Star Wars The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes

Star Wars games have always existed on all gaming consoles and computers since I can remember and now that the Empire has taken over the TV screens and turned all of our favourite Star Wars characters into cartoon 3D animated versions of their former selves it was only natural that this new show make its way into various game formats for this generation.

The storyline for Republic Heroes sits in between the first and second Clone Wars animated series as you fight the seperatists and Darth Sidious’ minions on various ships and planets throughout the galaxy.

You play as various Jedi like Anikan, Obi Wan, Plo Koon, and Clone Troopers, but you are not given a choice of which ones you play, they change depending on the level and mission/ story component.

The game is easy to pick up and play and you really don’t ever die, if your character loses all their health or accidentally falls to their death; they are just respawned back at the last checkpoint that isn’t too far away, making it fun for the younger player but not really challenging enough for older fans.

There is some fun in the game play with the Jedi being able to jump on top of all forms of droids and take control of them using their weapons against the other enemies or make a path to break through to the next section of the level. There are 2 characters on the screen at a time and in single player the second is controlled by the games AI, but this is a game best played with 2 players especially with the mini game challenges that occasionally appear throughout the levels allowing each player to compete against one another for points.

The Jedi can wall jump, shimmy across ledges and swing on poles having their lightsabers as their main weapon for attacks, blocks and throws using their force powers in different ways like clearing and knocking down enemies, the Clone troopers use guns, grenades and Melee attacks with both being able to control various vehicles when they are required.

You collect blue orbs scattered around and by destroying droids and you use the points you have collected to purchase combat upgrades for both Jedi (Wider force push, Lightsaber spin/throw, larger shockwave upon landing/during jump attacks and longer combo cool down period) and Clone troopers (Extra damage when riding vehicles, double weapon maximum capacity).

As a bit of a novelty hats and masks are available to purchase and unlock by finding artifacts scattered amongst the levels to play a bit of Star Wars Halloween dress ups turning your character into what looks like a bobble head of characters like Darth Maul, the Emperor or a Jawa.

If you are a Star Wars fan around 8-12yrs you probably like this for a while but for older ones like myself, it becomes a bit monotonous, has some weird camera angles that make it hard to judge some jumps and other short comings that make it is a fairly standard platform game that lacks substance and flair, but it does look like Darth Lucas has found a way for this franchise to go on forever.

– Maceman

Star Wars The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes
Platform – X360, PS3, Wii
Distributor – Activision
Genre – 3D platform
Rated – PG