An immersive, first-person look at the underbelly of the Clone Wars. Something the movies didn't have the time to do, and the TV shows arguably didn't do justice. The opening sets the tone. It perfectly captures the essence of that 'Triumph of the Will' scene from Ep. 2 and expands on it with grit and spectacle. The main music theme is perfect, and the occasional John Williams compositions from the movies come in at just the right moments to accentuate the biggest triumphs of your squad and remind you what universe you're in.

Unfortunately, yeah, most of the time it almost doesn't feel like Star Wars. That is the price you have to pay for such major alteration of the visual language. Yet, in the sea of visually-accurate Star Wars games, I find it good to have one that deviates from the trademark look in favor of conveying the sense of scale and danger present in a clone trooper's life. At the very least it adds an interesting take, not just makes things bleak for bleak's sake like KotOR 2 did.

Gameplay-wise, this is sadly a very consolified experience. But, for what it is, I found it quite impressive. Yes, for a tactical shooter it's very dumbed-down, but for a linear console shooter, it has a lot of depth. It's somewhat unique in how the levels basically consist of strategic defense points, each of which allows you about 2-3 different tactics. So, in a way, you're progressing forward through defense instead of offense. Different types of enemies, weapons and grenades add a lot of variety to each situation. There's always enough ammo in general, but you keep running out of specific types of ammo, which forces you to think on your feet and adapt. A lot of the times you have to change strategic positions for all your comrades on the fly during combat, which is very exhilarating and not something you see a lot in games. Sometimes there can be up to about 7 positions at one location plus a path to retreat into the corridor you came from, which gives you an option for a chokepoint defense. All of this works so well dynamically because the system is very simple and intuitive. Most of the times you just point the context-sensitive cursor and press the "Use" button, and the game will automatically guess which AI-companion you wanted to order.

The AI is also very good. There were maybe 2 or 3 situations throughout the entire game when it did something really stupid. Which is impressive compared to most games in the genre. Needless to say, it's way above anything you'd see in Call of Duty. And the companions are pretty capable as well. Still not nearly as good as you, but that was to be expected.

I'd say the thing I disliked the most about the gameplay is how assault-rifles and SMGs feel very weak. It gives a really bad first impression. But, thankfully, as you progress, you keep finding more powerful weapons, such as a shotgun, a minigun and that famous Wookie crossbow, which is extremely powerful here. And towards the end of the game there are so many heavily-armored enemies that you end up mostly using explosives anyway, and the explosions here are pretty good.

The gameplay in general is a little monotonous, but it is very satisfying to be running around locations, ordering your squad on the fly to surround your enemies and then jumping into the fray yourself while your comrades are providing supporting fire. And even more satisfying are those occasions when a Geonosian rushes right into you at a high speed and you stab them at the exact right moment, with their blood splattering all over your helmet.

The story doesn't really matter much. It's just a bunch of objectives and situations. However, the locations they choose are very exciting, especially in connection to the movies. The banter between the characters is somewhat fun, and I did feel a little bit of a bond with my comrades towards the end. The ending is very epic, but simultaneously disappointing for being a cliffhanger.