The Force Awakens must be magic. First it reinvigorated Star Wars after a string of duds, and now it’s given the slumping LEGO games the same shot in the arm. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the most creative, well-paced, and fun LEGO game in years. Developer Traveler's Tales always displays a keen love and affection for its source material, but with this take on the most recent Star Wars movie, it tells an entertaining story that pays wonderful tribute to Episode VII through a slew of smart puzzles and unique characters. Unlike the disjointed storytelling in the disappointing LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, The Force Awakens uses dialogue from the film effectively. The story of Rey, Finn, and company follows the same path as the movie, while also throwing in a bunch of really clever gags and goofs. Wandering through the ruins of Maz Kanada’s castle, overhearing some weird creatures talk about where they’re going to drink next, and having one of them suggest his old watering hole on Tatooine left a big dumb grin on my face.
It even handles heavy events, like that Big Spoilery Thing™ with a solid dose of humor and charm. I loved scouring each level for all of their secrets. Each level in the eight-hour campaign does a great job of spreading out puzzle solutions between multiple characters and their unique abilities. Unlike LEGO Avengers, where the second player oftentimes found themselves bored, here you’ll need each character’s inherent abilities to make it through a level. Plus, the abilities are generally fun to use -- Rey’s agility creates some great platforming segments, while BB-8’s ability to jack into any electrical outlet allows you to fiddle around and manipulate platforms and other objects in the world. Whether I was playing by myself or alongside a pal, I really enjoyed scouring each level for all of their secrets. That said, certain puzzle mechanics are dull and used a bit too often. For example, playing as Finn and having to line up the head and torsos of a holographic Stormtrooper to enter a First Order door quickly transforms from a light challenge into a chore.
While the destroy, build, and collect mechanics are familiar to anyone who has played a LEGO game, The Force Awakens tosses in some new and unique scenarios that surprised me with how fun they were. Specifically, cover-based shootouts that feel like “My First Gears of War.” These sections were totally unexpected, but really helped deliver some diversity to the familiar gameplay loop. Add in the fact that each character has a special meter that allows you to destroy the battlefield with a cool-looking unique attack, and Force Awakens has the best-feeling action of any LEGO game yet. Flying levels are fun, frantic, and more entertaining than this year’s Star Fox Zero. Likewise, the flying sections -- both the on-rails and open-air dogfights -- are fun, frantic, and honestly more entertaining than this year’s Star Fox Zero. Whether I was jetting through an asteroid field, gunning down TIE Fighters on my way off of Jakku, or saving the Resistance as Poe on the shores of Takodana, I looked forward to every scene where I got to hop into the cockpit of a ship.
I couldn’t help but imagine what Travelers Tales would do with a full-on Rogue Squadron game. While I love the individual levels, I’m a bit disappointment by the hub worlds. Unlike the awesome, interconnected core of LEGO Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, this series of small hubs here are disjointed and require fairly lengthy load screens to pop between them. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it adds some frustration when you want to check out a bunch of different challenges and worlds. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is also filled with cute, smart nods that Star Wars nuts are going to love. Scouring the galaxy for slabs of carbonite that unlock characters from the original trilogy and the prequels is a blast. Likewise, there are rad secret missions that fill in the gaps of certain events left out of the film, with one of the more memorable ones featuring Poe on his rescue mission to snatch Admiral Ackbar. All of this constantly compelled to keep playing on my mission to 100% it. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the most gaming fun I’ve had with either series in years.
The story is great, the levels are dense with fun puzzles, and unlocking all of the secrets is a blast. Whether I was going through it solo or playing alongside a buddy, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens proved to be an adaption worthy of its incredible source material.We have detected a history of abnormal traffic from your network so we ask that you please complete the following form to confirm that you are not a robot and are indeed a real person. Most of this time this happens if there has been a lot of malicious bot activity from your current internet provider's network or you are using a VPN. It likely has nothing to do with you. We're really sorry for the hassle.It’s hard to believe now, but during the late 90s, the Lego company faced an enormous struggle to stay relevant and profitable as children turned elsewhere for entertainment. Now, however, the Danish toy outfit has established itself as a cultural giant built not just from little bricks, but from licensed toys, animated feature films and, of course, video games.
The unique, symbiotic connection between key brands like Star Wars, physical Lego playsets and the hugely successful Lego series of games was always going to lead toward a “toys-to-life” title. In this genre, created by Activision’s Skylanders series, special action figures can be placed on a USB portal, which then renders them into the on-screen action (using a rather unglamorous technology close to that which sees an Oyster card open a Tube station’s gate). The only surprise is that it’s taken so long for Dimensions to arrive. Created by Traveller’s Tales, the team behind many of the recent Lego video games, Dimensions’ design takes on a fundamentally similar form to its forbearers. It’s a third-person action-adventure where gameplay centres on light combat and environmental puzzle solving, with switches, levers and locked doors serving as Dimension’s core currency of interaction. But while it’s conventional, it is certainly not mediocre. Lego Dimensions offers a hugely captivating world filled with character and considered design.
The wit that this studio has brought to its previous titles is immediately evident in the setting. Thanks to the dimension-plundering efforts of an archetypical super villain played by Gary Oldman, the game’s cast of protagonists – opening with the Batman, Gandalf and Lego Movie characters included in the starter pack – are forced to protect a series of high-profile fictional worlds. The result sees the protagonists, locations and lore of The Wizard of Oz, Doctor Who, The Simpsons and more mixed and mashed into a series of entertaining levels. The environments are detailed and imaginative, playing home to well-designed puzzles that reward single and cooperative play with near equal grace. The quality of writing and knack for comedy shines through. Whether it’s Batman’s frustrated attempt to comprehend a Tardis, or confusion about right and wrong on the Yellow Brick Road, Dimensions knows how to raise a smile. There are odd glitches to be found, and perhaps the value of the boss battle is slightly overstated throughout the game.
Predominantly, though, Dimensions is tremendous fun. But what of those physical toys? In Dimensions they are, of course, built from Lego, taking the form of characters and vehicles. The starter pack includes the required Toy Pad platform, the three aforementioned character figures, and one vehicle; a diminutive Lego Batmobile. Very quickly, the unique strength of Lego reveals itself. While other toys-to-life games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity have mostly provided players with static action figures, this is a game that wants you to really play with the toys. In fact, the opening starts with putting the controller aside and building a portal on the Toy Pad. Later models are reconstructed to track progress and reflect upgrades in game, and throughout, you’re never far from the next moment you switch thumbsticks for bricks. But with the toys also comes Dimension’s capacity to irritate. Unavailable areas, hidden items and other concealed elements lurk in each and every level.
Many can only be accessed by certain characters or vehicles not included in the starter pack, which must be purchased in the real world for real money. Although this is a standard feature of this genre, it’s still a bridge between the physical and virtual that most parents could probably do without – especially as the extra sets do not come cheap. Available in various arrangements that each provide new Lego models and game content – including entire new missions and levels in some cases – the packs are certainly of a quality equal to the base game. But it is Dimension’s habit of constantly suggesting the introduction of these new elements that is bound to put pressure on parental wallets. Buying a new pack does make revisiting a level rewarding, and arguably lends longevity to the experience. But one thing is clear; the completist will have to spend hundreds of pounds to experience Dimensions in its entirety. The base game, though, remains superb – the ways Dimensions harnesses what Lego does best to blend the tangible with the digital is consistently delightful.