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| I am your father | Geez… it’s freezing in here! |
In Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (hereon referred to as LSWII) you will find many differences that will make it more enjoyable than its predecessor, however there are still those same elements that made the first one such a popular and acclaimed game some time ago, and even though you will find the dynamics of this game to be quite similar with the first part, there are enough factors to consider this game the perfect sequel, both in originality and in enjoyment. First of all in LSWII you will play through the original Star Wars episodes: Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. The simplicity behind its gameplay and its accessible style with attract many gamers, even if they are not familiar with the Star Wars genre. However, for the enjoyment of those who worship the series (such as yours truly) there are many elements such as: the original ships, tons of characters, original soundtracks, familiar environments and other goodies, which will please the most fervent fan.
LSWII is a real eye candy, do not let the whole Lego concept fool you, if you are expecting everything to look rigid and low-detailed you will not, this game looks great, specially for those of us who enjoy the pleasure of owning an Xbox 360, since this version looks way better than the others, benefiting from particle lightning, shading, a high resolution and other technical specs behind the visual feast that you will enjoy while playing LSWII.
The mechanics for this game are quite simple, mostly because this game was designed to be played by a wide range of different age gamers; it is a fact that 5 years old gamers will be capable of enjoying this game just as any adult gamer would. Here you will find a simple yet effective 3 button scheme for controlling every character, with one button for attacking, another one for jumping, and a last one for performing each character’s special moves, there is also another button for swapping between characters, a subject which will be covered promptly.
During the game you will be in command of a Lego-modeled Star Wars character, and since you will be following the original trilogy storyline you can expect to find your all-time favorites here, characters such as: Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Ben Kenobi, and many others are available for you to play with. Another new feature that LSWII features is the possibility of creating your own character using “pieces” from previously unlocked characters, so if you ever wanted to know how “Darth Princess Luke” would look like, here is your chance.
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| Lego jump to hyperspace | Do not mock my helmet! |
But LSWII is not only about nice visuals and easy-to-master mechanics; actually one of the strongest points about this game is its narrative. You will not find voice acting during LSWII, instead of that you will find the whole Star Wars story told without so much of a spoken word, for doing so, this game unfolds every single piece of the storyline, before and after each chapter, with short and hilarious cut scenes. I have to tell you that this particular game is probably one of the funniest games I’ve ever played for the 360, you will find Luke’s goofing around, Princess Leia’s enthusiastic piloting and Chewie’s brilliancy, to be quite humorous, and with so many of the original characters making sudden appearances you will enjoy playing LSWII just to get a glimpse of the magnificent story development.
Your objective in this game will be to control your party (which can be formed from 2 to 6 on-screen characters) through the different objectives of each level, basically destroying the bad guys while figuring out how to solve sporadic puzzles along the way, and maneuvering to the end of each level. After each level you complete you will get a “Golden brick”, which can later be used to construct special doors in order to access the bonus levels. Within each level it will be necessary that you swap between characters from your party in order to make use of their special abilities for solving puzzles and advancing further down your quest, you do so by pressing one button, and you will do it a lot depending on each situation. For example: Jedi characters such as Luke or Obi-Wan are capable of using the Force to manipulate certain objects, therefore being capable of creating bridges or activating certain spots of the environment that other characters can’t interact with. Blaster characters such as Han Solo or Lando are capable of using a grappling hook, which takes them to places where no other character can reach. Droid characters such as C-3PO or R2-D2 are needed to activate certain switches, and since their movement capabilities are limited you will need to use your imagination to place them on some seemingly unreachable places. There are other characters such as Bounty Hunters (yes, Bobba Fett is here everyone) that can access some special missions, Stormtroopers which activate certain doors, different planet’s natives, etc. and each character has a special and (sometimes) useful feature.
Along each level you will find “studs” which are some sort of tokens which are stashed for further usage, you can use these studs to purchase new characters, extra content, etc. and if you get enough studs in each level you will acquire a reward called “true Jedi” which earns you yet another “Golden brick” for that specific level. Another interesting new feature in LSWII are the “unassembled” pieces of Lego you will find along each level, these pieces can be manipulated by any non-droid character in order to build a useful construction, most of the time being rewarded with studs for doing so.
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| The original vehicles in their entire splendor | This is why you do not mess with a Wookie, even Obi-Wan looks frightened |
Overall, LSWII is a very rewarding game, it provides hours of simple fun, and with all the extra content to unlock you might be immersed in this game for a long time. However non-fan gamers might find LSWII to be somewhat repetitive and eventually even boring, I think that the factor that makes this game really enjoyable is the element of curiosity which comes from playing through the original Star Wars trilogy in a humorous and different style.
Top GameMoment:
TOP GAME MOMENT
My favorite moments while playing this game were during the cut scenes, they are incredibly funny and stylish, my most serious and sincere compliments to the minds behind them.
