.
Many other reviews moan about the graphics and the sound - now given that its seemingly a port across many formats - I dont think its too bad - at least it doesnt require you to have a 3month old pc and a PS3 to run it - the sound is fine and the graphics are more than adequate for the job - especially given that the clone wars movie etc is itself computer animated. However the bugs are a let down as too is the system slow downs which happen almost randomly - if they only happened on big scenes with lots of characters i would and could blame the machine but it happens with only the two players in small undetailed rooms - ive even tried this with the settings all set to minimum and maximum and this makes little difference to performance - so for now im going to blame more game bugs.
Overall - the idea is there but the final product is disappointing and perhaps rushed to fill the pre xmas clone wars market hype (especially as season 2 of the series is soon to be released on DVD) - the game is the same (in terms of missions etc) over most the formats (with bits removed for psp) - its enough to fill time on a rainy afternoon for the kids but as I said - a tad boring and samey - however - it isnt expensive (£15 in the UK at time of purchase which was day of release) but if you must have the game cos its starwars and you have a console of some sort - then buy the console version
If anyone gets stuck on any bit of the game - just ask as ive completed every challenge every mission on all difficulties and bought every purchasable upgrade/bonus the game has (except for my inactive live stuff)
MTFBWY - A
Obviously - the game is set during the clone wars and styled on the newer (and recent movie) versions of the animated titles.
The format of the game if a mixture of 3rd person shooter. platform and saber combat - You [play as either a jedi (one of many of the characters) or a clone trooper (again a number of characters throughout the campaign).
The games also has a two player 'drop in drop out' function - if you dont know what this means - its simply if your playing as a single player - the computer will control your partner character for you (and all the missions operate as two man team - except for clones whereby there can be as many as 6 in a squad - in the pc version anyway) - at almost anytime - a friend can take control of the partner character and 'help' out (or compete).
Another feature of the game is the points or 'force' system - as you play - you collect (or earn) points for kills, mission times and collection of items. Also there are 'artefacts' to collect which unlock other goodies. Another part of the game (on pc and xbox versions) are the live games (windows live) and on completion of certain tasks during the campaign - you can unlock even more. However - ive yet to get my live function to work. In many of the missions, there are extra sub games - or one on one challenges, like killing the most enemy in a set time or collecting tokens etc - these too earn you extra points.
More 'bugs' exist - actually - a great many of them (on pc version) - now whilst this game is surprisingly undemanding in terms of system requirements for a pc (hell - my pc is now 5 years old) there are bugs that are not related to the performance of my pc. Getting stuck on terrain is one (mainly after jumping to a ledge and fingertip gripping the ledge the character cant move - the only way out is to quit the mission and start it again) - another which is designed into the game is the assisted jumping - however - this is a pain as it often wont allow you to jump unless your in a very specific spot and the angles at which you must jump don't always make sense.
The game itself is actually quite boring very quickly and very very repetitive. Your either jumping to platforms or jumping on enemies (Bot-jacking to use them as weapons) or simply blasting anything you see. There are no real challenges or puzzles to speak of and in fact - you cant fail a mission by dying. Every time you die - you respawn at a checkpoint and you continue to do so until you beat the mission. The most annoying thing is yoda - yes, our dear lord yoda is a pain - he forever pops up giving instructions on how to do certain moves almost throughout the game - now you'd think this was cool or helpful for the first few stages but not for most of the game and worst of all he usually pops up in the middle of a critical moment - and there is no way to disable him.
Many other reviews moan about the graphics and the sound - now given that its seemingly a port across many formats - I dont think its too bad - at least it doesnt require you to have a 3month old pc and a PS3 to run it - the sound is fine and the graphics are more than adequate for the job - especially given that the clone wars movie etc is itself computer animated. However the bugs are a let down as too is the system slow downs which happen almost randomly - if they only happened on big scenes with lots of characters i would and could blame the machine but it happens with only the two players in small undetailed rooms - ive even tried this with the settings all set to minimum and maximum and this makes little difference to performance - so for now im going to blame more game bugs.
Overall - the idea is there but the final product is disappointing and perhaps rushed to fill the pre xmas clone wars market hype (especially as season 2 of the series is soon to be released on DVD) - the game is the same (in terms of missions etc) over most the formats (with bits removed for psp) - its enough to fill time on a rainy afternoon for the kids but as I said - a tad boring and samey - however - it isnt expensive (£15 in the UK at time of purchase which was day of release) but if you must have the game cos its starwars and you have a console of some sort - then buy the console version
If anyone gets stuck on any bit of the game - just ask as ive completed every challenge every mission on all difficulties and bought every purchasable upgrade/bonus the game has (except for my inactive live stuff)
MTFBWY - A
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