George Lucas must be seething. Despite announcing months ago that LucasArts was developing a game that allowed players to use the Wii’s motion capabilities to wield a lightsaber, no one thought to tell him that Nintendo was about to unveil the Wii Motion Plus, an upcoming gizmo that refines the gesture-based controls and would have brought elegance and depth to this Jedi swashbuckler. But despite the fact Lightsaber Duels isn’t the experience Star Wars fanboys have been dreaming of, it’s still a fun and beautifully presented brawler that points the way to an even better sequel.
Based on the Clone Wars animated movie, the game sees 10 colourful characters from the Star Wars universe facing each other in tense lightsaber duels, with players waving the Wii remote to unleash a series of devastating strikes and tapping button combinations to release other Force powers.
But while the sharp graphics and 4,000 lines of Star Wars dialogue will delight fans, the loose motion controls aren’t as delicate or accurate as you’d expect, with clumsy random swinging of the Wii remote often more deadly in the heat of battle than genuine mastery of the game’s visceral interface.