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After spending two weeks with Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures on and off, I know at least one thing for certain.  I know what happens when you take the hugely popular Free Realms concept and mash it into the Star Wars universe.   Sure you get some great looking character art for a semi-browser based game (more on that in a bit), and some of the mini-games are fun, but at the end of the day, it feels aimless with nothing to keep you coming back after a few trips.

Clone Wars Adventures is a browser based MMO title that features the Star Wars universe.  Upon arriving at the main website, you set up an account, download a small front end client and then create a character.  Surprisingly, the character creation is very limited, allowing for three classes and a couple of simple facial modifications for each race.  And  for those that select the Clones, you can only choose male.  And as we mentioned earlier, the browser does require a small download to run the game in-browser, and it is a Windows PC only installer, leaving Mac and other operating systems out of the browser based fun.

So after getting your character in place, you fall into the world of Clone Wars Adventures, and well, don’t find yourself with any sort of direction in the game.  There is no real story to speak of, and no cohesive tutorial that shows you the ropes of the world.  You are thrust into the world and are asked to find your own fun, and thankfully, Clone Wars Adventures has you covered in that aspect.  The world is full of all kinds of different mini-games.  From lightsaber duels, to tower defense games, Clone Wars Adventures offers a surprising mix of game types and skill levels to test your smarts and wits against the community or friends that you meet in the game.

The quality of the mini-games runs the gamut from fun and captivating to dull and frustrating.  I really enjoyed Republic Defender, a nicely designed tower defense game that offers a surprising amount of depth.  However, I found Lightsaber Crystal Attunement game to be a chore and mind numbingly boring after six or seven rounds.  One of the highlights is the Lightsaber duels mini-game, but it is kind of a letdown if you were expecting a deep combat experience.  The game is broken down into a key sequence mini-game, where you have to press a sequence of four directional arrow buttons before the opponent timer runs out.  I mean, it was fun for a bit, but it just became stale after a short period of time.  At least the battle animations made playing the game for extended periods worth it.  There are a lot of mini-games, like a typing game, a matching game, a space shooter, a racing game, a shooting gallery and so much more.  Regardless of what you like to play, you will most likely find a mini-game worth playing for an extended period of time.

While the whole Clone Wars Adventure experience can be played for free, there are several areas and items that will take you being at Jedi Level access, which will set you, back $5.99 a month.  While I do not mind a paygate for certain clothes and other accessories, it is upsetting that they have locked up difficulty levels and certain activities.  It is nice that most of the games will score you points that can be used for new clothing, hats and other accessories for your character.  You can also put certain items on display in your housing space.  It is a simple indoors affair, but it has enough room to show off items and trophies for your character.

Clone Wars Adventures is in a tough spot.  It is a game that is geared towards kids, but it is also asking its subscriber base to pay a monthly charge.  It also starts to just get dull and boring after a while.  The fact that some mini-games have 30 levels that have to be completed to finish a challenge is a chore I do not want to power through over an afternoon.    The whole affair started to just get stale after two weeks, and I did not see a real reason to go back and continue pushing through to higher difficulty levels.

With all of this, I was still sitting here even as I wrote up this review struggling for a score on the game.  Kids will probably love coming back to the game, as it offers a great social experience and it ties into the cartoon of the same name.  Adults will probably find themselves burning out after a few weeks, and lacking a reason to come back to the game.  I felt it was a 3 for adults and a 4 for kids, so we will split the difference and see Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures a 3.5 out of 5.
Check out Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures and other PC reviews at Test Freaks.