It’s pretty remarkable how much Lucasarts has managed to wring out of the Clone Wars Saga. You might remember that there was just a Clone Wars game (Republic Heroes) released last year for every single console and handheld, as well as different Wii and DS games a year before. You would think that would be it as far as games but that barrel still had a little muck stuck at the bottom so Lucasarts grabbed Lego Star Wars developer Traveller’s Tales once again and handed them a scraper.
Today they officially announced the release of Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. Much like the last video games it will contain characters from both seasons of the TV show, as well as characters from the films (of course.)
You can choose to play as good or evil (Jedi or Separtist) and the game will feature a few vague new abilities, such as the ability to command squads and perform various lightsaber manuevers. It will also feature a level builder which lets you create customized bases and in-game battlefields for use in various new battle modes that allow for head to head combat.
“LucasArts continues to set the bar for next-generation family entertainment,” said Darrell Rodriguez, president of LucasArts. “The LEGO® Star Wars franchise is a massive hit with fans, bringing in sales of over 20 million units worldwide. We’re thrilled to extend this experience to LEGO® Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, delivering the humor and fun players expect from this award winning franchise.”
While I’m certain people are getting more than tired of this property and would rather see Traveller’s Tales move on to the next franchise to lego-fy (even though they’re hard at work at a bunch of Harry Potter games as well), the games are amusing enough. It’s just sad that they seem intent on killing all the good will we had towards the once-innovative series by pumping so many out with so little changes.