The Clone Wars Preview Special

insert overused Yoda quote here

The Clone Wars Preview Special aired last night on American TV, revealing a little bit of information about the forthcoming series and hinting at plot points for what looks to be the first four episodes. The special didn’t cover a phenomenal amount of ground. The balance of presenter Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ahsoka) and the interview with Avatar creator Dave Filoni tried to please both older and younger audiences and, well, didn’t really work but I also didn’t feel as if it mattered.

Eckstein is certainly a lot cuter than I imagined she would be but the real selling point was the Sneak Peak at an episode involving Anakin and Ahsoka uncovering a secret Separatist weapon. What pleased me about a lot of the clips from these first few episodes is that Admiral Yularen seemed to appear in a fair few of them.

On a related CW note, I finally finished watching the original CW series last night (at four o’clock in the morning no less) kindly sent to me by the wonderful beccatoria and tallforadwarf. I hadn’t been too interested in the series when it first arrived, due to the stigma of Episode II and when I later tried to watch it during a flight to Japan last year, I only managed to cover the first couple of episodes but, I have to say, in light of the new film, I actually quite enjoyed it.

The CW EU has kind of become the big ‘thing’ for me recently. It started earlier in the year when, lacking any Episode I-related material to listen to at work, I moved over to listening to the audiobooks of Clone Wars era material and was totally won over by Jedi Trial and Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, both of which were of such high quality that I really became involved with this era despite not having an interest in how the story concludes in Revenge of the SIth. Over time, these characters and this era have really become their own entity for me.

I’m not quite sure about the timeline/continuity details of how the books, the old Genndy Tartakovsky series and the new series fit together but I’m okay with that. The freedom of not having seen Episode III allows me to kind of divorce this era from all other shades of Star Wars and…I’m happy with that. I don’t want to see General Grievous presented as another walk on/blink-and-you’ll-miss-him villain introduced and dispatched in one film, I want to see how he develops over the new series and what drives him. I can live without the Battle of Endor with bigger Ewoks and I don’t want to see Darth Vader devalued – for now, I’m happy to just let the story of the Clone Wars continue and, if that means contradicting the established ‘ending’ of Return of the Sith and the future of the OT…then I’m okay with that.

The OT is always going to be there and there will always be a way round whatever future changes George Lucas makes to these films. For now, I’m interested in seeing a different story and not worrying about tying them all together.

Here ends the impromptu rant.

The Force Unleashed Ending Review (MAJOR SPOILERS)

After about eight hours, I finally put The Force Unleashed to rest and, I’m very sad to say, the promise of the early storyline during the first five hours dipped considerably during the latter half. This had mostly to do with the game’s intent manifesto to include the requisite Star Wars cameos that would make fans of the films, not just the Expanded Universe, more comfortable with the set up. Sadly, the issue is not helped by the fact that, despite the scope of the universe, the second half of the game mostly focuses on return visits to earlier worlds for subsequently different reasons (Kashyyk, Felucia and the Jedi Temple being the three that spring readily to mind).

The gameplay continues as usual; all serious confrontations ending solely with QTEs and the earlier AT-ST confrontation being repeated with such regularity that it quickly loses its initial appeal. The real injustice in the game however is not the gameplay, but the way in which the storyline is quickly reduced to incoherent nonsense.

Following the Apprentice’s mission to defeat Shaak Ti on Felucia, he returns to his master who chides him for being followed by the Emperor’s spies. Palpatine himself then turns up and instructs Vader to finish the Apprentice which, to all purposes and intents, he does – throwing the young boy out of an airlock, only to swiftly rescue him later.

Vader heals the Apprentice and again reiterates than no one must know of their connection yet, at the same time, in order for them to complete their destiny as almost ‘father and son’, the Apprentice must fashion an army with which to challenge Palpatine’s power. The Apprentice then heads off for a final training mission in the Jedi Temple, killing all Imperial forces as he has on two separate occasions before (yet strangely, despite the significance of the location, Palpatine never noticed his guards being killed on a regular basis) and then heads off to set up the Rebel Alliance, rescuing Princess Leia along the way, fighting random Mandalorians and hanging out with Lobot until finally meeting up with Garm Bel Iblis (who certainly doesn’t look like I imagined him).

Vader then betrays the Apprentice, kidnaps all of the ‘Alliance leaders’ and takes them off to the Death Star to be interrogated and executed by Palpatine himself. So off sets the Secret Apprentice to rescue his new friends and completely mess up some of the most significant events of A New Hope.

In all honesty, I’m surprised that the Apprentice wasn’t *another* person suddenly made canonically responsible for stealing the Death Star plans…but apparently he just single-handedly started the Alliance instead.

The illusion of choice in the gameplay is quickly dispelled early amongst the game’s new turn of events. It is impossible to kill apprentice-turned-Dark Side adept, Maris Brood on Felucia when she kidnaps Bail Organa. Likewise it is impossible to kill all the Alliance members on the Death Star. The only choice is to fight Darth Vader or Emperor Palpatine which…is not what I wanted at all.

All in all, the impression is one of exceeding disappointment, resulting in a restrictive game that neither allows you to fully explore the universe in which you have been placed nor interact with the storyline. I can’t help but feel a little cheated, especially after how the opening actually succeeded in winning me over to the Secret Apprentice’s plight.

Hopefully, Soul Calibur IV will prove more sensible (and yes, I really do realise how silly that sounds).

The Force Unleashed First Impressions (SPOILERS)

First impressions of the first five or so levels of The Force Unleashed (Kashyyk, Nar Shaddaa shipyard, Jedi Temple #1, Raxus Prime, Jedi Temple #2) reveal a game that is a lot less deserving of the noise it’s been receiving.

From a technical point of view, the controls take a bit of getting used to and, surprisingly, are at their most clunky when fighting other Force users. From the point of view of someone with doubts about the storyline however, the report is much more favourable.

To address the problems with TFU as a game first, its biggest drawback is that it isn’t Knights of the Old Republic. I knew the system wasn’t going to be turn-based when I rented the game but still, hope springs eternal. There’s a lot of focus on Force use and every item in your field of vision is highlighted for potential use by Force powers however this gets old very quickly. In terms of regular destructible scenery there is nothing alas. Save for the lightbulbs in Nar Shaddaa and the Jedi Temple, most objects – especially those designed for use with Force powers – are strangely resistant to lightsabre blows.

The Secret Apprentice, strangely expressionless as his character is, proves to be a lot more suited to the game’s controls than Darth Vader. Where the Apprentice dashes and leaps, Vader resolutely stomps about being generally invincible, which is all well and good but makes for a very boring opening level. It’s frustrating that his ‘underskirt’ is constantly flowing forwards making him look silly and, whilst he can’t jump high, he can strike a ‘Force repel’ pose that you know has been styled for the Apprentice.

The controls aren’t awful but, at the very least, I was hoping for something more akin to Lego Star Wars Battlefront II.

The most tiresome aspect of TFU is, as mentioned above, battles with Jedi. It’s a surprise that a Star Wars game can make such an important aspect of the game so tedious and dull. At the end of the day, these confrontations are reduced to simply hitting your enemy until the right symbol flashes up (I can already see how this would play on Nintendo’s Wii) and then hammering the buttons in sequences. Whilst these ‘Quick Timer Events’ are of supreme importance in a game like Shenmue, here they just seem like a lazy way to finish a boss battle.

But the game does have some amazing moments, the most significant being a battle with a rebel controlled AT-ST which makes use of the QTE function and, at the same time, makes you feel involved in the gameplay.

Things are a bit more optimistic with the storyline. Whilst there’s a lot of unnecessary ‘darkness’, the Secret Apprentice is bland but likable, as are his two companions, pilot Juno Eclipse and the droid, PROXY.

The Apprentice’s accent is a little strange as I could have sworn he was English in the first scene but later he becomes completely American. Vader also suffers from an accent problem with actor Matt Sloan doing his best at impersonating James Earl Jones but not really living up to him.

I must confess to getting a little excited when the game shifted to Raxus Prime as I seriously thought it was Malachor V from KOTOR II. I was soon disavowed of this hope by a quick glance at Wookieepedia.

In regards to that sacred cow of Star Wars fandom, continuity, I have to wonder how this balances with Karen Traviss’ two short stories, In His Image and A Two-Edged Sword as the portrayal of Vader and his relationship with the Stormtroopers is very much at odds with Traviss’ work. In fact, I actually quite like Traviss’ two stories and feel that this game could have benefited by taking them into consideration. Yet it’s quite obvious they haven’t thus, with Vader’s casual instructions to the Apprentice about killing both General Rahm Kota’s rebel forces and Imperial forces alike and his first action on Kashyyk being to choke a Stormtrooper commander to death, I can’t help but feel that certain works are going to go missing soon.

However, if this story of the Apprentice eliminates all these absurd Dark Jedi that Vader was supposed to have trained then maybe it’s a fair trade.

In terms of the game’s overall story, it’s only when the world of Felucia crops up, along with Shaak Ti (looking a lot less cute than in her Clone Wars cartoon incarnation) and 80s Goth Jedi, Maris Brood that the storyline lost my interest. Aside from that, TFU is possibly better than I originally thought…but it is by no means the definitive Star Wars game, in terms of gameplay or story.

More thoughts later.

IGN Presents the History of Star Wars Games

In light of the recent American release of The Force Unleashed for every console imaginable Nintendo DS, Wii, Playstation 2 + 3, X-Box 360, PSP (tell me if I missed any), IGN have posted an interesting look back at the history of Star Wars as an interactive medium.

It’s nicely put together with a few nostalgic moments…and a few mentions of games I certainly never wanted to remember.

For the full details, check out the article here.

Caravan of Courage & Battle for Endor Mini Review (MAJOR SPOILERS)

The two Ewok Adventure films are very confused features in that they’re technically classed as Star Wars canon but they’re part of that broader, pre-EU patchwork of spin-offs of an earlier age.

Caravan of Courage, at first completely unfamiliar to me but much more familiar as it continued, begins in the style of a nature documentary and then progress on to become a faerie tale involving two children separated from their parents, both of whom have been captured by the giant Gorax. Together with a group of legendary Ewoks, the children rescue their parents and defeat the giant.

Battle for Endor continues on much the same lines, with a distinct style that sets it in the same genre of 80s films as Willow, Labyrinth and The Neverending Story. The second film perhaps benefits from a larger amount of stop-animation effects and puppets, as well as a more varied cast of creatures, but what the two films do share is a very adult portrayal of death – something also seen in the original trilogy but not the prequel trilogy, sadly. It also appears to have someone who may or may not have been Father Christmas in Santa Claus: The Movie.

I remember the death of Chukha-Trok in Caravan as being a terrible moment which, as a child, I tried to find a way to reverse again and again but to no avail. The fact that one of the main characters passes away during the fight is a truly powerful moment. Likewise, the deaths of Cindel Towani’s family – her brother, Mace and her parents (basically everyone the viewer is tempted to feel camaraderie with at the end of the first film – and the fact that the young girl is forced to accept this and continue to march on is a truly powerful statement. I don’t know if this was intentional or if it was just a side-effect of the lack of sensitivity shown towards the feelings of kids watching but it makes for a better story, for both children and adults.

There’s nothing worse than a story in which there is no danger especially if you’re trying to pitch that story for children and, despite the fact that it’s upsetting, the Ewok films are bristling with the sense of a genuine threat to the main characters.

I’m sure there’s a whole essay waiting to be written in regards to the contrasting themes of these two films and traditional faerie tales – particularly the role of Charal and Carabosse – but regardless, whilst the Ewok films might not be great to watch for Star Wars fans, they are great to watch for those interested in folklore.

TCW Trailer

The Clone Wars TV series trailer.

Wow…!

I feel as if I have to reiterate here but thus far, this is *everything* I wanted from Episode II.

Toys R Us New Clone Wars Display (31/08/08)

FICTION: Away from Home

Title: Away from Home
Era/Series: Star Wars: Droids
Pairing/Characters: Thall Joben, Ahsoka Tano, C-3PO, R2-D2, CC-7567 (‘Rex’)
Rating: U
Warnings: N/A
Length: 1277 words
Disclaimer: All characters created and owned by LucasArts
Summary: Future speeder racer, Thall Joben receives a curious visitor with an interest in the two droids he has recently acquired.

Read it here.

Star Wars: Droids #1 Mini Review (SPOILERS)

Not much to say on this brief episode aside from the fact that I’m really pleased to have had a chance to watch it again. The last time I saw this series must have been sometime around 1987/1988 when it first aired on television in Britain. Whilst the campness, and somewhat boring nature of the story remained lodged in my memory, I must confess that I had completely forgotten the awesomeness of the incidental music and the theme tune (apparently performed by the drummer of The Police).

Second impressions (if you can call them that) were tinged by nostalgia and the fact that I quite liked the three principle characters – Thall Joben, Jord Dusat and Kea Moll – probably more than I did first time around. I wasn’t really convinced by Thall suddenly pulling out a lightsabre but I understand that the weapon was used more to remind the viewer that this was indeed Star Wars and I’ll excuse it on those grounds. I also have a bit of a problem with the fact that everything in the episode seems to point towards it being set on Tatooine yet wookieepedia apparently suggests that the story took place on a planet called Ingo. I sense a retcon, alas.

I think this episode, more by merit of having a story-book adaptation as a child, has been preserved in my mind more clearly than later episodes (though I do have vague recollections of The Big Heep). I also remember thinking that the glimpse of Bobba Fet in the opening credits was the most exciting part of many of the episodes. We’ll see how the rest turn out, I guess!