LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Beta
- Brand
- LEGO
- Year
- 2011
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Puzzle
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- RED Interactive Agency
Objective
LucasArts needed to build anticipation for the console launch of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, out in March 2011, and wanted people to feel the game's co-op puzzle-solving and meet its cast of characters before ever picking up a controller. The site doubled as a stealth showcase for LEGO's own toy line, using it to unveil Savage Opress as an early look at that summer's Star Wars playsets.
Solution
There's no landing page to click through — you arrive and you're immediately dropped into a 2D LEGO galaxy alongside whoever else happens to be online. You pick a Star Wars character, run and jump across one of 11 planets, and team up with strangers in real time to solve puzzles built for more than one player. Studs picked up along the way become currency for unlocking the cast: some of the 40-plus characters cost studs outright, others open up only after you clear a specific planet with the right hero, and a few require a secret code or sharing your progress on Facebook. Screens built into the planet backdrops are running actual footage and stills from the console game, so wandering the world doubles as previewing the product itself.
- 1
The player opens what looks like the console game's official product page and instead loads directly into a playable 2D Flash world — the site itself is the game.
- 2
By default the player controls a Clone Trooper in a LEGO Star Wars scene, with no selection or setup required, and shares that space with other real visitors moving through it live in real time.
- 3
Movement uses the arrow keys to walk and jump and the spacebar to attack or shoot; the mouse is reserved for separate destination screens.
- 4
Puzzles within levels are built for players to solve together, jointly taking control of Star Wars characters to clear an obstacle.
- 5
Players travel between locations by pressing Enter and typing a destination, or by clicking a map icon in the corner of the screen, which opens a map of 11 planets — including Star Destroyer, Tatooine, Naboo, Geonosis and Rishi Moon — each its own scene.
- 6
Scattered across each planet's background are screens looping footage and screenshots from the console release, so players run into product marketing as they move through the level.
- 7
Each planet also hosts a mini-game, such as a capture-the-flag mode in which players gather bricks at the center of an arena and stack them into a ladder to reach the goal.
- 8
Play earns studs, an in-game currency spent on unlocking new characters from a roster of more than 40, including Kit Fisto, Plo Koon, R2-D2, Cad Bane and Wicket the Ewok.
- 9
Other characters unlock through progression — clearing a specific planet with a required combination of characters — or through secret codes typed into the game, while a Facebook-share requirement unlocks Darth Maul after the player shares the game five times.
- 10
A separate campaign event unlocked the character Savage Opress through his own code, tying the game to a preview of the summer 2011 LEGO Star Wars sets promoted off-site on StarWars.com and fan blogs.
