Game: LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

Platform: 3DS

Publisher: LucasArts

Developer: Traveler’s Tales

ESRB: E

Genre: Lego based action adventure

Players: 1

What's Hot:dogfighting missions make good use of 3D, well done character models and effects

What's Not: virtually no challenge, long loading times, framerate issues

---

Review by: Brandon "Mandalorian" Cackowski-Schnell

By now, I’m convinced there is no media property out there that can’t be made into a LEGO game by Traveler’s Tales. LEGO Anna Karenina!, LEGO Watchmen! LEGO Citizen Kane! The underlying structure of the game has been codified to the point where if you see a LEGO game, you know exactly what you’re getting: cute brick people, combat and clever cut scenes. While the familiarity of it all may be a comfort to those not looking to stray too far from the so far successful formulas, this formulaic approach takes all of the challenge and interest out of LEGO Star Wars III.

I’ve never watched an episode of Clone Wars in its current incarnation, so you would think that the fact that this is all new story for me would raise my interest, but unfortunately, while the LEGO brand of storytelling is great for visual gags and giving an alternate take on what has come before, it’s not so great for telling stories for newcomers. As a result, you watch a cut scene, chuckle and then move on to the droid dismemberment. This isn’t helped much by the fact that the Clone Wars spans several seasons now and the game pulls events from a selection of episodes to tell its story. Obviously, if you watch the show, you’ll understand what’s going on but folks familiar with the LEGO games brand, but not the Clone Wars property, may be left wondering just what’s going on.

Oh well, who needs a story bogging things down when there are droids to destroy, right? In the usual LEGO fashion, the game is broken into story mode and free play. In story mode your squad is picked for you limiting the ability to obtain certain collectibles and wring every last stud out of the proceedings. This tragedy is easily remedied in free play where an army of minifigures stand at the ready, waiting to be switched in to open closed doors or use the Force to move obstructions. In story mode the game never throws anything at you that your minifigures can’t handle however you will have to figure when to switch between the various characters to accomplish the task at hand.

Well, that’s not entirely true. As LEGO games go, this one has to be the easiest one of the bunch. At no point are you left wondering who to use or what you’re supposed to do with said character. Whatever character is needed to progress flashes on the bottom screen and any action that has to be performed is shown on the touchscreen as well. So, for example, if you don’t know that you’re supposed to use Anakin to levitate that dropped girder, his profile will flash and once selected, a giant arrow will show up. Add to the fact that resurrection is instantaneous and aside from some lost studs, there’s no penalty for dying and you have a game that has absolutely zero challenge. I understand these games are for younger audiences but still, a little thinking should be required.

Luckily the game’s dogfighting missions help break up the monotony, made all the easier by the 3DS’s thumbstick. Taking on droid ships, shaking enemy missiles and conducting bombing runs are all thrilling and look fantastic through 3D which makes the workmanlike pace of the on foot sections stand out even more.

Given that the 3DS packs more under the hood than the DS, this version of the game has more visually in common with the home console versions than the DS version sporting well done character models and environments, all with a shiny, plastic-y sheen, but in a good way. Turning on 3D makes certain elements of the background pop, but most of the action doesn’t change much except for a delightful animation of your accumulated studs flying towards you like you just hit all 7s on a LEGO slot machine. Unfortunately, these graphical touches aren’t without issues as the game’s frame rate frequently stutters and the loading times leave much to be desired.

LEGO Star Wars III is a perfectly competent LEGO game, neither excellent nor dismal, just simply there. It has all of the things you’d expect from a LEGO game, however they never gel into a game that’s better than its parts. I would imagine die hard fans of the series will find more there than I did, but I suspect that most people will remember the game for being a 3DS launch game rather than being an exemplary LEGO game.

Brandon Cackowski-Schnell is a regular contributor to GameShark and is the cohost of Jumping the Shark , GameShark.com's official podcast and co-founder of No High Scores.

Questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you .