The Star Wars Trilogies are the greatest movies ever in my opinion, no doubt about it, no other movies have ever come close, it’s just a pity then that the games have always been disappointing, that was at least until Lego Star Wars hit the scene and although it was a short game it reignited my belief that someone out there could make a excellent game based on a movie. Ever since I completed Lego Star Wars and saw it’s teasing ending I have been awaiting the game based on the original trilogy and at last it is here, by name it is called Lego Star Wars II, The Original Trilogy and I have played it.
The game starts out with you playing as Leah and a Rebel Trooper, you are in a small bar much like the first game with doors scattered around which lead you to the missions. The bar gives you the options to buy new characters, disguises as well as some other bits and pieces and this will prove invaluable to you later on in the game.
Once you have had a wander around you are ready for the first mission (A New Hope) were you have to find R2D2, once you find any new characters you can play as them and therefore your next task is to escape Darth Vader’s grasp using R2D2, C3PO and an escape pod which will enable you to get a message to Ben Kenobi. The other missions as you would expect are all similar while at the same time following the storyline, you just have to play through them all, unlocking new characters as you go, the difference with this game though is that you can actually use the vehicles and other means of transport to your advantage, for example, in mission two you can build a AT-AT Walker and take control which allows you to blast anything in your path or alternatively you can jump in your hovercraft and speed around knocking everyone over, this really is great fun.
You will notice during some levels that you can change hats using a machine that you find, this enables your characters to either look silly wearing top hats or become disguised as Storm troopers, it is particularly funny when you try this with Chewy and he has a Storm troopers helmet half on his head as it is too small. As you go from level to level you will also notice that there are lots of extra’s (such as the minipac’s you use to build ships) which you cant seem to get too because you don’t have the powers or because your character does not have the access rights, this is usually because you will have to complete the level and then come back to it later when you have unlocked or bought the characters who have the ability to open these area’s, in fact you may have to complete the game a few times to enable you to do this.
One of the main attractions are the vehicle missions which are excellent, although these were present before they have been greatly improved, flying along in your snow speeder twisting and turning and then firing your rope to tie up the AT-AT’s legs is fun to watch, especially when they fall over, the same can be said for all the other vehicle missions, I mean who wouldn’t love blowing up the Death Star or flying the Millennium Falcon? I really enjoyed these missions and I am sure you will find yourself going back to them again and again.
As in the previous game you can also have a friend play at the same time enabling them to drop in and help you if needed and also drop out at anytime, although this can cause trouble as friendly fire is always switched on and friends always tend to have a bad aim, it’s great fun though. especially when you keep shooting each other and pretending it was an accident.
Graphically this Xbox 360 version is visually stunning, the high definition characters look great and the cut scenes are a piece of genius, although there is no dialogue in any part of the game you know exactly what is going on and the way they do this is hilarious, like when Luke finds out who his father is (I wont give this away) or when Ben Kenobi manipulates the Storm Trooper and Luke runs him over, it is just brilliant and great entertainment. The only criticism I would have of the game is that sometimes the angle isn’t good enough to help you see if there is anything hidden in some of the spaces.
In terms of sound the game does not disappoint, you would swear that you are watching the movie sometimes as the light sabres clash or Chewy does his ever so familiar roar, the blasters are also really realistic. The musical score is also there in all it’s glory to give you that tingle down your spine like the first time you heard it.
There is just something about Lego and Star Wars that mix, it shouldn’t be really and you would have thought that if there was going to be a game titled Best Star War’s game ever then it wouldn’t be this one, but it is, this game is just simply perfection, it is so much fun to play and if you love lego, star wars or computer games in general then you will just love this to bits, if you have any cash to spare I would say to you buy this game now because if you don’t you will regret it.
