PLATFORM

Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii

DEVELOPER

Traveller’s Tales

PUBLISHER

LucasArts

GENRE

Action/Adventure

# OF PLAYERS

1-2

Rating

T

U.S. RELEASE DATE

November 6th, 2007

MSRP

$49.99 Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 $34.99 Nintendo DS

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

OVERVIEW

Relive the Star Wars Saga – in Lego form.

REVIEW

Lego Star Wars has been around for a while, but this game puts together all of the content of the previous installments, adds a few things, and in the end allows you to play through all six Episodes of the Star Wars Saga in cute, Lego form.

I am fairly new to the franchise – sure, I have played a level here and there of previous game installments on the PSP, but I never sat down to actually play through the game before.

This game has some obvious appeal from the start. Just about everyone likes Star Wars (well, at least the classic Trilogy), and would get a real kick out of the Lego-morph.

So you start the game out with Obi-wan and Qui-gon, and play through the beginning of the Phantom Menace. Rather quickly you are able to unlock every single episode, though, so if you want to jump right to your favorite Star Wars chapter you can.

As you progress through the levels, you have to fight through a wide array of Lego enemies, solve puzzles (many of which require you to switch characters periodically), create Lego constructs to advance, and collect studs and Gold Bricks.

The controls are pretty simple, and the game makes proper use of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk combination, without going with any overly gimmicky motion controls. You swing the Wii Remote to swing your light-saber – the rest of the controls are standard. The attacks are pretty straight-forward, which leads to some stick-waggling, but it is nothing too serious.

This is the part where the review gets a little difficult. On the whole, this is a very well-built game. The graphics are nothing special, but they are supposed to be simple, so that really fits with the theme of the game. There are occasionally camera problems, but what 3D game doesn’t have that? And the game is rich and incredibly detailed, with a ridiculously complete roster of characters and highly detailed campaigns that take you through each and every moment in the Star Wars Saga. In every way, it is the recipe for a great game.

But it is boring. The Lego recreations of Star Wars scenes is cute, but ultimately it is one of those things that works best in very small doses. You know those Saturday Night Live skits that are hilarious, but fall flat when you try to turn them into a movie? This game is like that. After twenty minutes or so, you just stop caring. Sure, there are a few moments where you chuckle a bit, especially during cut scenes, but beyond that the novelty wears off fast. The actual fighting is easy – while you do “die” often, you respawn nearly immediately with a minimal stud cost. The puzzles presented are also ridiculously easy – the game presents no challenge whatsoever. It won’t take you too long to get bored with the game, and once that happens it is all over. It is tough to press on when you are bored when faced with the sheer volume of game play needed to beat the game, let alone achieve full completion.

BOTTOM LINE

This game is well built, excellently produced, and nice to look at. And even fun – especially in co-op mode. But it isn’t challenging in the least. If you have a younger brother or sister, or any children, and want a video game you can safely play with them and enjoy yourself, this is the perfect pick. For everyone else – rent it, have a little fun, and bring it back. It isn’t worth the $50 for you.

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