Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars is the latest in an enjoyable line of Lego-based Star Wars video game mash-ups. Developer Traveller’s Tales will have you believe it’s the biggest and best Lego Star Wars game yet, delivering new features including a picture-in-picture play mechanic, better graphics and proper Star Wars scale settings. Ahead of its 25 March release we sat down to give it a go, in our Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars preview.
Even after two previous LEGO Star Wars games, cries of cashing in on a popular franchise are almost unheard of. Those loveable building blocks, even in virtual form are too adorable to even begin to get mad at. Beyond the Lego Star Wars games, each and every other Lego title (be it Harry Potter or Indiana Jones) has that peculiar charm that has become a mainstay of the Lego game series. Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars, from what we’ve seen and played is no exception. Lego Star Wars game fans can rest easy. It has all of the humour, playability and personality of Traveller’s Tales previous efforts.
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars is based on The Clone Wars animated series, essentially retelling its stories in a way only Traveller’s Tales could. It’s essentially the same type of game, dressed up in a new outfit you never get tired of. Only, Traveller’s Tales seems to have set its ambitions a little loftier this time around.
Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars, we’re told, is the biggest of the Lego game series, in every way. Our first hands-on game time came when we were asked to pummel the defences of Malevolence – a blinkin’ great big space ship, non Star Wars fans. It’s massive. It’s like something out of Halo. You see, that’s where Traveller’s Tales is going with this. LEgo Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars promises to deliver a true, full-scale Star Wars experience, out of Danish bricks.
We found ourselves piloting a spaceship, steering in and out of the screen-hogging Malevolence. Your aim is to breach the space-inhabiting enemy stronghold. Perform a few flybys and you’ll soon see how big it is. The hull of Malevolence soon becomes exposed, showing off the bustling activity within its hangar. Miniature enemy spaceships and laser-fire pour out in your direction. Docking inside Malevolence lets you further glimpse the scale here, as you flawlessly switch between ground and air combat, all within the confines of this ginormous spaceship. Hit the A button on an Xbox 360 pad and you can fly up to another level of the ship, lending to multi-leveled space combat. A sign of things to come.
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After flying around bombing several weak points on the big ship you get to go inside. That same level of detail extends inside. It just looks better, more polished, as they say, than previous Lego titles. Now you’ve breached Malevolence, there’s chaos abounding inside. Explosions and fire effects seem more believable. The wafting smoke actually looked like smoke. Little touches such as security cameras following your direction inside corridors are another example of attention to detail.
The next scene we played had us on board Malevolence solving puzzles and generally making Lego-shaped mincemeat of enemy droids using characters Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3PO and Padmé Amidale. As usual, each character has their use. Anakin and Obi-Wan are the Jedi masters, using lightsaber attacks and the Force as their primary weapons. You can now use the Force to throw enemies off platforms. Lightsabers can also be used for throwing, climbing and cutting through doors. R2-D2 is his usual loveable puzzle-solving tag-along self, with C-3PO. The robotic duo aren’t much help in battle, but are core to the game’s puzzle-flavoured side dish, alongside the combat, and key to progression. Padmé Amidale has a rubbish laser tooter. If it weren’t for her ability to unlock doors with her Indiana Jones style whip we’d have force-chocked her there and then.
SceneSwap is another new gameplay addition. It’s essentially a way of telling multiple stories at once, and letting you swap between them in-game. While playing one character’s storyline, a picture-in-picture display shows the events from another players perspective unfolding. Holding a button lets you switch between them, letting you prioritise whichever you like. While Anakin was fighting a large droid, Obi-Wan came face to face with a number of henchman in another part of the ship. Which scenario you take care of first is up to you. It’s a neat addition we look forward to seeing more of in our full Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars review.
To sum up the new additions we got to see: bigger levels and settings, multi-layered space combat, new lightsaber moves, picture in picture-style scene swapping and better graphics. Traveller’s Tales says it has raised the bar for Lego games, and on first showing, we’re inclined to agree. To the developer’s credit, Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars feels just as much like a dedicated Star Wars game as it does a Lego game, right down to the authentic Star Wars soundtrack.
While we’ll hold off recommending this outright before our review, it’s safe to say that LEGO game fans won’t be left disappointed by Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars.
Out March 25 2011 | £TBC | Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars
