They say “timing is everything,” and nothing proves this so well as Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels, a fighting game that would have come off much better had LucasArts released it in August, before they released the similar and superior The Force Unleashed in September.
What it is
Duels is a simple sword fighting game in which two opponents face off in a duel to something short of death. The game is based on the watchable Clone Wars cartoon series, and it has a child-oriented aversion to murder. In fact, winning a duel can simply lead to another duel with the character you just vanquished, as they pull themselves together for another go at you.
The selling point of Duels is that you can use the Wii remote to effectively control your lightsaber. Swing the remote to the side for a side slash, or swing it down to slash down, or push it forward to stab at your opponent. This is nicely done, but it was just as nicely done in The Force Unleashed. You can also use some Force powers with the nunchuk, but to a much lesser extent than in Unleashed.
Unleashed had an elaborate story and mixed battles against hordes of enemies with boss battle fights. Duels, which consists entirely of mano a mano dueling, comes across as Force Unleashed Lite, a pared-down lightsaber game that strings duels together with uninspiring cut scenes that fail to coalesce into anything like an actual story. In fact, Unleashed has a duel mode of its own tucked in that is more interesting than the one in Duels.
Still might be a good choice for young children
This is a game you buy your kids if they’re fans of the TV series. It’s a perfectly adequate game, and it can be fun for a while, but it is an overly simple fighting game likely to feel lacking to anyone who has played many fighting games. This would be fine if it were a budget title, but the asking price is as much as for Unleashed.
The best reason to buy the game for a kid is simply that it isn’t as dark and brutal as Unleashed. It is a good game for young children who like Star Wars but don’t want to see people get murdered and blinded.
Designed by Krome Studios, Duels feels like a lazy attempt to cash in on the popularity of the TV series. Ironically, it would seem like a much better game if Krome Studios hadn’t also developed The Force Unleashed first. Then, at least, it would seem cool to be able to control the lightsaber with the Wii remote. Krome needs to learn to release its mediocre games first: then those games will seem better, and the improved games they release later will feel like progress.
