Lightsaber-Duels
Latest
E3 2010: Hands-on with Clone Wars Adventures
Arriving at the SOE booth at E3, one is assaulted with the shininess of their latest upcoming titles, DC Universe Online and The Agency. But scattered about the booth were demo stations for many of their other upcoming games including the recently announced Clone Wars Adventures. We haven't heard much about this game since it was announced (and our subsequent interview with the lead designer), but we got to sit down at E3 and find out what's involved. As a quick refresher, CWA is less a traditional MMORPG and more a virtual lobby where players can access a number of minigames. There's no leveling or quests or equipment with stats. It's more Free Realms and less EverQuest. It will be free-to-play as a Flash-based browser title when it arrives this fall. But how does all this actually play? Click past the jump for more info.
Exclusive: SOE talks Clone Wars Adventures
Last Tuesday, we gleefully reported on Sony Online Entertainment's brand-new, upcoming Star Wars game: Clone Wars Adventures. We'd heard the rumors, but confirmation sent us into pure fan-frenzy! This kid-friendly virtual world promises a free-to-play romp through the Clone Wars era, allowing players to jump into Star Wars minigames and join the storied heroes of the Republic in the fight against the Separatist armies. That's what we could dig up on the official site, anyway -- but don't you want to know more? Well, Star Wars fans, you're in luck, because we've landed a juicy interview with the Lead Designer of CWA, Matt Higby. Join us after the break as Matt graciously answers all our eager questions about purple lightsabers and parental tools, cartoons and cash shops, and why adult fans (not just kids) will want to check it out!
Star Wars Cantina: your own wretched hive of scum and villainy, in your iPhone
THQ's new Star Wars iPhone game somehow manages to involve neither Death Star runs nor lightsaber battles, opting instead for the challenge of serving drinks to the intergalactic jerks in the iconic Mos Eisley Cantina. In the Diner Dash-like Star Wars Cantina, you must serve the correct drink to the impatient aliens in the cantina in pursuit of a daily quota. If you ever wondered whether the employees at the bar got tired of listening to Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes all day, well, now you'll know. The whole thing is presented in a sort of painted look that we find impressive. It'll be in the App Store soon. As for iPhone games that do involve lightsaber battles, THQ also has a Bluetooth-enabled lightsaber duel game on the way! [Via Kotaku]
BioWare blog defines "stylized reality" in The Old Republic
Sure, the news of Star Wars: The Old Republic was kept a secret (kinda) for a few years, and during that time we really heard nothing of the game itself. Yet here we are now getting a steady stream of useful information on a game that is not even predicted to launch this year. This week we have two examples of this from the team at BioWare: a look at the art style of the game, and an entertaining blog entry from Principal Lead Animator Mark How.In the blog entry, How explains a bit about how enthusiastic the animation team is for getting every lightsaber battle exactly right. He reflects on how powerful the toys were to him as a child and how the work they will do with TOR can be 10,000 times better than anything we could imagine back then.%Gallery-35034%
Metareview - The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
We were holding out hope that The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels would be a competent fighter, as we're a fan of the genre (as well as Star Wars). But, you know, the good Star Wars. Which, we suppose, this isn't, based on the reviews below. So, without further delay, let's get to it! GamePro (70/100) says this one is for the younger fans: "The shallow fighting system, the teenage snark and animation won't impress older fans of the series, but it's good fun for younger Jedis in training." GameSpy (60/100) is of the mind that this is a good prequel to the inevitable MotionPlus-enabled sequel: "Lightsaber Duels may not be exactly what fans were clamoring for when Nintendo unveiled the Wii's lightsaber-esque controllers, but it's still quite enjoyable. The single-player experience won't last you long, though, so you might not want to invest in the game unless you plan on playing with a buddy. If nothing else, it's a good sneak preview for the inevitable 1:1 sequel when the MotionPlus is released." Variety (50/100) thinks the game failed in the multiplayer: "The biggest potential for "Lightsaber Duels" lies in multiplayer -- which is also were the game is at it's worst. Fighting a friend in the same room is fun enough, but there are no options besides one-on-one combat until one person gets knocked down for the count. The lack of different competitive modes, as well as any options for online play, keeps "Lightsaber Duels" from becoming the awesome sci-fi fighting game it has the potential to be." %Gallery-27972%
Retail and download releases for the week of November 10th
There's a lot of goodies available to Wii gamers this week, both on the retail shelf and via download. Of course, we would expect as much, what with it being the second week of November and everything. Planning on picking up something for yourself, or perhaps a gift for that special someone? Head on past the break for the details and let us know what you'll be grabbing!%Gallery-27972%
Watch a lightsaber duel go down in Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Okay, we must admit that we're kind of surprised at the clip Entertainment Weekly has for the upcoming The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels game. It looks kind of decent, actually, with all of the stuff going on in the background and the lightsaber battle shown being kind of action-packed. Our first glimpse of the game looked nothing like this. There's some polish now, it would seem. Of course, it is based on that movie that supposedly wasn't very good, but if the gameplay is as fun as this clip would make it seem, we can overlook that. Maybe it doesn't need MotionPlus after all?We'd like to embed the video for you, but EW won't allow it. To see the clip, click here.%Gallery-27972%[Via Go Nintendo]
Point/Counterpoint: Does Clone Wars need MotionPlus to succeed?
In this edition of Point/Counterpoint, we're tackling the issue of MotionPlus and Lucasarts' upcoming Star Wars game, The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels. Sure, there's a rumor of another game in the works that will utilize the tech, but nothing is confirmed yet. Does a Star Wars game need MotionPlus? Read on for the debate, then cast your vote in our poll. NEXT >> #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } %Gallery-27972%
Rumor: LucasArts planning Wii MotionPlus lightsaber game
The Force which compels LucasArts to concoct more ways to utilize the Wiimote for lightsaber gameplay will be with it ... always. According to the latest EGM rumor section, "Quartermann" brings unconfirmed word that the Star Wars factory is looking to follow up its Wii version of The Force Unleashed and The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels with yet another lightsaber-centric game, this one utilizing Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus accessory.You may recall that LucasArts was one of, well, pretty much every Wii third-party left feeling a bit ... seventieth-party by Nintendo's choice to unveil MotionPlus to them on the same day as the public. According to the Q-man, now that the company has access to the tech for development purposes, it wants to make the bestest lightsaber game ever. Might we suggest it be called: Star Wars: Lightsaber Duels – This Time It's Not All Spazzy, Really![Via NWF]
E308: Check out screens from Lightsaber Duels
Never really watched The Clone Wars show, so obviously, the art style for the games is a little, uh, striking. Okay, let's be honest -- if you're not accustomed to it, it's ugly. But now that we're seeing some screens from the game, the look is starting to seem normal. Maybe even sort of okay. By next month, we'll probably be digging it. We're fickle.There's just one thing dampening the ol' enthusiasm, though. Now that we've seen the swordplay in Wii Sports Resort with Wii MotionPlus, it's hard to get excited about a pre-accessory game like this. We want lightsaber duels, and we were told first to look to The Force Unleashed, and then to Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels. Look, it's even in the name. And yet, now it seems somewhat diminished by a dude slicing at a block of wood in a beach-themed mini-game collection.If nothing else, the two (or three) will make for great comparisons when they're all released. But somehow, we think we might not be alone in hoping, for once, for a delay.%Gallery-27972%
First glimpse at Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
While most debut trailers are full of pre-rendered cutscenes and CG, we're glad to report that the first glimpse at Star Wars Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels actually has quite a bit of gameplay in it. And, based on what we saw, it looks like the action is going to be spot-on. The timing looks good and the speed of combat seems intense enough to warrant our attention. We're still not crazy about the game's look, though.What do you all think? Looking forward to taking out the Sith trash? Going to crush the Jedi order?[Via Joystiq]
See first trailer from Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels
The announcement of Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels had us hopeful that we'd finally get that immersive Wiimote-as-lightsaber game that we'd been hoping for since ... well, since we first saw the Wiimote. But now that we've gotten a look at the above trailer, it seems that our dream, once again, has flitted just out of our grasp.Sure, it looks nice, especially for a Wii game, what with all the fancy lightsaber effects and stylized character models. But it's just not the game we want. Here's hoping that the game will still scratch some itch, even if we don't know we have it yet.
LucasArts confirms Star Wars: The Clone Wars games for DS, Wii
After teasing Wii- and DS-exclusive Star Wars titles on the back of the Lego Indiana Jones manual, LucasArts has confirmed to VentureBeat that a pair of games, based on the upcoming Clone Wars animated movie and TV show, will indeed be heading to Nintendo's platforms. Players with a love of space operas and a high tolerance for clones (and colons) can look forward to playing Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance, a DS game from LucasArts's studio in Singapore, and Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, a Wii-bound, wand-waving fencing fest from Krome Studios. Both titles are expected to beam onto shelves this November. Darn, that was a Star Trek reference, wasn't it? We'll get it right next time.%Gallery-25562%%Gallery-25563%
