Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga

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With a franchise as big as Star Wars there will always be a few games that come and go that really don't do the source material justice, but every now and again a game pops up that really works in the Star Wars universe. Lego Star Wars is one of those titles that really captures the essence of the films and throws in a little humour along the way.

In 'Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga' (referred to as LSW from now on) the gamer is buying into a combined LSW experience which spans Episode I (The Phantom Menace) all the way through to Episode VI (The Return of the Jedi). The graphics have a very convincing 'plastic' feel about them and all the Lego pieces certainly look like Lego, in fact the graphics have been updated for this outing to the Xbox 360, with sharper textures and HD visuals (only a bonus if you have an HDTV of course).

For those of you that have played both of the previous outings on the original Xbox there really isn't that much new for you here. There are a couple of new levels and characters (Indiana Jones anyone?) to entice back any overly fanatical gamers to the series but not enough to grab the attention of the average Joe that completed the games that preceded this one, that is of course unless you wish to join some Xbox Live co-op games in which case you may want to sample this new offering. Indeed, for me LSW really got interesting when I was in co-op mode, whether this was online or off (with my brother). When playing in co-op there is no split screen to speak of, the game relies more on team work and the two players moving through the game together (the screen only moves on when both parties go the same way).

In gameplay terms LSW is a fairly simple hack and slash puzzle platformer. Navigating the six episodes is very simply as easy as walking through a door. The Cantina serves as the hub for you to enter into a level or purchase one of the many unlockables using your collected studs (more on these later). Once you have completed the first level of Episode I you are then free to pick and choose which Episode to play leaving it free to the player to pick their favourite story. After completing a level it is then possible to go back and re-play the stage as any of the characters you have unlocked during the game. Attention to detail is very high as you can recognise most (if not all) of the locales that you are playing in. The addition of amusing cut scenes add to the playful theme of the LSW and certainly provide a few laughs along the way.

Whilst traversing through the game you are inundated with little studs that serve as currency for unlocking new costumes and characters, it is fun at first to collect these little tokens but it soon gets tedious, especially as there are so many flooding your way all the time. It would be okay if they were automatically picked up or you could hold a button to draw them to you (these guys use the force after all) but you have to manually run over them to pick them up. These studs are in no way essential to completing the game, but if you want to be able to unlock new things then you will need to spend quite a bit of time collecting them. Whilst playing in co-op mode the stud collection routine became more amusing as my brother and I became obsessed with picking them up first... then we found out you can kill your team mate and steal some of theirs. Not very sporting like, but fun none-the-less.

With the chance to update the two games that are bundled together you would have thought that the developers would have taken the opportunity to address a couple of issues. The first of which is the shoddy camera. Occasionally the camera is not very well placed leaving the gamer a little confused as to their next move. Sometimes this requires a leap of faith that ultimately ends in death (although death is never final in LSW, you just lose some studs). It doesn't make the game unplayable, but it can be severely annoying at times. My second gripe is the sound. Firstly let me point out that I love the music, what Star Wars fan doesn't? No, LSW seems to have been hastily put together so that from time to time the sound in a cut-scene simply stops at the wrong time or sound effects just don't happen when you would expect them to. This doesn't hinder the gameplay in any way but makes watching the would be funny cut-scenes frankly annoying for me. I noticed this problem when playing the original version on the Xbox and am very surprised to see that it wasn't ironed out for the complete package.

Still, LSW has a certain charm about it that one cannot help but recognise, great for family and friends alike. The gameplay is sound, if a little repetitive but it really shines in co-op, the ability to jump in and out of the game is very well implemented as you leave your buddy with an AI partner to finish out the level. With the addition of online co-op there is a lot of fun to be had with this ageing series with all your friends from across the globe too, a very welcome extra. I can't really recommend LSW to anyone that has played the previous outings, however if you haven't already sampled the Lego delights then I would say you should give it a go, even though it seems childish you will be surprised at how fun and addictive it can be. Yes, it has a few flaws, but these can be easily glossed over as you begin to relish a well-made and highly enjoyable Star Wars game.

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By Thomas Ryan