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53A missed opportunity to do much more on Wii -- and strangely, it feels in many ways like a dumbed-down version of Force Unleashed, which came out first.
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65There is no suspension of disbelief due to the simplistic fighting mechanics and imprecise controls, and your dreams of feeling like an all-powerful Jedi remain unrealized. LucasArts gave it a great try, with faithful graphics, sound, and cinematic flair, but for legions of rabid Star Wars fans, it's do or do not. There is no try.
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The graphical style of the show works well on the Wii, and the fighters’ mid-battle banter adds some flavor to the action. I was even amused by the Lightsaber Clash minigames that occasionally interrupted the bouts, even though these sometimes falter due to poor motion control recognition. While these few gameplay elements help make the experience more digestible, it hardly matters because the basic mechanics are a mess.
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60Lightsaber 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.
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70The 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.
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20All quibbles about presentation and content aside, the game is simply incapable of delivering the sort of fluid gameplay the concept demands.
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40But to finally give us a lightsaber game, even a crap one, and not enable us to take on the role of Luke Skywalker and battle Darth Vader? That’s just freaking cruel.
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Could have been special, given time. [Jan 2009, p.71]
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60Perhaps given more development time, Krome Studios could have turned out a fitting tribute to one of science fiction's most enduring franchises. Sadly, however, Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Lightsaber Duels isn't the game we were all hoping for.
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We'd love to see a Wii MotionPlus-enahnced version of this game, but until then leave this one in a galaxy far, far away. [Holiday 2008, p.89]
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50Lightsaber Duels will please younger fans of The Clone Wars movie who don't know any better, but for anyone else the combat system will be too frustrating to forgive. The wait goes on for that perfect Wii lightsaber game. Roll on spring 2009.
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40The Clone Wars is spared irrelevance by its style and personality, but only just. [Jan 2009, p.108]
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55Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels is nothing more than a mediocre fighter that’s hampered by unimaginative waggle controls and simplistic gameplay.
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50Children up to the age of ten will be satisfied by the performance of the game, so parents can buy this game without worrying about violence. For the core-gamer, there is no need to buy Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
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67Jedi battles come to Wii in an interesting but limited videogame because the wiimote still hasn't been able to emulate the light saber's performance. This new disturbance in the Force has created a passable but fleeting and incomplete title. If you would like to become a Jedi, be careful, because this game couldn't be enough to complete your Padawan's training.
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67Lightsaber Duels is an average fighter with solid visuals, but it doesn’t deliver on its most important element. There’s plenty of fan service, and swinging the Wii remote around can be fun at times, but the payoff just simply isn’t enough. This one’s still a padawan in training.
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The coolest of all cool ideas, pieced together in a profoundly uncool way. Wait for MotionPlus to throw up something more substantial.
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Ultimately, Lightsaber Duels is only really worth getting for either those who have seen and done everything in The Force Unleashed and crave more Star Wars action or for younger gamers who love the recent Clone Wars cartoons and aren't that interested in the live-action movies.
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65Cool graphics, good sound and a great entertainment. Too bad that the most basic thing, the control of the character, simply doesn't work as intended, which makes it really difficult to fully enjoy the game or the feeling like we were using the lightsabers. LucasArts should have waited for the WiiMotion Plus.
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Ultimately Clone Wars is a bit of a failure for several reasons, and the fact that it doesn’t do what you’d be forgiven for thinking it should do is just the main one. With disappointing lightsaber controls, the limited gameplay structure, simplistic combat and lack of core audience appeal only provide further excuses not to bother. High expectations or not, Lightsaber Duels doesn’t deliver.
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This game doesn’t only have a ridiculous long title, its gameplay is also quite ridiculous. Despite some decent visuals and audio, the game just isn’t fun to play. That’s caused by the inaccurate registration of the player’s movements, while the essence of the gameplay lies exactly there. Thus, Lightsaber Duels is a missed opportunity, and probably only appreciated by the young and inexperienced players among us.
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Compared to The Force Unleashed’s Duel Mode, Lightsaber Duels is too simplistic and shallow to warrant purchasing – while it would suit younger fans, the wait continues for the rest of us Star Wars fans for a game that lets us unleash our inner Jedi and use the Wii-mote like a lightsaber in a realistic manner.
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65While acceptable as a guilty pleasure or five-minute filler with a friend, we’re not quite sure what sector of the Star Wars fanbase Lightsaber Duels will appeal to. With none of the original characters or locations to help older fans overlook the game’s foibles, and a control system that might not suit Star Wars-loving younglings, it could end up missing the mark completely, which is a shame as with a little more attention this could have been a fan favourite.
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50It's the closest a videogame has come to giving players mastery of the ultimate sci-fi weapon, though the controls are so simple, and the story and multiplayer options so lacking, that it will likely appeal only to the same young boys as the film, which hits homevideo this week.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 8
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Mixed: 1 out of 8
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Negative: 2 out of 8
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JohnM10
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MarkR10
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5