The popular animated Star Wars spinoff, Clone Wars, warps to your PC in the form of an MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game. The cartoon is clearly aimed at kids, but this game can be entertaining to adults and regular MMO players as well. In typical fashion, you assign a name to your character and begin by choosing from the class of characters such as a Clone, Jedi, Bounty Hunter, etc. You then can customize your look and upgrade your gear with various items purchased with credits. How do you get credits? I thought you’d never ask. You get them the best way possible: by playing games and winning them!
There are 20 games in total and range from puzzles to shooters to card and strategy games. Some can be played against other players such as Lightsaber Duel. The “duel” is fought by hitting the displayed sequence of arrow keys before your opponent to strike a blow. While not the fast-paced action you may expect from a lightsaber duel, it can get intense. In fact, all the games have the potential for intensity and challenge. Each has 3 levels of difficulty, some of which can only be accessed by unlocking easier levels. The Card Commander game takes the popular card battle genre and makes it simple and quick to pick up. Republic Defender is a tower defense game where you set up gun turrets to ward off waves of droid attacks. There is even a Speeder Bike Race game. For the thinkers, there are a few crystal-matching games and even a trivia game for fans of the series. All in all, there is a game here for everyone and anyone whether you are a Star Wars fan or not. Even with the limitations of a keyboard and mouse, most of the games are entertaining and can keep your interest. Even nicer, you can access them all from a central menu and don’t have to travel to the specific game room to play them. In Clone Wars Adventures you don’t have to run around trying to find fun things to do. It lets you jump right in and even shows how to play each game while loading.
Speaking of loading, this is a web-based game so loading can be an issue. Of course, the speed of loading depends largely on your internet connection and PC, but under normal circumstances the load times are low and generally don’t interfere or postpone enjoying games. The games run smoothly and the graphics are good. While there are no super high-end graphics at work, the animated style very closely resembles the animated series, and with any MMO graphics are secondary to the gameplay. In short: it looks and plays nicely. While some the games can resemble Flash games played online, they are polished up and branded with Star Wars sounds and styles.
Playing all these games earns credits, which are then used to purchase everything from clothes to furniture, and even pet droids. Items can also be put on your wishlist and purchased for others. It truly is an MMO with the ability to add other players to your friend list, talk with them online, and compete with them in games. The draw for fans of the show especially is that the game features content from the 3rd season, which is currently airing. Players have the opportunity to play sequences of the show the day after they are aired.
The game is free to download and play through most of the mini-games. While some of the content does require a $5.99 monthly subscription, the free content is enough to entertain most and will definitely let you experience the game enough to determine if the extra money is worth it. The important thing to understand for parents is that it is aimed at kids and does things like approve user names to avoid anything inappropriate. The Clone Wars cartoon is not as serious as the films and doesn’t employ a heavy level of violence. Clone Wars Adventures in turn is not violent or aggressive but rather a fun and safe place for kids to interact online. If you or your kid is a fan of Clone Wars, Star Wars in general, or even just wants to play some fun mini-games, this is definitely worth checking out, especially considering it’s free to try.
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