Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Episode Title: “Weapons Factory”

Writer: Brian Larsen

Tagline: “No gift is more precious than trust.”

The Story: Last week, Republic forces brought the fight back to Geonosis — where the Clone Wars started, in “Episode II: Attack of the Clones” — to destroy a massive new droid factory and put an end to Separatist bigwig Poggle the Lesser’s contribution to the conflict. With the way now cleared, Jedi General Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, are joined by Jedi Master Luminara Unduli and her Padawan, Barriss Offee. The plan involves having the two more experienced Force-users create a distraction while Ahsoka abd Barriss sneak inside to sabotage the facility. Skywalker has his doubts however… or perhaps it’s just his predilection towards attachment — his eventual downfall — getting in the way of the mission.

War, What Is It Good For: Absolutely everything. It’s good to see “The Clone Wars” back into the grand-scale action, fitting for a show named after an intra-galactic conflict. There’s more downtime this week than lst, which was a flat-out throwdown across the Geonosian front lines, but the Padawan sabotage mission added a nice sly Jedi counterpoint to the guns-blazing approach employed by Anakin and Luminara in their attempt to distract Poggle’s forces.

Not Going For The Jugular: For all of the hot Jedi action seen in the last two weeks, there’s a sense that the good stuff is being held back. You certainly can’t kill major characters or have big narrative changes in every episode, but now that this two-episode Geonosis arc has wrapped up, it feels a bit… tame in hindsight. Sure, Ahsoka wasn’t going to be killed off — despite a very-nearly-effective attempt to get us to believe just that — but why is there no resolution on Poggle the Lesser? That wily Geonosian is all over this latest episode… until the third act. Since we saw him neither escape nor perish in the destruction of the droid factory, it’s a safe bet that he’s all right. You would think the Jedi would be more relentless in cutting off the head to let the body wither. It’s an indirect part of what those fancy lightsabers are symbolic of, isn’t it?

Another Step Into A Larger World: It’s always cool for a rabid fan to see a character like Barriss Offee pop up. She’s one of those background characters that “Star Wars” is so famous for; only the barest glimpse of her in the movies, but she’s got a fully developed presence in the franchise’s Expanded Universe. In the case of Barriss, she’s a prominent figure in the “MedStar” books, a duology set during the Clone Wars.

Embrace The Dark Side: Moving forward, I’d really like to see the story getting back to our Sith friends Dooku and Asajj Ventress. Lightsaber-on-lightsaber action is good for the soul.

Coming Up: The slug for next week’s episode — “A hunt for the missing Luminara leads the Jedi to a lair full of undead warriors.” — suggests that we might be seeing some pre-history unfold on the recently released book, “Star Wars: Death Troopers.”

Download “Weapons Factory” Episode

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an exceedingly popular TV series, that has been syndicated all around the world. Naturally, LucasArts decided that players wouldn’t just be content watching the TV series, they’d like to be involved with it too.

Developed by Krome Studios, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Republic Heroes looks like a throwback to the days of Jedi Power Battles, at least in the Jedi missions. There is a real co-op ethic to gameplay and it’s been designed fully with that in mind. This same ethic is also present in the clone missions, and it’s a nice touch.

Being a spin-off from the TV series, LucasArts have done everything they can to make it as authentic as possible. All of the characters from the TV series are present, and all of the voice actors have been retained. Fans of the TV series should feel right at home.

As previously mentioned, the gameplay is divided into two separate sections: Jedi missions and Clone missions. They offer distinctly different challenges, as the Jedi missions obviously allow for the usage of the Lightsabre and Force powers. To balance this out, and not make the Clone missions seem tame, Krome Studios have given them a huge gulf of weaponry – from Rocket Launchers to Grenades. There are also puzzles scattered throughout levels to help space the action out, and it keeps things fresh. Shooting is very intuitive as a dual analogue system has been implemented. The left analogue stick controls movement, while the right analogue stick denotes where shots will be fired.

The game left a good impression. The gameplay was quite solid, and it’s clear that a lot of attention has been put into making this a very authentic product. The Sith will also make an appearance in the form of Count Dooku, amongst others and it sounds like the story supporting the title will be strong. It takes place between Seasons 1 and 2, so there is room for a bit of creative freedom with regards to bridging the gap. Graphically, the game adopts a similar style to that seen in the TV show and it can’t be faulted for sticking to its roots.

It will be appearing on all major platforms, and has a scheduled release date of the 6th of October, 2009.

“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” reinvigorated those who had their faith shaken by the prequel trilogy, and BioWare’s massively-multiplayer “The Old Republic” looks to deliver the kind of vibrant universe “Star Wars” fans expect. On television, the animated “The Clone Wars” has kept the Force fires burning, and LucasArts is bringing the wartime series to consoles. (Courtesy of LucasArts)

Over the past few years, it’s become clear that the best possible future for the “Star Wars” mythos lies away from the movie screen. “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed” reinvigorated those who had their faith shaken by the prequel trilogy, and BioWare’s massively-multiplayer “The Old Republic” looks to deliver the kind of vibrant universe “Star Wars” fans expect. On television, the animated “The Clone Wars” has kept the Force fires burning, and LucasArts is bringing the wartime series to consoles.

1. The people who bring you the show also bring you “The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes.” Steven Melching, a screenwriter from the hit show, penned the game’s plot. While it’s not being internally developed at LucasArts, Lucasfilm Animation provided Australian game studio Krome with character models and backgrounds from the show. Republic Heroes bridges the gap between the first and second seasons of the “Clone Wars” animated series.

2. For those who love both the noble Jedi warriors and the scrappy Clone Troopers, don’t worry: You’ll get to play as both. Playing as Anakin, Obi-Wan or other Jedi will be more about hand-to-hand and lightsaber combat, while Clone Troopers like Commander Cody will wield a varied arsenal of ranged weapons. It’s good to know you’ll have different strategic options in the middle of a crazy galactic war.

3. An all-new Jedi ability makes its debut in Republic Heroes. Called droid-jacking, the new Force power lets Jedi commandeer any robot in the game. So, enemy automatons can be hijacked and turned against the opposing Separatist forces. Think of it as the in-game equivalent to “Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself. Stop hitting yourself.”

4. “Republic Heroes” continues the annoying trend of action games that offer a team-up option, but limit it to offline play. LucasArts reps say the focus is on a father-and-son model, where both players will plowing through levels while sitting on a couch together. But, what if little Johnny’s got a friend he wants to play with online? Looks like they’re out of luck.

5. Another new mechanic comes in the form of Instant Challenge moments — i.e., who can kill the most enemies in a short span of time. These spontaneous built-in competitions will churn out more bonuses and upgrade points to the better player. The Force may be strong in this one, but stocking up on in-game currency won’t hurt either.

The Crispy Forecast: Partly sunny, with a high probability of incessant blaster fire. “Clone Wars” can be remarkably dark for a mainstream TV cartoon. Hopefully, the close creative relationships in Lucasfilm and LucasArts will deliver a rollicking “Star Wars” story. If Krome turns out enough action and visual sizzle to make the game fun, it might just redeem Anakin Skywalker’s reputation as a whiny cranky-pants.

This preview is based on a developer-driven demo of the game at a publisher event.

Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes lets Star Wars fans young and old live out the sweeping galactic adventures of the Clone Wars. For the first time ever, players can fight as their favorite Jedi and clone troopers from the preeminent animated television series – from familiar faces like Anakin Skywalker to new heroes like Clone Captain Rex.

A brand-new storyline, which bridges the gap between season one and two, takes the player on a multi-faceted adventure to stop a mysterious techno assassin’s destructive plot.

Built around two-player cooperative action, the accessible controls and family-friendly gameplay bring Star Wars fans across generations together like never before to fight the evil Separatists and restore peace to the galaxy.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

• Experience an all-new and exciting Clone Wars storyline that bridges the gap between season one and two of the TV series as you learn more about the mysterious bounty hunter Cad Bane and hunt down the all-new Skakoan super villain Kul Teska
  
• Play as your favorite Jedi heroes including Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Mace Windu, and Kit Fisto
  
• Slice and dice your way through Separatist droids with your lightsaber and Force powers and use your agility to perform amazing leaps and navigate levels filled with interactivity
  
• Turn your enemies into weapons as you commandeer droids and use their unique abilities to blast enemies and solve puzzles as a Jedi
  
• Be part of an elite clone trooper squad with unique gameplay that puts firepower at your fingertips. Blast droids and unleash devastation with heavy weapons like rocket launchers and thermal detonators as Commander Cody, Captain Rex and all of your favorite clone troopers
  
• Compete against a friend with in-level challenges for rewards and points to be spent to upgrade your character and unlock bonus items
  
• Experience an expanded season one story that features intuitive touch-screen gameplay on the Nintendo DS where movement, attacks and other actions are all controlled using the stylus
  

Download “Star wars: The Clone Wars” Episodes

Download “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” Episodes

VH1’s Pop Up Video may be long gone, but the idea of “pop-up” blurbs in re-airing of popular shows has continued strong. Lost and Heroes have done it, and now Cartoon Network has announced Star Wars: The Clone Wars Decoded, a re-airing of the hit show’s first season complete with little pop-up notations. Beginning May 1, 2009 at Clone Wars regular 9 PM ET time slot, Decoded will re-air all 22 episodes of the series’ hit first season, leading to the second season premiere in the fall.

The text windows will offer trivia, background information on characters and the larger Star Wars storyline. I can’t wait for the Jar Jar Binks episodes. “Jar Jar is a stupid character.” “This is what happens when you indulge the whims of the creator no matter how stupid they are.” “The creators of the character Jar Jar Binks were so ashamed of their contribution to the Star Wars mythos that they quit television. They’re currently working in product and character development for Chuck E. Cheese.”

I guess if you missed the first season of the series this is a pretty good way to catch-up, or if you’re new to Star Wars in general, but I have my doubts that it would be worth going back and re-watching the episodes if you’ve already seen them. The aforementioned Heroes and Lost pop-up episodes were incredibly disappointing as far as offering true insight or commentary. Instead they were basically a primer for new viewers. Now I can see the value of that in a show as dense as those that struggles to pick up new viewers as it goes along, but it doesn’t do much for the resale value of the episodes to those already watching.

Download “Star Wars” Episodes Free

Season: 1    Episode: 21    First Aired: 3/13/2009

The Republic attempts to free the Twileks from the Seperatists, will they be able to save the planet in time?

Director – Justin Ridge
Main Cast – Ian Abercrombie, David Acord, Dee Bradley Baker, BJ Hughes, Tim Brock, Corey Burton

Download “Liberty on Ryloth” Episode

Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the latest animated series in the Star Wars franchise to hit the small screen. The series takes place directly after the film Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Amidala, Yoda, Chancellor Palpatine and General Grievous are all back in this new series.

The introduction to the series is a feature length film released in theaters August 15th, 2008 in the US. This will be the first Star Wars film in 3-D animation to be in theaters. 22 episodes have been ordered for the first season.

Broadcast History:
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered with two back-to-back episodes on October 3rd, 2008 at 9:00pm (ET) on Cartoon Network. Repeat episodes aired at 8:30pm (ET), directly before new episodes premiere at 9:00pm. New episodes currently premiere at 9:00pm (ET) on Cartoon Network.

Let’s Download Star Wars: The Clone Wars Episode for free now.