Star Wars: The Clone Wars | |
---|---|
![]() North American PlayStation 2 cover art | |
Developer(s) | Pandemic Studios |
Publisher(s) | LucasArts |
Director(s) | Greg Borrud |
Designer(s) | Eric Gewirtz, Jack D. Davis |
Engine | Zero |
Platform(s) | GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
Release | GameCube PlayStation 2 Xbox |
Genre(s) | Action |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is a video game set in the Star Wars universe developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts for GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. It consists mostly of vehicular combat using clone warships, starfighters, speeder bikes and tanks, as well as missions where players can control Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Mace Windu on foot. The game is set in the Star Wars prequel trilogy era, with the first level encompassing the Battle for Geonosis from Episode II: Attack of the Clones . The game also features multiplayer modes for up to four players in splitscreen, or online via Xbox Live for the Xbox. The game received mixed reviews from critics.
The game is split up into two segments: vehicles and third-person Jedi fighting. The single-player campaign is played from the perspective of Jedi Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Mace Windu, who pilot vehicles and ride animal mounts. The vehicle segments involve most vehicles from the Star Wars universe: STAPs, tanks, AATs, AT-XTs, and Republic gunships. The controls used involve primary and secondary fire, acceleration and a special ability that changes from vehicle to vehicle. The Jedi segments use basic lightsaber slashing and two force powers, which rely on a force power bar, lightsaber throw and force push. In all instances it is played from a third-person perspective. [2]
Multiplayer can be played for up to four players via splitscreen. Multiple game modes and levels are included. Duel allows two to four players to compete in free-for-all combat. Conquest is a team-based mode where players must capture and defend the most zones to win, which would be used in Pandemic Studios' later Star Wars: Battlefront titles. Control zone is a King of the hill-type mode where a single zone must be held for the longest amount of time to win. The game also featured a survival mode known as Academy. A vehicle-based version is played on the planet Thule, while an on-foot version is played in Geonosis' Petranaki Arena from Episode II: Attack of the Clones . Here up to four players control their choice of jedi or blaster-carrying characters and defend against waves of enemies. After the completion of a set of three rounds, players duel against each other. The final player standing receives bonus points, all players are respawned, and then gameplay resumes for another three rounds. Xbox Live online play was also available for the Xbox console, and featured additional downloadable levels. [3]
The game begins with the Battle of Geonosis from Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Luminara Unduli lead a strike force of Jedi to weaken Separatist defenses and rescue Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi. As Anakin and Obi-Wan are rescued, an army of Clone troopers arrive and battle the Separatist droid armies as Windu takes part in taking down key Separatist ships. Later on in the story, Anakin and Obi-Wan organize an evacuation of a Republic outpost on Rhen Var, leading the escape only minutes before the Separatist Army captures the planet.
One month after the Battle of Geonosis, the Republic detects unusual activity on Raxus Prime, and sends a strike force led by Anakin and Obi-Wan to investigate. On arrival, they find Separatist forces at an excavation site. They send for reinforcements to take the planet. The Republic captures Raxus Prime, but during the battle, Anakin is captured by Sith Lord Count Dooku and bounty hunter Cydon Prax.
Anakin is sent to Alaris Prime, a moon in the Kashyyyk system, to be executed. Anakin and the other prisoners are doomed to be killed by the Force Harvester, an ancient Sith weapon that drains the Force from all living things within its range. Anakin is able to escape his cell and uses a speeder to escape the Force Harvester's range. Anakin, with help from a female smuggler named Bera Kazan, infiltrates a Separatist communications outpost to contact the Republic for help. Then Anakin, Bera and the local Wookiee population hold off the Separatist forces until Republic reinforcements led by Obi-Wan arrive. Anakin and Obi-Wan then lead a counterattack against the Separatists and successfully liberate Alaris Prime.
Anakin returns to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant and informs Jedi Master Yoda and Windu of the Harvester. Windu then tells Anakin and Obi-Wan of the Dark Reaper, an ancient Sith weapon built during the Great Sith War that was so powerful that none could withstand it. It required large amounts of energy to operate, which the Harvester could provide. Windu then mentions that the Reaper was destroyed by a fallen Jedi Knight named Ulic Qel-Droma, and the remains of the Sith weapon were scattered by the Jedi across the galaxy. To learn more about the Dark Reaper, Anakin and Obi-Wan lead Republic forces to Rhen Var, Qel-Droma's final resting place, to retake the planet from the Separatists. After a long battle, Anakin is led to an ancient tomb, where he meets Qel-Droma as a Force ghost, who agrees to teach Anakin how to defeat the Dark Reaper and reveal the location of the Sith weapon. Qel-Droma at the same time warns Anakin that this knowledge and power could lead him on the path to the Dark Side. With the Dark Reaper located on the ancient Sith world Thule, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Windu lead Republic forces to Thule to prevent the Sith weapon from being rebuilt.
Before the Republic can invade Thule, Anakin leads a strike force on the planet's moon to take out the planetary shield generator. Once on Thule, Obi-Wan and Windu lead Republic forces in eliminating Separatist defenses guarding the planet capital Kessiak, where the Sith Temple that holds the Dark Reaper is located. As the defenses fall, Republic forces enter Kessiak. While the Jedi and Republic forces battle the Separatists, Anakin enters the Sith Temple to destroy the Dark Reaper. Inside the temple, Anakin kills Cydon Prax and confronts the Dark Reaper, now operational. With guidance from Qel-Droma, Anakin is able to destroy the Dark Reaper and claim victory for the Republic on Thule. Obi-Wan acknowledges Anakin's growing power, but warns him to not let it consume him. As Republic forces are leaving Thule after the battle, Windu believes that the battle may have turned the tide of the war, but Yoda reminds him the war is far from over.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars was announced on May 16, 2002 for GameCube and PlayStation 2. [4] The Xbox version was announced on January 30, 2003. [5] The game was developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts. It was shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2002 in Los Angeles, California a short time later. [6] The GameCube version was released October 2002. [7] The PlayStation 2 release followed in December of that year. On February 5, 2003 LucasArts announced that the Xbox version would feature online multiplayer through Xbox Live. It was slated to be released March 2003, and released a month later. [8] The Xbox version would later be bundled with Tetris Worlds in an Xbox console package. [9]
The game is powered by Pandemic Studios Zero engine, which was also used for the first two Star Wars: Battlefront games. [10] Pandemic was assisted by two other studios, Creat Studios in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which worked on the game's pre-rendered cutscenes, and Studio Mythos in Torrance, California, who assisted with character models. LucasArts also assisted with development. In total 50-60 people worked on the game. [10] While some of the game's characters, locations and vehicles were taken directly from the films, others were newly created for the game. Additionally, models and textures from Industrial Light & Magic were provided to the Pandemic team for reference. Josh Resnick, President of Pandemic Studios said that Lucasfilm was "very easy to work with." He stated that while they did not receive final designs for many things, Lucasfilm game Pandemic "a lot of flexibility on creating new assets, new artwork [and] new characters." [10] Greg Borrud, Director for the game wanted to provide a strong vehicle combat game. In speaking of the core of the gameplay, noted "More or less what Rogue Leader had done for flying combat, we wanted to do for ground combat." [10]
The game is voiced by several actors who have lent their voices multiple times in the Star Wars universe. Anakin Skywalker is voiced by Mat Lucas, who also voiced the character in the 2003 Clone Wars TV series and several video games. Grey Griffin voices Padmé Amidala and would later voice Asajj Ventress in the 2003 series and also provided voices for other games and series. Count Dooku is voiced by Corey Burton, who has portrayed Dooku since that time. Jedi Masters Mace Windu and Yoda are voiced by Star Wars veteran voice actors T.C. Carson and Tom Kane, respectively. [11] Music is taken from the Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones's soundtrack, composed by John Williams. [12]
Aggregator | Score | ||
---|---|---|---|
GC | PS2 | Xbox | |
Metacritic | 73/100 [13] | 72/100 [14] | 71/100 [15] |
Publication | Score | ||
---|---|---|---|
GC | PS2 | Xbox | |
Edge | 4/10 [16] | 4/10 [16] | N/A |
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7/10 [17] | N/A | 6.83/10 [18] |
Eurogamer | 6/10 [19] | N/A | N/A |
Famitsu | 27/40 [20] | N/A | N/A |
Game Informer | 8.25/10 [21] | 7.75/10 [22] | 8.5/10 [23] |
GamePro | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GameRevolution | C+ [27] | N/A | N/A |
GameSpot | 7.5/10 [12] | 7.3/10 [28] | 7.5/10 [29] |
GameSpy | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | N/A | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
GameZone | 8.5/10 [31] | 8.5/10 [32] | 7.5/10 [33] |
IGN | 7.6/10 [34] | 7.6/10 [35] | 7.7/10 [3] |
Nintendo Power | 4/5 [36] | N/A | N/A |
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | N/A |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | N/A | 7.8/10 [38] |
Entertainment Weekly | B [39] | B [39] | N/A |
Maxim | 8/10 [40] | 8/10 [40] | N/A |
The game received "mixed or average reviews", according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. It holds aggregate scores of 73 out of 100, 72 out of 100 and 71 out of 100 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, respectively. [13] [14] [15]
In Japan, where the GameCube version was ported and published by Electronic Arts on March 20, 2003, Famitsu gave it a score of 27 out of 40. [20]
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was first introduced in the original film trilogy as one of the leaders of the Galactic Empire. The prequel trilogy chronicles his transformation from the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker into the Sith Lord Darth Vader. His metamorphosis begins when he is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Palpatine, who later becomes the Emperor. After a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi, Vader is severely injured and is transformed into a cyborg. He serves Palpatine for over two decades, hunting down the remaining Jedi and attempting to crush the Rebel Alliance. When Palpatine tries to kill Vader's son, Luke Skywalker, the Sith Lord turns against his master and destroys him. Vader is the husband of Padmé Amidala, the father of Luke and his twin sister Leia Organa, and the grandfather of Ben Solo.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is a 2005 American epic space opera film that is the sequel to The Phantom Menace (1999) and Attack of the Clones (2002). It is the sixth film in the Star Wars film series, the third installment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, and third chronological chapter of the "Skywalker Saga". It is written and directed by George Lucas, who also served as executive producer. The film stars Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Lee, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, and Frank Oz.
Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi is a character in the Star Wars franchise. In the original film trilogy, he is a Jedi Master who trains Luke Skywalker in the ways of the Force. In the prequel trilogy, he mentors Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan is portrayed by Alec Guinness in the original trilogy and by Ewan McGregor in the prequel films. McGregor also plays the character in the television series Obi-Wan Kenobi. Guinness' performance in Star Wars (1977) earned him the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Count Dooku, also known as Darth Tyranus, is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the prequel film trilogy, first appearing in Attack of the Clones (2002) and then returning in Revenge of the Sith (2005). He is portrayed by Christopher Lee in both films, and is voiced by Corey Burton in most of the video games and animated productions in which he appears. The animated productions include the series Clone Wars (2003–2005), The Clone Wars, and Tales of the Jedi (2022). Lee voices Dooku in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars. Dooku also appears in novels and comics.
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force. He first appeared in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back, in which he is voiced and puppeteered by Frank Oz, who reprised the role in Return of the Jedi (1983), the prequel trilogy, the sequel trilogy, and the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Other actors who voice Yoda are Tom Kane, Piotr Michael, John Lithgow, Tony Pope and Peter McConnell. In addition to films and television series, Yoda appears in comics, novels, video games and commercials.
The Clone Wars, also known as the Separatist Crisis, is a fictional conflict in the Star Wars franchise by George Lucas. Though mentioned briefly in the first Star Wars film, the war itself was not depicted until Attack of the Clones (2002) and Revenge of the Sith (2005). The Clone Wars are also the setting for three eponymous projects: a 2D animated series (2003–2005), a 3D film (2008), and a 3D animated series. They have featured in numerous Star Wars books and games.
General Grievous is a character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. He was introduced in the 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars, before appearing through computer-generated imagery in the 2005 live-action film Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Wood reprised the role in the 2008 animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and the 2024 anthology series Tales of the Empire.
Star Wars: Clone Wars is an American animated television miniseries developed and directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and produced by Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network Studios for Cartoon Network. Set in the Star Wars universe, specifically between the Star Wars prequel trilogy films Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, it is amongst the first of many works to explore the Clone Wars. The show follows the actions of various prequel trilogy characters, notably Jedi and clone troopers, in their war against the droid armies of the Confederacy of Independent Systems and the Sith.
Star Wars: Labyrinth of Evil is a 2005 novel by James Luceno set in the fictional Star Wars universe. The novel serves as a lead-in to Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and was loosely adapted into Volume Two of the Star Wars: Clone Wars microseries.
Lego Star Wars: The Video Game is a 2005 Lego-themed action-adventure video game based on the Lego Star Wars line of construction toys, and the first installment in the Lego video game franchise developed by Traveller's Tales, which would develop all future Lego titles from that point on. It was first released on 29 March 2005, and is a video game adaptation of the Star Wars prequel trilogy: The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, with a bonus level from A New Hope.
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith is an action video game based on the movie of the same name. It was released on May 5, 2005, for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Symbian OS. For the Xbox 360's backwards compatible lineup, Revenge of the Sith is one out of the 400+ backwards compatible games for the 360. As part of the PlayStation 2 classics program, the PlayStation 2 version was re-released in Europe on the PlayStation Network on February 11, 2015, and in North America on April 28, 2015. Meanwhile, the Xbox version was also added to the backwards compatibility list for the Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on November 15, 2021.
Lego Star Wars: Revenge of the Brick is a brickfilm loosely based on Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Revenge of the Brick premiered on Cartoon Network on May 8, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. EST. The movie can now be seen in QuickTime format on the Lego website or directly downloaded. It was also released with the Clone Wars Volume Two DVD as one of its special features.
Star Wars: Obi-Wan, originally titled Star Wars: Episode I: Obi-Wan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by LucasArts and released exclusively for Xbox on December 19, 2001 in North America and March 29, 2002 in Europe. It is set in the Legends canonicity of the Star Wars universe, around 32 years before the Battle of Yavin, shortly prior to and during the events of the 1999 film The Phantom Menace. Players control the Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi. The game received generally mixed reviews upon its release.
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a novelization of the film of the same name, written by Matthew Stover and published on April 2, 2005, by Del Rey Books.
Sheev Palpatine is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He first appeared in the 1980 film The Empire Strikes Back as The Emperor. He is also known by his Sith name, Darth Sidious, which was first used in the novelization of the 1999 film The Phantom Menace.
Asajj Ventress is a character in the Star Wars franchise created by George Lucas. She was introduced in Genndy Tartakovsky's 2003 animated series Star Wars: Clone Wars. The character later appeared in the 2008 animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the 2008 television series of the same name, and the 2021 Disney+ series Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
Mace Windu is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in the prequel trilogy as a Jedi Master who sits on the Jedi High Council during the final years of the Galactic Republic. He is portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson in all three prequel films. Windu also appears in the 2008 animated film The Clone Wars, the television series of the same name, and in novels, comics, and video games.
Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Krome Studios and published by LucasArts. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PSP and PlayStation 2 on October 6, 2009. A Nintendo DS port was also developed by LucasArts Singapore. The game is a tie-in to the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated TV series, which follows the adventures of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and other Jedi and clone troopers during the Clone Wars. In the game's story, the Confederacy of Independent Systems recruits Skakoan scientist Kul Teska to develop a new superweapon, prompting an investigation by the Galactic Republic, who attempts to stop its construction.
Padmé Amidala is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. She first appeared in the 1999 film The Phantom Menace as the teenage queen of the fictional planet Naboo. In the following two films of the prequel trilogy, Padmé becomes a member of the Galactic Senate and secretly marries Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi Knight. Anakin's fear of losing Padmé drives him toward the dark side of the Force, which results in his transformation into Darth Vader. Padmé eventually dies after giving birth to the twins Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa. Natalie Portman portrays Padmé in all three prequel films. In addition to films, Padmé appears in animated series, novels, comics and video games.
Star Wars Transformers is a Hasbro toy line started in 2006. The line features robot versions of various characters from the Star Wars franchise that transform into vehicles from the same series. Now, they can usually range from $30 to $400, depending on the product.