Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Review

Traveller’s Tales finally pump some fresh ideas into their universally appealing Lego games.

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The bricks you’re looking for:

Lego fatigue was getting to be a problem. For all the awesome licenses developer Traveller’s Tales got their hands on, the end result was a fairly standardized formula that resulted in samey titles. Lego games arguably blew up with the original Star Wars trilogy, so it’s fitting that with Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, TT have done enough to shake things up considerably and deliver a fresh experience that fans both new and old are going to love.

Story:

TFA follows the plot of last year’s megahit Star Wars sequel. J.J. Abrham’s vision of a galaxy far far away was a smash that I absolutely loved, and I really enjoyed playing through the story all over again in this Lego incarnation.

In a weird move, TFA starts with endgame levels from Return of the Jedi. I was really excited to jump in and start playing as Finn, Rey and Poe, so I was disappointed to be running around on Endor with those bloody Ewoks again in my first hour or so with the title, but after this strange prologue you can relive all of your lightsaber swinging, Episode VII action.

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There’s plenty of content here for fans to sink their teeth into; there’s some really nice side story stuff that fleshes out the worlds and lore of the latest Star Wars film, but best of all this Lego game gives us a chance to really soak in the atmosphere of these new planets that the breathless pace of the movie often didn’t allow for.

Gameplay:

For the most part Lego Force Awakens is pretty standard fare. Run around levels smashing stuff to grab pips (currency) and discover stashes of buildable Lego that, when interacted with, will allow for progression throughout the stage. There’s button-mashing fights and plenty of collectibles to unlock and discover.

But TFA thankfully gives the formula a shot in the arm with some really interesting new mechanics. The dog fights are an absolute blast, feeling a lot like Nintendo’s latest Star Fox game (especially when played in co-op which provides your ship with double the firepower).

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There’s also over the shoulder third person shooter parts to most levels, where you hunker down behind cover, pop up to shoot bad guys and win ground on these fun little battlefields. The kits you can use to build stuff are also multipurpose now, allowing you to decide how to tackle situations you come across. Whilst you build these kits you can press left or right on the analogue stick and one of a few predetermined options comes up and entertaingly solves your current predicament.

Good

  • Lego games formula gets shaken up a bit
  • New side stories

Bad

  • Unnecessary Ewok opening
  • Sound design is hit-and-miss
7.9

Good

Story - 8
Graphics - 8
Sound - 7.5
Gameplay - 8
Value - 8
Reviewer - GamerKnights

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