| Lego Star Wars review |
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Merging two kid-friendly lucrative properties into one videogame, Lego Star Wars sets out to rejuvenate the sense of fun found lacking in the latter’s recent celluloid outings. Set within the Episode I-III framework, you play out a whistle-stop tour of the main events in each film, taking in their locations and characters in a third-person action adventure.
There is a charming simplicity to the controls; infinite lives and Force powers remove the tension and micromanagement of the traditional computer game allowing you to truly revel in the joy of being a miniature Lego Jedi. Bricks satisfyingly reconfigure themselves with a quick fling of the Force and combat is largely a cathartic affair of cutting down anything that moves. Unsurprisingly, co-op mode is where the most fun is to be found. Fostering teamwork and rivalry equally, the camaraderie helps sustain what can occasionally become a weary battle through hordes of enemies. An attempt is made to break up this regime with the occasional on-rails shooter section and a peculiarly controlled pod race. They succeed in their diversionary tactics but little else, escaping the joy to play that pervades the bulk of the game.
Dexter’s Diner forms the menu system which immediately thrusts you in control of a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, slashing droids, battling your partner and generally running amuck with your Force powers. The problem is that the game never really evolves beyond this initial starting point: in terms of gameplay, this menu features near everything the game has to offer. The scenery changes, but the fundamental mechanics remain the same. That the mechanics are such a joy to behold in short bursts is what buoys the title above a lesser game, which could easily have been sunk by the repetitive combat.
In a reflection of its kid-friendly target market though, puzzles are woefully simple. They are each drawn from a pool of three or four similar variations in a weaker version of The Lost Vikings style, relying on individual characters’ strengths and weaknesses. Even with the audience in mind, a little more challenge and variation here could have resulted in a much more rounded package.
Cutscenes are delivered through some sublimely animated sequences that link the major plot points of the films together. Told in true Lego form, they are entirely silent, leaving all the characters to become exaggerated mime artists. The style works well, serving not to undermine those key dramatic moments, but to add a coy sense of humour. It offers a whimsical glimpse back at the original Star Wars before George Lucas got bogged down with Trade Federations and tax returns.
Though possible to blow through the entire thing in a few hours, the cyclical stop-start structure of combat followed by a puzzle means that the best way to enjoy this is doubtless in bite-size chunks. Any challenge derived from the game will be entirely self-imposed in a quest to unlock the fairly impressive selection of secrets; the impetus for these will depend entirely on the degree of your love affair with the game. The main attraction here is the wealth of characters, any of whom you can instantly switch to within the normal game, once complete.
Lego Star Wars’ main flaw is that it is not so much a videogame as a toy. Extremely fun to pick up and play with now and then, but ultimately somewhat limited; its final destination gathering dust in a cupboard next to Hungry Hungry Hippos is all but assured. Rather than playing for the sake of narrative or progression, playing is deemed its own virtue, which in a title with such repetitive action is somewhat unfulfilling. To dissect the marriage, if it were simply a Star Wars game it wouldn’t work, nor if it were a courtsuit-baiting Lego game. It relies on the cultural inheritance that the player has invested in both franchises. The adage of ‘Like Star Wars? Like Lego? Love This!’ is invoked. And frankly, it’s true. |
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System: Microsoft Xbox
Genre: Action
Developer: Traveller's Tales
Publisher: Eidos Interactive
Players: 1-2
Version: United States
Reviewed: May 2005
Writer: Simon Ward
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Pros:
- Fun gameplay
- Lego
- Star Wars
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Cons:
- Limited gameplay
- Somewhat short
- Simplistic puzzles
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