Lego Star Wars

Mix two of the most popular things generation X has grown up with, and then roll it into a video game. What do you get? Something that sells well. In fact, it Lego Star Wars sold so well we had to go to a few different stores before we could finally get our hands on a copy.

Lego Star Wars pits you in the star wars universe and lets you play scenes from episodes 1, 2 and 3. Basically what you do is take control of characters from the movies and play their part in all the action scenes. It starts from the infiltration of the droid armies invading Naboo till the end of episode 3, with the finale ending between the duel between Obi Wan and Anakin. Most of this is in a third person platform kind of view. However, there are exceptions such as the pod race from episode 1, and the starfighter scene from episode 3. Been there, done that you say? No way. This is the new star wars universe, this is the universe of lego. Cutting Count Dooku's head off? Off goes a cylindrical piece. Need a bridge to get across the chasam? Combine the force with some lego pieces and you can build one youself. Creating a clone army? Just put some lego pieces together!

There are a variety of characters to play as in the game. Each have their own special abilities and must be used to solve puzzles to continue with the game. For example, jedi can use their force ability to create bridges (as mentioned before), R2D2 can open computerised doors, and other characters such as Captain Cody or the wookies can shoot targets to open doors, and so on.

Lego Star Wars adds a humourous spin to the whole story that only Lego could do. Its the kind of humour which would appeal to the people who've grown up playing with lego for endless hours when they were kids. I know it definately appealed to me. Its hard to describe it without giving examples, and even harder to do it without spoiling some of the best parts of the game. So we'll just leave it to you to discover the magic of lego and the force in one complete package.

The only gripe I have about the game is that it was too short. After grabbing a copy in the afternoon, we managed to finish it in about 4 hours. However, there is a certain level of replayability as you can unlock character and then play the game with those characters. In some levels, only some characters can unlock certain areas to collect special items and open extra levels. Also, if you collect certain canisters from each level, you can put these towards building a lego ship. At this moment, we're not too sure what its for (we haven't got all the pieces yet).

Great concept, great game, great implementation, a little too short.

8/10