Australia, August 14, 2008 - Star Wars is coming back in a big way this year. The Clone Wars -- a fully CG film set between the events of Episode II and Episode III, is hitting cinemas this week, and that's only the beginning. The film will serve as the first wave of content in an all new Clone Wars series, which could run for over 100 episodes if it proves popular. That's a lot of Star Wars, and an awful lot of potential to breathe new life into the universe.

With a host of iconic characters (as well as some new recruits) and a highly stylised and rather unique visual aesthetic, The Clone Wars is begging for a kick-ass videogame, and Australian development studio Krome has been only too happy to oblige. Rather than go down the tried and tested third person action game path, however, the team decided to focus on one of the most spectacular aspects of the Star Wars world -- lightsaber combat -- and to get it right. To that end, the team has created a one-on-one fighting game that makes good use of the Wii's motion controls, without overcomplicating things.

Before we go any further -- no, this isn't one-to-one lightsaber control, nor do the controls require complex movements. That's far from a bad thing. Instead, flashy combos are born from straightforward combinations of broad movements, and depth emerges from the ability to anticipate, parry, evade and attack in different ways. It's a cliché, but this is going to be a title that anyone can pick up and play, yet that will have plenty of depth for those prepared to learn its intricacies.

Count Dooku - or 'Dooks' as we call him - is one of the most powerful characters in the game.

So, controls. The basic concept is that the Wiimote represents your lightsaber, while the Nunchuk is your character. As such, attacking, blocking and parrying with your lightsaber are all handled by the Wiimote. You swing it to attack, with five broad movements recognised -- slash left, right, up, down and lunge. While the control isn't one-to-one, there's still some basic parity between your movements and your character's actions. Other than that, holding B blocks, while holding B and timing a countering movement parries. Simple.

The Nunchuk, on the other hand, is in charge of character movement and your use of the force. The analogue stick moves your character around the arena, holding the Z trigger powers up your normal attacks using the force and is also used to unleash force specials, while the C button can lift objects in the environment using the force -- a quick Nunchuk thrust then hurls it at your opponent.

There's one other vital ability for your character that's assigned to the Wiimote (ruining the symmetry somewhat, but hey, there aren't that many buttons) and that's dodging. Hold away from your opponent and hit A to jump back, or press up or down and A to sidestep/roll.




We quickly learned that evading and blocking are just as vital to success in this game as attacking. Watching the Krome staffers play really highlighted just how well the team has captured the back and forth of a lightsaber duel -- while both players were almost always on the attack, there'd be entire exchanges without anyone landing a hit; where blows would be parried, attacks evaded and flying objects sidestepped. It's fast, stylish and kinetic, just the way it should be.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for us to get a feel for the combat either, and within minutes we were trying to outmanoeuvre our opponent, attempting to parry and experimenting with different combos.

Krome and LucasArts are still keeping most of the content under wraps, so while we know that there will be ten characters in the game, with plenty of unlockable costumes (and custom animations showing your character reacting to the new costume), we were only able to go hands-on with four of the characters across two of the stages during our visit to the studio.

Our first head-to-head was Obi-Wan Kenobi vs Asajj Ventress. You all know Obi-Wan of course, and he's every bit as concise and graceful as you'd hope... with plenty of dry quips for added spice. Asajj Ventress, on the other hand, is Count Dooku's most trusted assassin, and she certainly looks the part -- bald-headed and with a permanent grimace, she moves fast and wields dual lightsabers (see below).

The Teth Castle Dungeon - as pretty as it is deadly. Just like IGN!

During each battle you'll hear the characters trash talk quite a bit, but what's especially cool is that the game has a huge amount of dialogue that's been recorded for each specific character match-up. In other words, when Obi-Wan Kenobi faces off against Asajj Ventress, you'll hear dialogue that you won't hear in any other match-up, and it may refer to history between the characters, the other character's fighting style, or a number of other things.

To accomplish this, the team has recorded 4000 lines of dialogue (yes, for a fighting game) and used the voice actors from the series to ensure its authenticity. Refreshingly, there are even lines that reference some of the more absurd scenarios that can occur in the game. When Obi-Wan faces off against himself, for instance, he might quip "I'm Obi-Wan, which must make you Obi-Two." A little cheesy, sure, but we like it.