Baldwyn's Full Review: LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy for PlaySt...
When I was a kid, I didn't have any Star Wars toys (wah wah) so I built my own out of Legos. Now Legos has a Star Wars license, and cranks out some fantastic sets. Somewhere along the line, some brilliant person out there decided that a game based on Star Wars Lego would be a great idea.
About the Game
Star Wars Lego II is based on the original trilogy: A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. This is a tongue in cheek reimagining of the Universe in Star Wars, with emphasis on fun, and cuteness. Instead of being your usual first-person shooter game, with epic battles, and highly rendered graphics, this is one based on Legos. The characters are Lego minifigs, and the vehicles are often based on available Lego sets. You blast your way through the movies, rescuing the Princess, blowing up the Death Star, tripping ATs-ATs, fighting Darth Vader along the way. Naturally, there's a high cute factor.
Gameplay
Each movie is broken down into six chapters, which are easily completed in a single sitting. You can't save during a chapter, so it's nice that they aren't too large. There are two main modes for completing each chapter: Story Mode and Free Play mode. Story Mode involves the characters based off of the movies. For example, rescuing the Princess primarily involves Han, Luke, Chewie, C3PO, and R2D2. There are Stormtrooper helmets along the way to use as a disguise. Different types of characters have different uses. Han is a blaster character, and can also swing on grappling hooks. C3PO and R2D2 have specific doors only their droid "type" can open. R2D2 can also hover on rockets, but C3PO only hobbles along like an old man, requiring ramps to be built for him. Luke starts off as a blaster character, and then becomes a Jedi, which allows him to use the Force on items, and jump higher than a normal character.
Your characters can take up to 4 hits, although you can replace your hit points by grabbing hearts. You don't have a limit on lives, but you do lose money each time you die.
The different characters make way to arrays of puzzles. Some of these puzzles can't be solved in Story Mode, so you go back and complete them under Free Play Mode. Free Play Mode allows you to toggle from a set of available characters. This set grows as you unlock characters. You'll need Sith characters, Bounty Hunter characters, Stormtroopers, along the way. Each character has some uniqueness in the way they fight too. IG88 takes off his arm in close combat and bats people with them. Chewie tears the arms out of their sockets of Stormtrooper. Jedi turn Stormtrooper's helmets around with the Force. Lando has a strange way of trying to charm and momentarily distract female characters. Which is really odd, because the only one available is Leia. There is cartoon violence in the game, but no gore.
On top of this, there's a place you can mix and match minifig pieces to create your own characters. Boba Fett head, C3PO body, and generic legs, with the red lightsaber. The cool thing is that certain combos give your character different abilities. The red lightsaber would give this character Sith powers, and the Boba Fett head would identify him as a bounty hunter.
In addition to simply finishing the stories, there's Gold Bricks and Power Bricks. Gold Bricks are a measure of the game's completeness, while Power Bricks give you extra configurable abilities (Super Blasters, Fast Build, Fast Force, etc).
The currency of the game are "studs", which are the smallest piece of Legos. Complete Free Play and Story Mode levels with a predetermined number of studs, and you reach True Jedi status and are awarded a Gold Brick for each mode. This isn't too hard, but it does mean you have to be careful about dying.
There are a few vehicle based levels, which are a bit tedious, and less fun than the character driven levels. The puzzles are simpler, and it's mostly a shooting game. The Hoth Level can be tricky, since you have to drag bombs behind your snowspeeder to blow up walls, but you do get to trip AT-ATs with your tethered harpoons! Vehicles do appear in character levels, and it's almost worth buying the game to march down the streets of Mos Eisley with an AT-ST squashing sandtroopers.
Graphics
Graphics are just what they need to be. It's a Lego World so things are blocky! Actually, it's really well done. The characters are rendered funny, and cute, and follow their real-world Lego counterparts extremely closely. The Physics of this Universe are outstanding. The game designers put down the "laws" of what a Lego world is like, and stick to it closely.
Cut scenes are well rendered, and full of charm and wit. (Although, I found Luke's driving on Mos Eisley to be a bit too slapstick).
Audio
This game does a great job of using the library of Star Wars music and sounds, as well as adding it's own needed touches. Like the sound of spilling Lego pieces. Characters only mumble, but they mumble in familiar voices.
Summary
This game is fun for all ages. I play it with my 7 year old daughter, and sometimes I'll tackle the additional challenges when she's asleep (since they're not always easy to complete with someone who doesn't have a strict policy of trying not to die when you're trying to go for True Jedi Status :) The game reminds me a lot of the way I played as a kid. It was fun, goofy, epic. Put it in a case, and you have Lego Star Wars II.
Addendum
Lego Star Wars The Complete Saga has just been released for the new platforms. This is Lego Star Wars I and Lego Star Wars II, with additional features. If you have a PS3, XBox 360, WII, this would be the game to get. If you have a previous generation system, and don't plan to upgrade for awhile, this game is now only $19.99, and a great deal.
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