Hi there and hello again, this is your old Uncle Kal and yes it has been awhile. I have to apologize but I needed to have a little mental break since I just finished my temp stint on the EUCast and I needed to finish reading the novel for The Force Unleasehed.

Okay I can hear you all now; But Uncle Kal you haven’t updated this blog with anything since August 14th??? You needed that amount of time just to recharge????? Well, I’m not as young as I used to be, all night parties went from kegger’s to SportsCenter to CNN (Larry King no less Yech!!!). Yeah I know, BORING!!!! So I have to apologize for keeping you all on the back burner.

So, what am going to do at this moment?? Well, I will be reading Order 66 and doing my review once I’m done. I have an idea that I’m still trying to flesh out that could be cool when I start it and I have other things in my life right now that are taking precedent over the stuff above.

I have not forgotten about you all, I’m just busy at the moment. Thanks and I’ll see you all soon.

This is your Uncle Kal signing off.

Well, finally <WHEW> another post for you all to read; my opinion on which Lego game is better. Is it Lego Star Wars Complete Edition or Lego Indiana Jones.

I’ll get to the point, Lego Star Wars Compete Edition, hands down

Now, I’m not trying to be biased since this is a Star Wars website, oh no. I enjoy BOTH movie franchises and both Lego games. So here comes three big “BUTs” that concern the Indy Lego game.  The first “BUT” is how the game handles the “Cut Scenes” between each level. Second, to be politically correct in the Indy game, the story lines have been tweaked. Lastly, it appears that Travelers Tales was pulling anything or anyone from the Indy movie franchise just to give you more characters to play, not just Indy. Even with these three things that bug me, the game does have the Lego charm which makes it fun to play.

My take on the Cut Scenes of Indiana Jones. When you enter the Cantina in SW Lego, you have six doors in front of you that represent each movie. When you enter the room for the movie that you want to play, you get to pick from 6 “chapters” plus a bonus chapter. Once you pick the chapter you want; you enter the door, you get the scroll text (which you can escape out of the scroll if you want to) and boom, you’re in the game.

In the Indy game, you start out at Bernett College where you walk up to three maps that represent each of the movies. Here is where your adventure begins but it is also the spot that makes the game drag. Once you pick the map you want to play you then need to pick the Area you would like to go. For example, let’s say that you’re in the middle of the Temple of Doom story line and you need to get to “Area 4: The Gorge.” You highlight “The Gorge” on the map, and then (in Indian Jones tradition) you watch the red line (ala a plane flight) fly from your starting location (Bernett College) to each location that comes before “Area 4: The Gorge.” Like I mentioned above, if you play the the SW game you can exit out of the scroll at the beginning of each level. With the Indy game, you are stuck watching the red flight line go from Bernett College to your final destination. You cannot hit a button and escape the flight to get to your destination faster. Bummer :-(. Doing this once is fine, but every time you play the game it gets tiring. Why they didn’t add the feature to let you exit out of these cut scenes I don’t know but it’s needed here.

The second thing that kinda bugs me is the “tweaking” of the story line. Okay, okay I know that when the original movies where done, the country was not in this “Politically Correct” mentality. To tell you the truth, in my opinion, it blows!! But hey, we move on. The Nazi’s, Russians and any other thing that could be considered offensive has been stripped out of the game. And, I will contradict myself on this subject, it does not “really” bother me, yet it does on a small level. In a game like this, for kids and adults alike, that kinda of stuff is not necessary to move the game along or take away the charm. But, being a guy that grew up with the original movies ( like Star Wars ), you miss the “feel” of Indiana Jones. Sure, some of original story line really couldn’t translate into the Lego game and I can understand the tweaking that needed to be done. Then there’s the ……….. Ya’ know, I better stop here because I will probably start to really contradict myself in this area. I um, better get along to my next point.

My third problem is there are “too’ many characters in the Indiana Jones game. Ya’, ya’ I can hear you asking me right now “How can there be “too” many characters in this game, I don’t get it???” Well, have any of you heard of the “Enemy Boxer,” “Enemy Radio Operator,” or “Sherpa Brawler?” Okay I know, I may be nit picking and pulling anything out of the game to knock it down. And, I know the “real” names of these characters had to be changed for “nice” reasons. But, in the SW Lego game, you know where all the characters came from and they “work” within the game. To me, and please understand this is my opinion, the game is too character heavy. Some of the characters, and again in my opinion, could have been left out.

Now, Travelers Tales is coming out with Lego Batman soon. To me, the amount of characters that will appear in this game will work, as it does with the Star Wars Lego game. To me, Batman and Star Wars can “stand” to have a ton of characters in each game because each of these “universes” can support them. Indiana Jones as a “universe” to me, can’t support a lot of characters because some of them could be considered “throwaways.” The Indy characters, especially the secondary ones, don’t last long in the movies to be memorable. The Batman game you’ll get to play the Joker, Catwoman, Harley Quinn, Nightwing and so on. Star Wars Lego you get to play, Clones, Bossk, Luke, Chewie, Darth Maul and so on. You get the picture, for both of these games you KNOW the characters and they are a “part” of each universe.  And it works for these games, it doesn’t work for Indy.

Okay, now that I’ve spilled my guts about the three things that bugged me, there is that Lego charm in the Indy game. Indiana Jones movie in jokes are throughout the game along with the standard Lego mayhem and destruction. And, as you go through the game, you will find Star Wars Easter Eggs. 5 beloved SW characters make an appearance in this game BUT, once you find these 5, you cannot use them within the game. There are two “other” characters within the game that you can play which I will spoil one of them right now. That one character happens to be <SFX drumroll> Han Solo. The other one, well, I’ll let you figure it out on your own and then figure out “why” that character is there.

Well, I know that there is a lot more I could write about which I’m afraid I did, I could either lose whoever is left at this point or put whoever “is” left reading this asleep.

I’ll leave you all with the short version. This is still a fun game to play and if you can get by my nit picking above you will also agree. It is solid fun and it has not lost the Lego / Travelers Tales charm. But, once I get done playing this game, I can see myself turning it in for game credit at the local video game store and get something else. Star Wars Lego and if I do get the Batman Lego game, I can see myself keeping these and playing them from time to time.

Comments, questions, anything positive or negative is always accepted. That way I know people are reading these.

So, this is your Uncle Kal signing off. Now go to bed Ord’ ika, you have school in the morning

Good Night All

Hello and welcome to another “lazy” post from your old Uncle Kal. This time it’s my review of Karen Traviss’ Republic Commando novel True Colors. 

Yes, I can see you’re all asking, But Uncle Kal are you backing out of that compare/contrast review of Lego Star Wars Complete Edition vs Indy game???” No, I am not. As I type this little bit of text, I’m working on that review. Please trust me :-). Until it’s ready, please enjoy the following review. And again, if you hate this. love it or are indifferent, let me know. Thank you all for reading this.

A question comes to mind in all Star Wars fans that one day we hope will get answered; What will happened to the Clones when the war is over? In Karen Traviss’ book  Republic Commando - True Colors, third in the series of four books, we as Star Wars fans are not the only ones looking for an answer to this question. While reading this book you get to see the characters start to question who is a true friend or who the enemy really is. Also, in some small way they are even planning for life after the war, if it’s at all possible.

We start out with Walon Vau during a bank heist being helped by Delta squad. On the way out of the bank a silent alarm is tripped which alerts droid guards. Vau is so loaded down with loot that Boss offered to help but Walon warns him off and orders the troopers to leave because he is the only one that steals, not his clones. Once Delta gets off planet, they inform Skirata of what happens which makes he and Ordo mount a rescue mission. When the mission succeeds, Vau hands over part his loot to Skirata as a “donation to the clone welfare fund.”

We also follow Kal Shirata on his quest to find the renegade Kaminoan scientist Ko Sai and her research into clone DNA. He’s hoping that she knows how to turn off the genes that make the clones age faster the normal. He does eventually catch-up with her and “kidnaps” her. While in his custody, he and the clones use different interrogation techniques to persuade the scientist into helping him find the answer to his question. Ultimately, when we get toward the end of the book, the scientist was pushed to her limit and her research stops. You’ll have to read the book to find out more.

At the same time, we follow Besany Wennen of the Republic Treasury department as she is asked by Skirata to trace where the funding is coming from for the clone army. While she looks into this, another question presents itself to her; is there anything being done to treat the clones as living breathing men, not just flesh droids. Then, another question presents itself as she digs deeper, who is responsible for the treatment of wounded and injured clones. The part of this story line plays itself out with a blaster drawn and a favor called upon to evacuate a seriously wounded clone. This is another part that if you want the whole story, please read the book.

Jedi Knight Etain Tur-Mukan starts the book on the planet Qiilura leading a garrison of GAR troops and the local Gurlanin in a cleanup operation to clear the planet of human colonists. This is a  carryover from the book Hard Contact when Etain met Omega squad, and the baby’s father clone trooper Darman, in a commando mission to sabotage a Separatist research facility creating a nano-virus designed to kill the clones. One of the main reasons she’s here is to keep her from view of the Jedi Council until the baby is born.  She stays with this action for a while until she over does it and pushes herself to a possible miscarriage.  To prevent losing the baby, Skirata has her evacuated to Mandator where she sits out the this little bit of the war until the baby is born. 

Omega squad is on the planet Gaftikar in a rebel camp helping the locals get ready for a raid on the city of Eyat. While there, they come across an AWOL clone ARC Alpha-Thirty named Sull. Darman and Atin end up tracking the AWOL clone and capture him in his apartment. The two troopers bring him back to their camp where he is interrogated by A’den, Sull gives them all a warning that the clones will never “be able to just leave.” He warns them that the Chancellors hit men will come after any clone that goes AWOL. A’den and Sull go have a talk and come the conclusion that Sull will again disappear but this time with the help of A’den and the other clones. Darman is ordered to go to Sull’s apartment to “clean it up.” While there he’s jumped by two hit man who where looking for Sull because he was AWOL and deserters are executed. Darman was able to “slot” the two assassins after putting up a good fight. When it’s over, the one thing he didn’t expect to see was the hit-men being clones. Clones sent to assassinate other clones. This shakes him to the core and makes him start thinking about life. If it is possible to have a normal life outside of the GAR when the war is over. He calls in Fi to help clean up the mess and get rid of the bodies. Later, when Darman and Fi are sent back into the city Eyat once the raid is begins, they are tasked clear the Hologaftikar Channel Ten studios. They run into what could be considered a trap when the studio blows. The explosion throws the two troopers injuring one critically.  If you want a cliffhanger, here it is ….. Read the book.

For me, I could go on and on about the different story lines that have I left out of my review. And if you read this book you’ll know I have skipped Jusik’s decision, what Walon Vau is actually after in the bank heist, the race to find Ko Sai, Senator Den Skeenah of Chandrilla coming forward to speak about “laws protecting planets sentient and semi sentient beings but nothing on the behalf of the clones, the birth of Jedi Etain’s baby and a bigger question, if the Jedi Order has completely lost it’s way and have forgotten how to be Jedi. I believe that giving you just this much of a taste should peak your curiosity about the book to make you go out and buy it. If you did, then I did my job. 

When her last book in the series, SW Order 66 - Republic Commando Novel, is released in September as a hard cover, it will be interesting to see which of the clones will react to the order given. Also, Karen has included the actual written Order 66 in this book along with Order 65. We also know that within these Republic Commando books there are two Jedi working closely with these clones. Will these clones turn on the Jedi and what will happen to Etain’s baby? I guess we will have to stay tuned to find out.

I thank you for reading this review and comments are always welcomed, good or bad. Anything to help make these reviews improve are always welcomed.

This is your Uncle Kal, signing off!

     Hello everyone and welcome to my review of the above mentioned book.

     Now, I can hear a lot of you saying: ‘But Uncle Kal, you promised a compare and contrast review of Star Wars Lego Complete Edition vs. Indiana Jones Lego. Kal, what happened?????

     Well folks, life these past two weeks have not been too kind to your old Uncle Kal. A lot has been happening here to really put in the time to finish even a basic review and do it well. When I write here I want to submit a quality job and not hack it out. It’s not fair to all of you to read something that could have been spit out on Fox News or any other “loud” media outlet. I like to think I do quality work which I hope you all enjoy. If you don’t like what I contribute here; I’m Mando, I’ve taken a lot of criticism these past two weeks ( to my face BTW ) and I’m still standing. Any and all thoughts are taken, digested ( like that Sarlacc pit Boba fell into in that movie ………. what was it’s name??? ), and used to my benefit and the benefit of this site. So if you don’t like something I say just say so, I can take it. I’m Mandalorian and the armor I wear is pretty thick . And please be honest because if you are to fruu fruu in your comments, I will find you. Don;t forget I am a bounty hunter with access to a squad of clone commandos :-). Ordo has an itchy trigger finger that needs scratching So play nice

     The review below has been done for sometime now. I thought I would make it easier on Austin and Andrew to post it here for now instead of the “Latest Review” section of the site. Please enjoy this review and if you like this one, I’ll post my review of “True Colors” here as well.

     Oh, one last thing, I plan to read and review “Order 66″ when it comes out September 16th. Regardless of how the cover looks (if you read my previous opinion on it) it will not hold me back from the story inside. I’ve come this far, I can’t stop now.

     So, please enjoy my review of “Hard Contact” below. This is your Uncle Kal signing off Good Night!

     The book Star Wars Republic Commando “Hard Contact” by author Karen Traviss  is a spin off out of the successful XBoX and PC Star Wars: Republic Commando game that followed Delta squad. Delta squad had commandos Boss, Fixer, Sev and Scorch. Sadly, I never had the ability to play this game but the books make up for it to me.

     This book is the first of what is now a four part series concerning the exploits of Omega Squad with the clones Darman, Atin, Fi and Niner. As you read through the book you are also introduced to the two young Jedi who appear in the other books as well, Bardan Jusik and Etain Tur-Muka. A shape shifter species called the Gurlanin are featured in this book with the character Jinart, who helps the clones in this mission. Lastly, in a God like way by the using the clones and some quotes above new chapter headings, is Kal Skirata.

     The plot of the story revolves around the destruction of a virus that the Separatist are putting together on the planet Qiilura. You’re probably asking yourself: “What’s so special about this virus that needs to be handled by a bunch of ‘green’ clone commandos? I mean come on, when we first saw the clones they where on the planet Geonosis and this book picks up right after the battle is over.”

     Well, the virus being synthesized by one Dr. Ovolot Qail Uthan, is designed to wipe out the clones of the Grand Army of the Republic. Guarding this project for the Separatist is the Mandalorian Ghez Hokan with a band of mercenaries. He started out the book with a rag tag band of mercenaries but he quickly gave them their “pensions” and replaced them with a small droid army. 

     The book starts with a prologue following clone trooper Darman during the battle of Geonosis. Darman and his original commando squad of clone troopers Vin, Taler and Jay, were tasked with fast roping and rushing a door during the battle. We really have no idea why it’s happening but by the end of this little prologue, Darman is the only one left standing from the squad.

     Once his part of the battle is over, Darman tries the best he can to find his squad mates. While loading up from the extraction point, he waits until the last gunship is ready to leave before he loads up for the flight back to the transport and “home” to Ord Mantell. Inside the safe confines of the transport, he tries again to find his brothers. While not really paying attention, a voice from behind asks for his number. Still in a daze, Darman turns toward the voice and gets scanned to make sure he’s in one piece. Being brought back to reality he asks if clone trooper RC one-one-three-five has checked in. Sadly the commander gives him an answer of “No” and if he didn’t make it through this casevac then he didn’t make it. Realizing that he is now the only one left from his squad he sits down next to a wall to consider that no amount of training that he and brothers had gone through could prepare him for this reality. Clones where bred with purpose and that purpose was to get the job done and that was just what he and the others have done. But now as a reader you see Darman start to feel doubt and that was something no amount of training could prepare him for. While sitting there, Darman runs into another clone. This one just a trooper with lighter armor and lower spec weapons compared to the commandos. They exchange idol chit-chat about the job being over but you feel that the connection Darman had with his squad mates is just not there. The realization hits him just then that he was now alone, without the squad mates he grew up and trained with from early on.

     You can also tell from that point that Karen is setting up a three tier class system within the clone army. The regular clone army with lighter weapons, armor and no special training, the commandos that have better weapons and specialized training and then the ARC’s that are the wild cards of the bunch. The ARC troopers are introduced in the book Triple Zero.

     Next in the book we follow Etain on the planet Qiilura doing what could be called an information gathering mission with her Jedi Master Fulier. We find out after a brief chase that Etain is alone and the run because her Master was betrayed and later in the book killed by Hokan. As the book progresses, we find that Etain has a missing link, full holo maps of the Hokan’s compounds, that will ultimately help our clones in the mission to stop the development of the virus.

    When next we meet Darman, he’s at Ord Mantell in a secure meeting room with his new squad mates Fi, Atin and Niner. This is the point when we find out that Omega squad is now made up of “sole survivors,” the last man from his original squad still standing. Holding the briefing is Jedi Master Arligan Zey intelligence officer and his Padawan Bardan Jusik who’s in charge of arming the squad for this mission. 

     Now, I believe I’ve set up the book pretty well at this point and to go any further would make it hard for you to read the book. And, if you read my follow-on reviews I am a firm believer in the philosophy of “read the book.” At this point I’d like to try to just give you my impression and character insight of the rest of the book.

     Karen Traviss laid the ground work in this book for her follow-ons. It’s nice to see the progression of characters that started out being thrown into a chaotic war at the beginning of this book, to characters that start to question the system in Triple Zero and then their future in True Colors. You also see, as is the case with Etain, the characters realize that they have no choice in what has been thrust upon them but to push on to be the best they can be for the sake of the others.

     I’ll take Etain first in the above case. She starts out in this book as just a Padawan on a mission with her Jedi Master Fulier to the planet Qiilura. They where sent there to scout the location of the research facility making the nanovirus. When they where betrayed, by who we really don’t know, Etain was able to get away and find some shelter to hold up in. This is where she meets Jinart but not as her true inky black body self (read the book for a better description) but as an old woman. When reading this part of the book you can feel the weight on her shoulders and the feeling she’s just a little kid lost with a lightsaber. “Jinart” tries to get her to realize the she needs to step it up because “they” are coming. 

     You also feel for Etain because she has no faith in herself at the start of this book. There is kind of a natural progression going on in Etain from a scared naive little girl to one that has started to grow into her new responsibility, reluctantly. See, when she finally meets up with Darman, he begins to fill her in what she’s missed since being on her mission. She’s been out touch with the Republic for so long she didn’t know about the Grand Army and that all Jedi’s are now Generals (Jedi Masters) or Commanders (Padawan’s) leading said army. The weight of responsibility starts to bare on her so you can say she begins her new command by asking trooper Darman his name. He starts to respond as any clone would by giving his clone number but she quickly stops him and asks him for his name. As the book progresses, you kinda see through Etains eyes the respect she has for the clones but also the sadness she has to because they really don’t have anything else in life but war.

     Now from Darman’s point of view, Etain is his commander. You can tell that from the moment he hooks with Etain he will do whatever is asked of him. Even if there is any doubt, he will follow his commander. Darman keeps telling Etain he’s seen Jedi fight, he knows what they can do and she will do what needs to be done when the time is right. That’s how much faith he has in her and her abilities. There’s a point in the book Etain gets so frustrated with herself when it comes to planning a raid on Dr. Uthan facility, she turns to Darman and says - “you plan it.” She leaves the briefing in a huff and while outside Junart gives her a piece of her mind. Junart is trying to make Etain realize that for Darmans sake she needs to pull it together so he and the rest of the squad can survive this mission. And, if she can’t do it, then she needs to step aside or she could get them all killed. Junart is trying to make Etain see that the Darman, in fact all of the clones, did not ask for the responsibility of fighting this war. They are doing it because it’s the nature of duty, that’s what has been bred into them.  Junart even threatens Etain that if she wasn’t so important to clones as a commander; she, Junart, would have killed Etain for the sake of the mission and lead the clones themselves.

     Karen Traviss laid out a very interesting point here that will probably be tested in the RC book Order 66 when released. If the clones where bred to follow the Jedi and treat them as “commanders,” what is going to happen when other clones start to turn on Etain and Jusik? If you have read Karen’s book “Revelation” from Legacy of the Force series, you know who still lives in that series. You just don’t find out why or how they where able to get away. I guess that’s something we won’t know until the book comes out.

      Well, I hope this brief overview gives a taste of this book and gets you to sit down and read it if you haven’t already. If you have read my previous reviews you should know by now I am firm believer of reading so go read the book to see how it ends. If you feel short changed that i got a different aspect out of this or I missed that little detail, well, I’ll try better next time.

     If you questions or comments good or bad, your input is always welcomed. You can reach me through the eucantine.net email or leave a comment in the forum. I’ll reply back as soon as I can.

     Thank you for taking the time read this review. Up next, I review the Michael A. Stackpole book “I, Jedi.” Two things about this as a teaser, it’s so far the first and only book in the Star Wars novels told in the first person perspective and second, Coran Horn is my favorite Jedi.