There is no doubt that this game is aimed at kids, therefore with the aid of my 9 year old son we sat down for a co-op session to see just how appealing this game was to both me and him.

 

 

Unfortunately the problems with this game start straight from the off due to the controls being very unresponsive, when playing I could see the frustration creeping in to both of us as we tried to jump to platforms and continued to fall, having to keep trying again. The problem seems to be that if you don’t jump from the right area then you just fall, whereas if you get it right the game will guide you there. Having played through numerous Lego Star Wars games where the developer got this spot on, it’s very frustrating to see this flaw exist in the game.

 

One of the other major flaws that you will notice pretty much straight away is that the graphics aren’t really that good, there are certainly PS2 games which are better looking than this which is a bit of a letdown really. Each of the levels that you play through just seem like the last, there seems to be no imagination used at all, meaning that playing though this game can be a very boring experience.

 

You would hope that the combat would at least improve things a little, however it’s very repetitive as you wander through levels fighting enemy after enemy and to make matters worse there is no real challenge as the controls are very basic. To be fair my little boy did seem to be enjoying taking the enemies down for a while, however it wasn’t long before even he was getting a bit bored with it all.

 

One of the main features of the game is the ability to jump on droids and control them, a bit like you can with creatures in Crash Bandicoot Mind over Mutant (though to be honest it is done better in that game). Controlling the droids allows you to blow up enemies and rocks or use them to attack other droids. This is a novel feature however it gets a bit mundane after the hundredth time of doing it.

On the plus side the game certainly includes plenty of characters to play as including the more well known characters such as Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to lesser know characters such as Plo Koon and Luminara Unduli. The bad guys also make an appearance and you can also play as them ala Lego Star Wars later in the game.

 

Throughout the game you will collect glowing stars, once you have enough of these you can spend them in the store on new combat upgrades or other more strange things. You are also able to take part in challenges throughout the game, allowing you to set high scores for others to beat.

 

 

Perhaps the best feature of the game is the drop in/out co-op, this obviously allows you to play with someone else, which on a lot of occasions can make the difference between a good and bad game. The co-op does work well and certainly helps make it a lot more fun that it would have been without it.

 

Children will certainly get something out of this game, however there are a lot better, fun games out there that they will enjoy more. Unfortunately Star Wars: Clone Wars is lacking in the imagination and general playability of better games such as the Lego Star Wars series and therefore I would find it quite hard to recommend this to anyone other than the most ardent fans of the series.