In Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, each level opens with that iconic opening crawl; a scrolling wall of text against a backdrop of space. From the font to the aspect ratio, it’s entirely authentic, we’re told. This attention to detail is present throughout what we’re shown in a gameplay presentation and a three-level hands-on for the upcoming Lego game from Traveller’s Tales. The first level casts you as Rey, sliding down sand dunes in Jakku on a makeshift board. It’s a short minigame followed by more traditional Lego shenanigans: smashing enemies and scenery to bits; and building strange contraptions from the debris. While familiar, it’s easily the best-looking Lego game we’ve seen, and it’s more polished than the series has ever been. It’s in the small details, like how BB-8 - the little spherical droid from the blockbuster movie - skits along the floor and leaves a trail behind it as it goes, allowing you to trace your name in the sand. Traveller’s Tales says it wants this to be the best Lego game the studio has made, and it’s no surprise why.
After all, LucasArts is showing a lot of trust by allowing them to bridge the gaps between Star Wars Episode VI-VII in its blocky alternate universe. Players will be able to see how Han Solo and Chewie captured the exotic aliens they have stashed in their cargo hold in Episode VII, for example. It’s not just this, either. Voice talent from the film has also been pulled into the videogame production. While Traveller’s Tales wouldn’t reveal exactly who was returning, we do know Daisy Ridley will be reprising her role of Rey, and has recorded fresh lines especially for the game. This is why Traveller’s Tales is so determined to put out its best work. It has been 11 years since the last Lego Star Wars game, and the studio hopes this is as blistering a return to form as the movie itself. It isn’t just polish: there are also improvements to the core gameplay. Obviously, it will still feel very familiar to anyone who has ever played a Lego game - this has to be accessible to all ages, after all - but there are a few new features that add a little to this tested formula.
One of the main additions is Multi-Build. Rather than just holding a button to build something random - once you’ve sufficiently smashed the scenery and the resulting debris has gathered up, hopping around enticingly - now you often have multiple options, and they even have uses outside of simply progressing in the level. At one point during our demo we were set upon by First Order troopers and we had the option to build an item to help. To the left, we could create a bubble shield. To the right, we could conjure up a floating personal defense drone. And if you change your mind, you can just smash your first creation up and build the other. Then there are the vehicles, of which there will be 40 - from alien creature mounts to Kylo Ren’s shuttle to the Millennium Falcon. We got to try out the latter in one of the new dog-fighting arenas. Replaying the Jakku chase scene from the movie, with the enemy ship count considerably bumped up. It starts off as a linear section as the game guides you through the wreckage of downed freighter ships and other space scrap, mindlessly shooting down enemy ships and avoiding the reticles of pursuing craft, to a dogfighting arena where you have full control over the iconic smuggling ship, doing barrel rolls, looping, accelerating and decelerating with 360 degrees of freedom.
We’re told the game also introduces on-foot, cover-based blaster battles, but we didn’t get to see those in action. This is all delivered through the signature Lego humour, each character a plastic caricature of themselves - and there will be over 200 of them from across the entire Star Wars series. You’ll be able to control these over 18 levels - 11 of which are from The Force Awakens and five of which are completely new - and in five hub areas: Jakku, Takodana, Starkiller Base, D'Qar, and the Millennium Falcon. There are still some niggling issues present in the demo. Like how the combat seems to lock on to whatever it wants, sometimes making you smash up the scenery when you really want to be smashing up the guy stood right next to you shooting you - but since there’s hardly a penalty for dying, it never feels too irritating. The large, rideable animals also handle like.. well, large animals if you tried to ride them in real life. Occasionally they do what you want them to.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is clearly being built with a lot of love for the source material; that much is apparent in every detail, right down to each brick. A couple of refinements to the formula help make it feel fresh and, depending on the rest of the package, it could well cement itself as the best Lego game so far when it releases on June 28 this year.It’s the game on many-a-young-person’s wish list. And for those who can’t wait for its release on next-gen consoles, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes has finally arrived on their rickety older brothers.But don’t expect to be punished for your impatience – for TT Games have squeezed every last drop of processing power from the aging Xbox 360 and PS3 to create their best-looking LEGO game to date. Hectic: for the most part, the game engine performs well - but on larger sections there can be some slowdown Plot sees Doctor Doom teaming up with Loki to build a super-weapon from cosmic bricks, and it’s up to the Marvel team to stop them.
But where LEGO Batman 2 DC Super Heroes held a lot of the playable characters back to the latter parts of the game, here you’re exposed to many playable heroes early on. From Spiderman, Thor, Hulk and Iron Man to the Fantastic Four and X-Men, it’s certainly an eclectic mix, but one that works surprisingly well. True to its roots: all of the characters are instantly recognisable All stay true to their comic-book roots, and while some characters have abilities in common, every one has their own distinct animation and special ability.Whereas Spiderman can use his web to swing around and bind objects together, Thor can use his lightening to charge devices. These come in handy when solving the game’s numerous puzzles – with certain characters’ abilities needed to complete each one. It takes two: co-operative mode makes a comeback and there is a wide variety of Heroes to choose from It’s a tried and tested formula, and one that TT has long used in their LEGO games.
But even though there is a slight whiff of this design starting to become stale, the open-world second part of the game more than makes up for it.Here you are given free range of Manhattan, tasked with numerous side-missions – such as checkpoint races - and unlocking new characters. It’s noticeably more populated and alive than in LEGO Batman 2, and it is backed up with mostly vibrant visuals. Sadly, though, the camera can prove an annoyance – especially when flying and playing through latter stages with a friend. Characters can get wedged in the environment, too. Thinking games: puzzles usually require a combination of multiple Super Hero powers to solve them Flaws aside, TT Games have delivered another brilliant LEGO game. It may not be a radical change from the other outings – and maybe it’s time to try something new – but for now, it’s the best LEGO game yet. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is out now for current-gen consoles. Xbox One version has been delayed and will not be a launch title.