Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
PlayStation 3
This review is probably going to be a bit shorter than usual. I just reviewed Lego Jurassic World a month or so ago. In this review, I broke down how the average Lego video game worked, what my thoughts were on the history of the series. So on and so forth. And in the month since then nothing really has changed.
This game still plays and controls like your average Lego game. Everything still looks the same. The only difference between this game and Lego games in the past is that it follows the story line of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
The game actually expands upon the story of the movie a little bit, though. You begin playing during the battle of Endor. I am not sure why they decided to rehash old territory since this battle was already covered in the original Lego Star Wars series, but I did not mind the extra content. I understand that it is probably hard trying to base an entire Lego game around one two-hour movie, so I appreciate that they expanded things a little.
After the Endor prologue, the game moves on to the content of the Force Awakens. There are ten chapters in all, each one representing a different section of the movie. If you have seen the film, you should know the basic direction things are going to go. You start out on Jakku playing as Poe Dameron. Stormtroopers land and start shooting the place up, so you fight back - eventually releasing BB8 into the desert. And then it's awn.
The game takes you through each area of the movie. Above the planet, you fight as Finn to release Poe from the clutches of the Order. You fight as Rey on the surface of the planet to get BB8 and Finn to safety. You fly aboard the Falcon and destroy your pursuers. You are picked up on your way out, unite with Han Solo, fight through smugglers and rathtar on your way to escape.... so on and so forth. I'm not going to break the entire game down. If you've seen the movie you should know which way this game is going.
As far as actual game play innovations, not much has changed from previous titles in the Lego series. There are some vehicle related stages where you fly things like X-Wings and the Millenium Falcon. These kind of play out like Star Fox stages, except much, MUCH easier.
The only other difference I could find between this game and other versions of Lego games is in how you build objects out of Lego bricks. Normally, you just run over to a pile of bricks and hold the circle button. Your character will build whatever it is that needs building. In this game, things are changed a little bit. There are still regular piles of Legos that you build in the same manner, but there are also special piles in the game.
These special piles can be built in many different ways. You begin building by using the circle button, as normal. But depending on which direction you hold the control stick, you can build different things out of the same bricks. Hold right while building and you could build a bridge across a chasm. Hold up while building and maybe its a ladder to a new area. Hold left and maybe it is a vehicle you are building.
Many times you will have to use all variations of the items you are building to advance in the level. Use one item to solve part of a puzzle, and then destroy the item and use the bricks to build something else. It is a small little game play touch, and some of these combinations require a little bit of annoying trial and error. But I appreciate that they tried to do something different, even if its only in a small way. It makes you use your noggin a little bit more in comparison with previous games.
The game also contains a large number of hidden side missions. These side missions can be unlocked by collecting a certain number of gold bricks from each level. Collecting, say, 20 unlocks one side mission. Collect another 20 and it unlocks another one, etc etc. These side missions help to fill in the blanks of the story line of the Force Awakens. How Lor San Tekka got the map to Luke's location. How Threepio got his red arm. Stuff like that. There's even a flashback mission with Poe Dameron on old adventure.
These side missions are a nice touch. As I mentioned before, it is probably hard to make an entire game based around one movie, so it is nice that they expanded the content a little bit.
If you have played a Lego game before, nothing that the Force Awakens does will surprise you. Yeah, there are a few little game play tweaks, like with the way you can build different items with some of the piles of Lego bricks you find. But nothing is done here that is too earth shattering.
Expect a lot of laughs, some fun levels, a few puzzles that make you stop and think every once in a while. Expect to be collecting a lot of things. Expect to replay old levels in free play, scouring each area for items you missed or couldn't access the first time around.
But most of all, expect the story mode of the game to be pretty short. You can probably run right through the story mode in a day or two. Some people are okay with this, and they find the enjoyment of the game to be found in collecting all the hidden items. Some people play the games just to beat them. I am more of the latter. I mean, I will come back to old levels and collect stuff that I missed, but I have yet to beat a Lego game 100%. I am just not that dedicated.
I had a lot of fun with this. But my fun with the title was limited. Its a good game, but it is very short. I'd rather play something new than go back and play old stages again. But that's just me. I liked the game, but I am okay with just renting it. And in all likelihood I will never play it again. But if you can't get enough of the Lego games, you'll probably love the heck out of this.
Overall:
B-
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