LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

This week saw the release of TT Games latest LEGO video game, based on the smash hit movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, featuring newer characters like Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, BB-8 and plenty of more well known characters like Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, Han Solo and Darth Vader. The game allows players to re-enact the movie in LEGO form, featuring many classic moments from the movie such as Finn & Poe escaping the First Order, Rey taking on Kylo Ren and General Leia trying to track down some Wookie Cookies!

The Force Awakens has been released on pretty much every device including the PS4, PS3, PS Vita, PC, Nintendo Wii U, 3DS, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and mobile devices. For the sake of this review, both Roger & Travis have been playing the PS4 version, as some of the handheld versions are slightly different to the home console versions.

In this review, both Roger and Travis will share some of their thoughts on the game.

What are your initial thoughts on the game?

Roger – I’ve been looking forward to the release of Force Awakens since it was announced and it hasn’t disappointed me. After a dozen LEGO games, it really feels that the team are working on ways to improve and tweak the gameplay to make things better. This game follows through the whole movie, adding its own humour along the way, I have had plenty of laughs while watching the cut scenes and that’s such a great thing to have in gaming.

Travis – When I heard that LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens was coming, I had high hopes for this game. I loved the movie (saw it numerous times in theatres), enjoyed playing the Disney Infinity Play Set version of the movie, and also enjoyed the previous LEGO Star Wars games. Since Disney Infinity announced its’ shuttering, I needed to find something else to make buying my PS4 a viable investment, as I am not a hardcore gamer.

What did you love about Force Awakens?

Roger – There are so many great things about this game, many of the new improvements from previous games have made it much more enjoyable. The addition of the multi-build function means there is a little more to do for each puzzle, if you don’t do the build in the right order, it doesn’t work and this does make it a little more challenging. The addition of the first person shooting element to some sections, does mean that this feels a much more interesting way of dealing with lots of enemies at once. I’m glad they’ve cut back on having swarms of re-spawning enemies in most sections like I’ve experienced in previous games, as the fighting mechanism has a tenancy to get tedious, which I never felt with Force Awakens.

Travis –  In all honestly, I have not gotten far in the game, only completing the Prologue and about 5 of the chapters. That being said, I am enjoying how fleshed out the chapters are, and that they take a bit to get through.

I am also enjoying playing as BB-8. He’s a fun little droid.

Roger – I also really enjoyed the flying segments of the game, the free flying scenes were such much fun and I’d love to have seen more of this, and a lot more fun than flying in Star Wars Battlefront.

Jumping between the characters is really fun, it’s a little awkward at first but once my LEGO eyes kicked it, I was flipping between characters the second I saw the next puzzle. Some characters like BB-8 and Finn with a lightsaber were a lot of fun.

What didn’t you like about Force Awakens?

Roger – Unlike previous Star Wars LEGO games, this game focused on one specific movie, rather than a whole trilogy, which means this game doesn’t have the same amount of content to draw from, which means the game does sometimes go away from the movie, which often feels like filler content. This is why kicking off the game with some missions from Return of the Jedi was a surprise, though flying the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star and taking on the Empire in a AT-ST with the Ewoks, is a lot of fun.

I’m surprised that so many older characters have been included in the game, adding in the Clone Wars, Classic Trilogy and Rebels characters and some missions, doesn’t make too much sense but again it fills out the game with more content.

Travis – As with LEGO Marvel Avengers earlier this year, I find that I cannot sit for a long time in front of the screen because it’s very busy for me sensory wise. All of the characters, both good and bad, are similar in size and, in darker parts of the worlds, hard to distinguish. I also never can get the hang of the controllers, and am running in to fight only to hit the wrong button and switch to a character who isn’t even close to the skirmish.

While I appreciate the “multi-builds” within the game, some of them were tedious and, even with the hints, I found myself staring at the screen trying to figure out in what order things needed to get done. Sadly, it took longer than I’d care to admit.

What are some of your highlights?

Roger – Some of my highlights from the game include playing as Rey as she sandboards on Jakku and I really enjoyed the X-Wing flying sections of the game.

One of the biggest joys of this game is the humour, the cinematic scenes always have a little gag or joke in them and it’s one of the highlights for me, as gaming is often so serious and this game might be aimed at children and families, but even an adult gaming can have lots of fun going through the main story and bonus missions.

Travis – I was not expecting the Prologue coming from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi and the Battle of Endor, so that was a fun surprise, and a highlight for someone who grew up on the original trilogy.

Other Thoughts:

Roger – Kicking off the game with some missions from Return of the Jedi was a surprise, though flying the Millennium Falcon into the Death Star and taking on the Empire in a AT-ST with the Ewoks, is a lot of fun.

Travis – My favorite chapter thus far would have to be the Eravana chapter, where Han Solo and team are trying to escape not just two gangs of mercenaries, but also the loose Rathtar’s. I liked how the chapter flowed between the two teams of heroes throughout. Well done storytelling that mirrored the film.

While I have yet to go back to any of the chapters to replay with other characters yet, I am looking forward to it, especially with Luke Skywalker, who seems to be able to unlock a lot in the levels.

Roger – I’ve never been a huge fan of collecting every single collectible such as bricks, characters, or vehicles, in any game (not just LEGO), so while there is hours of entertainment in playing through the game once the main story is completed, for me this isn’t an must do, however there are tons of extra levels and a variety of missions available in the free play areas, so that’s worth going back through once you’ve completed the story.  I’m also really excited to see some of the new levels coming in the Season Pass.

I think leaving the game release for a good six months since Force Awakens was released in theatre’s was without doubt a good move. Having played through the Disney Infinity Force Awakens playset at launch, it was very noticeable that being rushed out and not having access to all the movie assets did cause problems that LEGO Force Awakens doesn’t suffer from. It follows the movie and includes all the major points, adding extra content along the way is better than missing out huge sections. This feels like the perfect companion game to Force Awakens and I’m really hoping we get some new Star Wars LEGO games for episodes VIII and IX, and spin off movies like Rogue One each year.

Final Thoughts:

Travis – I will be honest: I have not even come close to completing a LEGO game recently. My gameplay percentages with LEGO Batman 3 and LEGO Marvel Avengers are dismal. Either they just never fully captured my attentions or real life stuff got in the way. However, if the first few days of playing this game are any indication, I will at least be finishing the base story, if not more. This game is fun, engaging, and Star Wars. Perfect combination.

Roger – LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is without doubt the best LEGO game I’ve ever played and I’d easily recommend picking this one up for any LEGO game or Star Wars fan. New features add fresh ideas to the series and this truly feels the perfect tie in game for the movie. Throw in some classic characters and some great vehicle moments, and this game shows that after so many similar games, they continue to tweak the experience to make them better and better, though I do hope TT Games continue to try to evolve the game with each new version, if you like LEGO games, this one won’t disappoint, as it is just the prettiest and most fun LEGO game. I’ve loved playing this game and had a lot of fun along the way.

 

What did you think of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens?  Comment below: