Developer: Traveller’s Tales
Publisher: LucasArts
Rrp: £14.99
Released: 12th November 2009
Available on Steam, iTunes, and Amazon,
Played Using: A Xbox 360 Controller
Lego Star Wars, the game that arguably finally brought the Lego game franchise into the limelight rather than leaving it as a side act. Until this point the Lego games had, by and large, been considered toys for little children. Of course Lego is still a toy for children but, let’s be honest, everyone loves playing with Lego.
The story of Star Wars is pretty much ingrained into western society by now and I’m pretty sure that anyone reading this review will have had at least a passing introduction to it so I’m not going to go into the story. That being said, this isn’t (or rather, won’t be) the complete saga, not with the seventh film coming out and more than likely two to follow.
While all the main scenes of the films are told through the act of playing the game those scenes that would be more dialog based are told in cutscenes with the Lego characters remaining silent. I have to say that these cutscenes are some of my favourites to be in any game. They just have such a wonderfully innocent and slightly sarcastic quality to them.
While playing a level you may notice that as you collect the Lego studs scattered about there’s (which by the way is also the in game currency) a meter at the top of the screen. If you collect enough studs to fill the meter you get the words ‘Full Jedi’ appear on screen, this will give you a golden brick at the end of the level. As you’re collecting those studs you’re going to come across other collectible objects like mini-kits and red power blocks. Most of the time getting all the collectibles in one run of a level is impossible because there are areas that are literally gated off until you have a certain character unlocked. Red power blocks make your game a bit easier once you unlock them and have effects like the ability to automatically attract nearby Lego studs or getting exploding laser bolts, and yes these abilities are cumulative.
When you begin the game you’ll start in the famous Cantina in Mos Eisley, this area acts as a safe hub world that allows you to practise the various moves without fear of dying (and thus losing studs).
Once a level is completed you can go back and do it again in freeplay mode, meaning you can use any characters you’ve unlocked through your playthroughs.
Once you’ve completed the story of a episode you can choose to enter the bonus door, this gives you access to the superstory and two small missions set in locations within that episode. The superstory is completing the story mode but with the added challenge of giving you a timer and amount of studs to complete it by.
Dying in game doesn’t actually have much in the way of consequences other than to make you drop studs that you have collected, which you can recollect if you’re fast enough. You may think that this makes the game too easy, and perhaps it does, but the thing about every game within the Lego franchise (at least the ones based off movie properties) is that it’s about experiencing the joy of play. I actually rather like it because it means that anyone can feel the sense of accomplishment for completing the game and get the joy of playing regardless of their skill level.
You can swap between characters to allow you to make use of their specific talents if your standing nearby. You’ll likely use this more in story mode than freeplay though, as when your in freeplay you have a large roster of characters to use that you can quickly switch between at a button press.
So I’m sure that no one will be surprised to hear that I recommend this game. It has hours of gameplay and quite a bit of replay value, especially if you’re a fan of the films. It’s retail value is a little high considering the age of the property though, I’d wait for it to drop to about £10 before purchasing.
