Reviewed: December 8, 2007
Reviewed by: Brice Boembeke
Publisher
LucasArts
Developer
Traveller's Tales
Released: November 7, 2007
Genre: Action
Players: 1-2
9
7
8
10
8.5
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Star Wars. Love it. Always have. Legos. Also, pretty cool. Where the two cross? Well, somebody thought that it would be a cool idea to take the movies and reproduce them using Legos. And the only way to do that was to put it into a game. Though it seems like a crazy idea, the result is something so clever and cool in such a simple but catch way, you can’t help but love the crap out of it.
I didn’t know at first what to make of the whole thing. My Star Wars morals were slightly offended when I saw how they were simplifying and “cute-ifying” the storyline. But, then I got used to it and something just seemed right about it. And fun. Oh, how fun it is.
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga is more than just a compilation of the previous two titles released on other platforms. Still, the redesigned cantina and handful of new side-missions and characters added to this new title might not be enough to justify existing Jedi double-dip. Still, it is the only Star Wars on the Wii...for now.
I sat down to play this game one day for a few minutes. At least, I thought I had only been playing for a few minutes. Then, I realized that almost three hours had passed! I had no idea. I was having so much fun that time had passed without me even noticing. So many times, while play-testing a game for a review, I find myself looking at the clock and thinking to myself, “How much longer should I play this to where I feel like I’ve given the game a good enough showing to be able to write a justified review?” That definitely didn’t happen with this game.
The controls are extremely simple. Though they added Wii remote inputs for the lightsaber, I found that I liked just using the trigger to swing the saber better than swinging the remote around. So, as far as Wii controls go, I wasn’t too impressed. But, as far as a game goes, it was fun and simple.
It’s nice not having to worry about dying. You can die as much as you want and keep going on. The only penalty is that you lose your “bolts” that you collect throughout the chapters of the movies. The more bolts you have, the more cool extra stuff you can get. It is definitely addicting to collect as many bolts as you can in order to get all the bonus stuff. It also makes you really explore each and every level.
They also set it up so that you can’t get everything in a level the first time through. Certain things are only accessible to other characters that you don’t get during “Story Mode”. You have to go back through with “Free Play” and take specific characters that can either jump higher or crawl into smaller spaces or open certain doors that are locked to other characters. I found myself replaying many of the levels over and over just trying to get all of the bonus stuff in each one.
And, as I said, the controls are really simple. The only thing that frustrated me about the controls is a lack of camera control and the few levels that have you flying ships. These were very hard to make them go where I wanted them to, and I found myself cursing my screen trying to get them to turn the way I wanted them to. Thankfully, these levels are very few and far between.
The simplicity of the Lego universe combined with the Star Wars stories allowed the graphics to be a little simpler than say if they decided to do the same game with an accurate representation from the movies. It is a lot less graphic intense than that would be. But it works. There are flashy things where they need to be. The light sabers and force powers are glowing and exciting, as well as the Lego explosions.
They did a really good job of making the game look and feel just like what it is supposed to be: the Star Wars universe represented through Legos.
The sound was really impressive. They got all the sound effects from the movies right on. The light sabers hum like they’re supposed to (even through the little speaker on your remote, just to add a little detail that makes you feel like you’re actually holding the saber yourself). The blaster sound effects are perfect, as well. The characters don’t speak, so you don’t have to worry about voice acting screwing anything up.
The John Williams music is straight out of the movies, and the different themes come in at just the right times to add tension and excitement.
There is definitely plenty of game to go around here. With all 6 episodes available plus all the bonus stuff, you’ll find that you’re hard pressed to complete 100 percent of the game. You’ll also find yourself going back and re-playing a lot of the same levels over and over just because they’re so much fun. Especially when you can take whatever characters you want in the Free Play mode and really have fun with it.
Also, throw in the coop mode and you’ll be able to have fun with a second player for hours on end, no problem.
I would highly recommend Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga for anybody that likes the Star Wars universe. Period. It’s simple enough that anybody can enjoy it, but challenging enough that an experienced gamer won’t be bored by it. And it takes you through the movies in a new and exciting way that is so entertaining you won’t even notice the hours just slipping away. Make sure you have plenty of time (or set an alarm to remind yourself when to quit).
May the Force be with you!