The BugEyed Review Blog

Everybody knows Star Wars. Mostly everybody loves Star Wars. From movies to merchandise to the flood of games that have come onto market since it first graced the cinema screens. There were horrible Star Wars game failures, but mostly there were successes. Lego Star Wars, for PS2, PC, Gameboy Advance, and XBox, is one of the roaring successes of the Star Wars games.

Everybody knows Lego. At some point in time everybody’s played with those blocks trying to make the best architectural structures ever. Sadly, I failed horribly on this front, my best structure being a multicolored, rectangular “house” with a door and a window. And a flat roof. It took me 3 hours to build this thing. I was 10.

I’ve had the honour of playing both the PS2 and the PC versions. I will be basing my review on the PS2 version. Luckily, no construction is necessary to fully enjoy this game, and it appeals to both adults and kids alike.

Lego Star Wars is exactly what the title implies. It’s Star Wars, done in Lego. A match made in Hollywood heaven. Honestly. The graphics are brilliant, not “Oh My God that’s the most awesome graphics I’ve seen” brilliant, but “Oh My God I can’t believe Lego in motion can look this good” brilliant. I mean, it’s Lego!!! Your typical Lego blocks are stationary. These ones come to life in the shapes of all your favourite Star Wars characters! Give me a moment, I need to wipe the drool.

Visually, the game looks very good. It has to, as there’s no actual speech in the game, and the only text you see in the game is the crawl-into-infinity back story you get before each chapter of the game. After that it’s action all the way. Some puzzles, some teamwork, and lots of hidden secrets. I have to admit, the PC version looks miles better than the PS2 version, but that’s due to the leaps and bounds of technology advancements on the PC’s side. Let’s face it, the PS2 is dated. It’s old. It’s 5 years old. This does not mean there’s anything wrong with the PS2 version. I prefer playing on the PS2 (I don’t own an XBox…), as the controls are so much simpler with analogue sticks and shoulder buttons. (But that’s something that a good Logitech Controller will easily sort out too… I’m undecided. There’s much to be said about playing games while relaxing on a couch…)

The sound of the game is limited in variety, but accurate. You mostly hear your typical Star Wars themed music, blaster bolts and lightsaber clashes. Nothing much more than that. There’s the odd R2D2 noises, and the odd “Roger Roger” by the droids though, which adds to the authentic feel of the game, but nothing hugely brilliant about the sound in the game.

The game play is simple, yet addictive, making you want to come back for more and more and more. Simple enough for a 6 year old to be comfortable with and enjoy playing. The controls are basic. Move around with the left analog stick, a jump button, a use-the-force button, a fire/hit/use button, and a change-character button. The shoulder buttons are used in a second mode of the game called “Freeplay”, explained later.

The main mode of the game is Story Mode, where you play through the main chapters/highlights of Episodes 1, 2 and 3. Sadly, episodes 4, 5 and 6 are missing. Those would have been brilliant to have played too. Story Mode takes you through the episodes in a very linear pickup the bolts and kick some droid butt fashion. There are key chapters that have level bosses, like Darth Maul in Episode 1, Count Dooku in Episode 2, and General Grievous in Episode 3, to name but a few. After playing each chapter, you have the option of returning to Dexter’s Diner, which serves as the game hub, which has starting points for all the chapters, and also as a place to buy unlockables and extras. Unlockables include every character you’ve killed in the game (which become available in Freeplay mode), and such extras as “Purple Lightsabers” or “Silhouette” mode. Completely optional these, but making the game a tad bit more interesting to play.

Free Play mode allows you to replay any chapters you’ve already finished in Story Mode, but with any character you’ve unlocked/bought. In addition, Free Play mode allows you to change to a subset of all these unlocked characters, while inside the game level. This any-character aspect is important to get a 100% completion of the game, as there are certain areas of the levels that are only reachable but specific characters. The very first example of this is early on in the first level of the game, where you see a symbol of R2D2’s face next to a door, which requires you to use R2D2 to open the door. R2D2 is not available on the very first level of the game in Story Mode, but a couple of chapters into the game, and you get to choose him when you go into chapter 1 in Free Play mode. This just adds a lot of replayability to the game, but only if you’re a ‘I have to finish this game 100% all the way’ kind of person. I’m not that kind of person. Although, I have played through the game twice already, once for Story Mode, and once for Free Play mode. OK, that’s a lie. I’ve spent a lot of time in Free Play mode. It’s just so cool to run around as Lego Darth Maul.

So what rewards are there for completing the game 100%, or even a single level 100%? Well, I couldn’t tell you about completing the game 100%, that’ll take ages to accomplish, and I doubt I’ll ever get to that point. I’m not that hardcore a gamer. Completing a level 100% is a different story. I’ve completed one or two thus far. To get 100% of a level, there are several things you need to do. First off, you need to collect a certain amount of studs. (Studs are those little round one Lego square-sized pieces.) They’re easy to get. Killing droids, move a plant, shoot a plant, open a chest, etc. Then there are also these white-red-green Lego ‘kit’ pieces that are scattered through-out each level. 10 in total, per level. Some of them just lay somewhere, others you have to work on to get, such as using the Force to switch on all the lights in a passage, will result in a Lego kit piece that can be picked up. Each of these pieces become a Lego piece in a bigger vehicle of some sort that gets built. It seems to be all just eye candy though, I haven’t managed to do anything with these completed buggies and space ships other than look at them. Disappointed!

That all being said, the game really is truly amazing. With all it’s simple yet addictive game play, Star Wars license and sheer brilliance of merging Lego with this trilogy, I give it 9 out of 10. A pleasure to play, a treat to look at, and fun for the whole two-player-game-playing family. From kids to adults, you *will* enjoy this game.