If you are a Star Wars fan, or have some friends to get lost in the multiplayer with, The Clone Wars is a keeper.
User Rating: 8.2 | Star Wars: The Clone Wars GC
The Clone Wars for the GameCube is overall a pretty solid game, but isn't quite as good as it could have been. The Single Player campaign is 16 levels long, continues the tales of the Clone Wars through the viewpoints of Obi-Wan, Mace, and Anakin, and allows you to experience three types of gameplay: tank, on-foot, and aerial. The on-foot parts leave something to be desired, paling in comparison to the likes of Jedi Outcast. You wield a lightsaber, and can use both saber throw and push, but the controls make you feel like you are driving a tank. Fortunately, there are only a few on-foot parts, so they're more like an extra perk to the otherwise good game, and they are still reasonably fun. The aerial combat definitely falls short of the Rogue Squadron standard, since you only fly the Republic Gunship that acts more like an attack helicopter than anything else, but these sections are significantly stronger than the on-foot portions and add a nice variety to the gameplay. Finally, the tank combat is awesome. The portions where you pilot the Republic Tank or AT-XT are a total blast, with enemies and allies flying all around you while you do battle with the enemy. There are also bonus objectives throughout these levels that can unlock new multiplayer maps, characters for multiplayer, documentaries, music tracks, and vehicle images and the like. Multiplayer in Clone Wars is surprisingly fun. There are 4 gameplay types, all allowing up to four players to join in on the action: Jedi Academy, Control Zone, Conquest, and Deathmatch. Deathmatch and Control Zone modes are pretty standard, Control Zone is essentially king of the hill, and these are as enjoyable as they are in any other multiplayer game. Jedi Academy however, is a real treat. This allows you and some friends to fight cooperatively against waves and waves of enemies either on-foot in the geonosis arena (this on-foot portion is way more fun than that of the single player mode since it's set up differently, with a birds-eye view of the arena) or in tanks and AT-XTs on a moon. Conquest allows players to fight strategically as they gain control of bases, build units (such as the AT-XT if you're on the Republic side, or AATs on the Confederacy side) conquer territories, and hopefully destroy the enemy's base. This can be done with 2 on 2, 3 on 1, or whatever you like, as long as there are only 2 factions. The graphics are what I'd call "okay" but not great. Poly's are a little low, lighting sort of below what we'd call "good" and not many fancy effects happening here. There is, however, a crap load of stuff going on on the screen at one time, so that's very impressive, and explains why they couldn't make every single object in the game beautiful. The music is classic star wars, what can I say? It's good, but not original. All in all, Clone Wars is a very good game. The single player is fun, and interesting if you're into star wars, and the multiplayer will keep you coming back again and again for a long time after beating the game.
