One of the most enduring franchises of the late twentieth century, Star Wars has again captured the hearts and minds of a new generation with the newest films, The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones. Along with the action figures and novelty mugs came a plethora of new Star Wars themed games, some good, some bad. Thankfully for us, Star Wars: The Clone Wars definitely fits into the good category.

Although regarded as an Episode II game, Clone Wars actually takes place in the last few minutes of the film, and continues well after the movie ends. The conflict between the Republic and the Separatists has erupted into a full blown galactic war, and the player is thrust into the heart of the conflict, playing the role of Mace Windu, Anakin Skywalker or Obi Wan Kenobi. During the 16 mission campaign, you will pilot hover-tanks, speeder-bikes, AT-XTs, as well as a gunship and of course, on foot.

The single-player campaign in the Clone Wars is, extremely short. On easy mode, the game can be beaten in a few hours, and while normal and hard provide a much greater challenge, all up no more than ten hours would be needed to beat the game. With that said, some of the missions are so enjoyable that they are worth playing through again just for the fun of it, as the sense of being part of a larger battle is just such a great atmosphere. Star Wars fans especially will want to really get into it and absorb the experience, which is far more immersive than the RTS offerings on the PC. In addition to this, there is plenty of unlockable bonus content to discover, which usually requires playing through the missions again to meet specific bonus objectives. Some of these bonus features are great for Star Wars devotees, ranging from the standard extra multiplayer maps and playable characters through to concept art and sketches, as well as model viewers and an in-game CD player so you can kick back to your favourite audio tracks in the game.

The music is befitting of a Star Wars game with instantly recognisable melodies of the highest quality. No third party work here, it's John Williams all the way, with all sound and music produced by Skywalker Sound. Coupled with full Dolby digital support, Clone Wars is an aural treat in every sense. Even some hokey voice acting comes off sounding top notch, and all the authentic sound effects are present and sound brilliant.

Pandemic has also gone to lengths to ensure that Clone Wars looks as authentic as possible. The vehicle models look great, beautifully animated and brought to life in the game through high polygon models and detailed textures. This is true of the smallest droid right up to the giant star destroyers and Separatist carriers. The trade off is that the game suffers from some incredibly bad slow-down in places, which can result in loss of direction or taking heavy damage which can be extremely frustrating. It's just as well the game is quite forgiving, and for the most part the performance problems are limited to minor drops in frame rate and the occasional delay loading. This also extends to the in-game cutscenes, which often halt and jerk along if there is too much action on the screen. No problems with the pre-rendered cutscenes though, which look terrific, and try to buck the habit of Star Wars cutscenes to basically consist of a ship flying in space. There's plenty of that too, but some more planet based footage which looks great. In game too the planets have a distinct look and feel to them, and the environment is of a sufficiently high detail to still look good next to the detailed units.

The meat of the Clone Wars experience is definitely in multiplayer mode, which supports multiple players on the one console, system link, as well as full Xbox Live compatibility. There is no shortage of different game modes to play, ranging from the standard deathmatch and king of the hill style games to a few more interesting inclusions, namely Conquest mode and the Academy endurance match. Academy sees you and a friend working together competitively to fight off an unending horde of an ever increasing amount of enemies in successive waves. Points are scored for kills, and the winner is the person with the highest score.

Easily the best multiplayer mode is Conquest, which is a decidedly strategic offering where you must build up your base and try to defeat your opponent's defenses and destroy his HQ. Fans of Pandemic Studios will be familiar with their excellent PC title Battlezone 2, and Conquest is a pared-down console offering of that stellar game with a decidedly star wars bent. Turrets and units can be produced in your HQ as well as in captured outposts, and basic orders can be given to your skirmish force to attack the enemy or defend your base. It's great fun to play, and can only get better once Xbox Live rolls out in Australia.