Dear Journal,

Today I found out that even Jedi Knights can be totally un-cool.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes is a video game with three titles and only one camera angle. A mix between platforming and third person shooter, Republic Heroes never manages to really nail either one.

The game takes place between the events of seasons 1 and 2 of The Clone Wars TV series, and as such, you’ll be a bit lost if you haven’t been following the show. Most characters though have a basis from the films and you can deduce what is happening plot wise even if you haven’t been a fan of the show; though there isn’t much of a reason to do so.  Despite the fact that the story jumps between several Jedi all over the galaxy (as well as clone troopers) there really isn’t much memorable about the plot.  The one enjoyable part to the game’s story though is the way the various different characters’ stories all end up winding together.

The levels based on Jedi are, as stated before, primarily platformers.  The static camera makes any chance this game would have been fun and just shits all over it.  There is no other way to say it.  Jumping from one rock to another (or from one floating droid to another) results in far more misses than hits.  Combat is also fairly lackluster, in no way shape or form capturing the enjoyment of fighting as a Jedi like other games before it.

Clone trooper levels are a third person shooter with some basic squad elements (you don’t really control them but there is a squad present).  If the game has a highlight it is certainly these levels as they are by far the better of the two halves.  The static camera doesn’t do nearly as much to get in the way of these levels, and though aiming is often a bit frustrating, the experience is overall enjoyable.  It has been a while since non-Jedi have gotten some heavy screen time in a Star Wars game, so it is almost ironic that the troopers are the highlight of this one.

While the game sounds descent, featuring a solid performance by the voice cast, it looks bad.  Obviously based on the visual style of the show, which is a little weird in its own right, the game’s visuals don’t even manage to come close to that level.  It is entirely possible the camera is static so that you can’t get a closer view of how bad everything looks.

One redeeming feature for the game is the drop-in co-op.  As you might expect, this is best in the trooper missions, but any game that allows players to quickly and easily turn the game into a multiplayer experience deserves a nod.  Sadly, that is really the only nod Republic Heroes really manages to pull off.

Basically, there are so many other quality Star Wars games that short of having beat every one of them and in desperate need of a new one; there isn’t much to see here. Move along now.

Tomorrow I bid Backlog Quest farewell with my review of Homefront (and possibly a surprise or two).

Final Rating: 4/10

CBR Break Down:
Console Played On: Xbox 360
Time to completion: ~ 5 hours
Gamer Score Earned: 495/1000
Price Bought at: $10
Current Price: $4.87 (Amazon)
Recommend Purchase Price: If you absolutely need to try it, stay under $5.
Why you should buy it: It’s Star Wars and we all that have that same problem don’t we?
Why you shouldn’t buy it: So many other Star Wars options you may have skipped.