There's just something about the LEGO Star Wars series that works. With the first game, released in 2005, developer Traveller's Tales took two great brands, smashed them together and created something instantly familiar yet refreshingly new. The effort was a grand departure from the vast majority of licensed games, which are often nothing more than transparent attempts to wring a few measly Republic Credits out of an established name. LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II were both successful ventures -- a rare combination of kid-friendly gameplay that also grabbed the hearts and minds of gamers with more mature tastes. That's why we were excited to get our hands on the latest member of TT's blocky little family: LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, which pulls LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars II together in one cohesive package. The Complete Saga is essentially a straight compilation of those games, bumped up to HD-quality and lightly tweaked, and it will be most appealing to people who have never played the games at all or gamers who played one or both but don't already own them.
If you're not familiar with the LEGO Star Wars concept, here's a quick breakdown. The first game covers the "prequel" Star Wars films (Episodes I-III), and the second picks up where its predecessor left off (Episodes IV-VI). Each game is an action/puzzle/platform version of the story segment it covers, fast-forwarding through the highlights of every movie with LEGO approximations standing in for their real-life counterparts. Rather than simply slap the two games together and forcing the player to choose one from the main menu, TT smartly chose to expand the Mos Eisley Cantina lobby system both LSW games use to move you between episodes. The Complete Saga drops you into the Cantina to roam as you please - you can mess around in the junkyard, browse the shop, wander over to a two-player arcade arena or jump right in to the game's lengthy story mode. After you finish the first chapter of Episode I (there are six chapters in each), the intro chapter of each episode is automatically opened for you, so you can skip around from episode-to-episode if you want to play your favorites first.
But LEGO Star Wars doesn't limit you simply playing through the story. We plowed through the game's six episodes in about 12 hours without detouring much for mini-games, arcade play or free play (more on that later). When our eyes refocused, we were surprised to see we'd only completed about 30 percent of the total game. Overall, The Complete Saga is a success. The humor is spot-on, the animation is sharper and shinier than ever, the music and sound are extremely high-quality, and the entire package works on almost every level. The addition of online co-op for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 makes the game's already enjoyable two-person multiplayer that much better. Unfortunately, the series has always suffered from a somewhat problematic camera system that can at times be overly restrictive and unforgiving. The camera controls feel a bit better in The Complete Saga, but they're still frustrating at times.LEGO Star Wars is kinda its own special brand of Star Wars. Complete with its own toy line, TV shows, and lately it seems its own self-contained canon!
LEGO Star Wars The Freemaker Adventures is the latest of these recent LEGO shows for anyone looking for that LEGO fix. The Freemakers are a family of scavengers and repair shop, owners trying to make their way in the galaxy. It’s definitely a show geared towards younger kids but it’s also something I can enjoy with the kids. As far as the show goes, it’s definitely the best of the LEGO Star Wars animated offerings so far. The story is delivered with all the humor and fast-paced writing that the LEGO animation is known for. While it is most certainly very kid-oriented there were a few moments that had me literally laughing out loud. The Blu-ray release once again looks amazing. With all the streaming and iTunes and HD versions out there all of that still somehow pales in comparison to a good Blu-ray quality–solid audio and video delivered in a way only Blu-ray can. The bonus features are also a huge thing to consider when picking up a Blu-ray. Unfortunately, the recent Star Wars releases have all suffered from minimal bonus features and this is no exception;
there are only two bonus features included here. The first, The Freemaker Adventures: Meet the Freemaker Family, was actually released on the Star Wars YouTube channel prior to the show’s release. This really fits in that unfortunate Rebels Recon pile that, while is fun to watch, is content we’ve already seen and is already available to us. The second, Freemaker Salvage and Repair, is a really cute little commercial for the Freemakers’ repair shop. It’s fun and everything but totals to about two minutes or so. While the Star Wars Rebels Blu-rays have also suffered from minimal bonus content, the edge they have is that the interviews are usually well worth a few rewatches. Unfortunately while these bonus features are fun, one is already available and the other is a fun couple of minutes. All things considered this is worth the pickup if you really like the show because that’s pretty much all you’re going to get. If you’re satisfied with your streaming quality and your iTunes purchases then maybe this is one you can skip.
If you watch it with your kids and want to toss on the surround sound and HDTV then this is the best way to see it! A fun show that looks great but barely existent content that I can’t see myself going back to for rewatches makes this one lose a few points for me. Developer Traveller's Tales' LEGO games have never succeeded because they had the best puzzles or incredibly satisfying combat. In fact, in these regards, they were usually pretty mediocre. But they made up for the lack of awesome gameplay with adorable aesthetics and great use of the license. The latest, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, continues the trend, immediately grabbing fans like me with its smart use of the subject matter and cute visuals, and kept me engaged despite its issues with its large mix of simplistic gameplay elements. The final combination is just good, simple fun. LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars covers seasons one and two of the popular animated series. Fans of the show get to act out their favorite moments (albeit as adorable LEGO characters), playing a variety of characters ranging from powerful Jedi to the lowliest droids.
And like the other LEGO games, players have to use each character's unique abilities to overcome enemies and environmental puzzles. The puzzles and combat in LEGO Star Wars III aren't amazing. You might occasionally be surprised at a moment where a puzzle is genuinely clever, but they mostly either held my hand entirely or made the solution so obfuscated that they were frustrating rather than rewarding to solve. Likewise, the combat isn't all that exciting with its one-button-does-everything system. But, like so much of the LEGO games design, when you combine these two relatively unexciting portions together, something strange happens: It becomes a simple, engaging game. Maybe it's because together they break up the pacing and keep you in situations that are constantly forcing you to adapt, or perhaps it's because they're so easy to understand that you can kind of zone out and lose yourself to what's going on on-screen. Either way, I became lost to the grind of the adventure. And I enjoyed it.
LEGO Star Wars III also helps keep things fresh by tossing in even more activities. On more than one occasion, you pilot star ships in big space battles, while at other times you command a landing force in an effort to take a planet. Attacking planets is a particularly surprising element of LEGO Star Wars III. In these stages, you capture control points on a map, then call down troops and vehicles to use in an effort to take the battlefield from the enemy. Like everything else in the LEGO games, it's easy to point to another game that did this sort of strategy play better, but it's just fun enough that it helps break up the pacing of the campaign. The capture and control mode can also be played with another player or via a Galactic Conquest mode. It's entertaining enough with another player, but I didn't find it to be more than a passing distraction from the main game – which also supports cooperative play. Galactic Conquest mode is OK for a little while, but I can't say that I want to play level after level of this relatively simple strategy game, especially when LEGO Star War's larger appeal is getting to relive cool Star Wars moments.
It's there if you want some extra game time, I guess. Well, I should clarify that extra modes like Galactic Conquest are there if you manage to find them. When you're not in a mission or playing the story, you return to the hub world. Like the other LEGO games, the hub world is open to players to explore, but this time around, Traveller's Tales have really outdone themselves. The hub world in LEGO Star Wars III is a pair of battleships engaged in a space battle, and you can eventually unlock enough parts that you'll be able to explore both ships, as well as fly around in the space between them. The hub world isn't just for wandering around in, though, as you can create custom characters in the medical bay, purchase vehicles for wandering around in just for fun, unlock additional characters, and even do a side quest. It's a lot of fun; I just wish it'd come with a map so I could figure out where all the cool parts were, without all the wandering. I mean, unlockables are cool, but this is definitely one of the times I really wouldn't have minded having my hand held.