14 DAY TRIAL // It's one of the most used franchises in film and videogame history and yet gamers can't get enough of it. Or so it seems. With the Star Wars: The Clone Wars making an appearance in theaters this summer and with an animated series coming out after that, it was inevitable that a game based on that bit of the Star Wars franchise be developed somewhere in the world at this very moment.
A fan site dedicated to Star Wars, aptly called Rebel Scum, claims that there's a printed add in the LEGO Indiana Jones manual, that mentions a game for the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS, coming out sometime in fall and based on the events depicted in the new animated feature. As the movie is set between Episodes II and III of the saga, it seems that the game will offer gamers a chance to play as the gifted, yet psychically frail, Anakin Skywalker just before he decides to choose the Dark Side and the Sith over good and the Jedi.
The title will compete directly with another planned release of a game based on Star Wars. LucasArts plans to release The Force Unleashed sometime in fall. The game will not take place in the same time frame as the rumored Wii and DS game, since it focuses on the Sith side of the force, with the player taking on the role of an apprentice of Darth Vader as he wages his war of conquest across the galaxy.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is set to ship for all the major gaming platforms and could prove to be a formidable competitor for another Star Wars based game. We also wonder whether the new game, advertised in the LEGO Indiana Jones manual, might be a new LEGO Star Wars title that covers the new events depicted in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. We're hoping for more information on this new game as the launch date approaches.
As Star Wars has a history of producing mediocre games, with the notable exception of the Knights of the Old Republic games, we're hoping that both of the upcoming titles be good games, worthy of the franchise that they represent.