Lego Star Wars Iii The Clone Wars Trailer Reveals Ground Battles

The new trailer for LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars has given us a look at a brand new element the team at LucasArts is bringing us for the new installment. A natural inclusion for a game based on a war is of course RTS gameplay. Not only has the classic LEGO Star Wars formula been preserved, but there will be co-op, single player, and versus in a new mode called Massive Ground Battles.

These battles will be large scale and filled with all you RTS pre-requisites, such as bases, troops, vehicles, and hero characters (Jedi). Check out the trailer below to see one in action:

It seems that this is more than just a gimmick, with Andrew Bell, the co-project lead on LEGO Star Wars, showing off some strategy late in this video. Silver and gold Lego will require more than just brute force to take down. Gold Lego can only be de-bricked with rapid fire weapons or a battalion of troops. Silver Lego will require explosives. Ok, so maybe brute force is necessary for both of them, but distinct kinds of brute force.

What the trailer doesn’t show is the inclusion of both co-op and versus ground battles. The LEGO series of games is built upon the foundation of playing with friends, and the multiplayer fun isn’t just for the campaign this time.

LEGO Star Wars III was announced back in February, and there hasn’t been much news since then on the title, other than the release date announcement in November. LucasArts and Traveller’s Tales are obviously not lacking in the new features department, which is rare for a game this far along in a very consistent series. The LEGO franchise has been successfully building upon itself since LEGO Island, and it will be interesting to see where Traveller’s Tales decides to take the series next.

Are you excited about a brand new mode of play in LEGO Star Wars? Are you getting tired of this franchise yet, or is LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean on the top of your 2011 wishlist?

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars has been moved back a bit, and will now release in March 2011 for PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360, and DS.