E3 2011: Clone Wars Adventures redefines tower defense
With a large Star Wars MMO on the horizon, it's easy to forget that there are two other Star Wars-related online games already on the market. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures is an online lobby-based game geared for the younger audience, but if you are a Star Wars fan, it's fun at any age. The game has lightsaber duels, starfighter simulations, blaster ranges, and much more.
Massively visited the Sony Online Entertainment booth at E3 to get a glimpse of what is the latest and greatest to come out of this multiplayer online experience. The Senior Producer of Clone Wars Adventures, Todd Carson, was there to greet us and show us a few of the newest minigames that litter the gamescape. Jump past the break to see what he had to say and witness the latest trailer for the Clone Wars Adventures.%Gallery-125784%
Clone Wars Adventures, Carson tells us, ties two different mediums together. Fans can jump from the television medium to the computer and experience the same story, setting, and dialogue they just experienced on the latest show. In fact, CWA's last season had weekly updates that were directly related to the episode shown that week. Carson give the example of the Nightsisters trilogy that aired recently. Players can dress their characters in the Nightsister outfits they saw in the show.
There is a multitude activities for a young Jedi to do in-game. Each player has his own trophy room displaying his progress through all the minigames. He can also decorate his Coruscant apartment in just about any fashion he can imagine. The minigames themselves range from the strangely popular Stun Gungan, during which you toss Jar Jar Binks in the air for distance, to the just-as-popular Jedi Starfighter game, in which you pilot a spaceship in a tunnel-shooter, destroying enemy droids for points and glory. The most popular one has to be the Republic Defender, a tower defense game in which you command clones and other Republic troops defending their base from the droid invasions.
The popularity of Republic Defender inspired the development team to create another tower defense game, but this one has a twist. Galactic Forces pits one player against another head-to-head in an effort to destroy the opponent's base. Carson tells us, "It's a little bit of a different gameplay for Clone Wars. All of our other minigames are fairly quick. You can get through a stage in about 5 to 10 minutes. This game takes over half an hour."
A player can choose to command the Republic or Separatist forces, then battle the computer, a friend, or a random other player. Then, just like in a standard tower defense game, a player builds up energy over time to build forces to attack his opponents. Republic players have clones and even Jedi such as Anakin, Mace Windu, and Yoda to command, and Seperatists control an army of different types of droids. "It's a real strategy game," Carson explains, "When we tested it, the kids really loved it because they were making their own little movie -- their own little TV show." You can too. The game is live right now on the Clone Wars Adventure website. The next great Star Wars adventure could be yours.
Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 6-9, bringing you all the best news from E3 2011. Whether you're dying to know more about Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
