I happen to be a huge fan of LEGO video games and Star Wars and whenever they come together I just smile like a kid when I watched Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope for the first time. LEGO games have a magical way of taking the subject material and enhancing it through the LEGO style and humour that the series is so famous for. They have covered the DC and MARVEL Universe’s, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park but it has always been Star Wars, ever since The Complete Sage that has captured just what makes LEGO games so amazing. It was of course a no brainer that Traveller’s Tales would expand their LEGO universe with The Force Awakens, and indeed the Force is Strong with this game!
The more recent LEGO Games in LEGO Jurassic World and LEGO MARVEL Avengers have enjoyed the benefit of being able to use an abundance of films to adapt for the games, with The Force Awakens TT Games have only the one film story to adapt but they have managed to put in a solid number of main story missions, ten in total as well as prologue and epilogue missions. The main story missions take the key events from the film and build full levels around them for players to enjoy with the bonus of extra character missions unlocked by collecting the required number of gold bricks. The cast of the film has recorded new lines of dialogue for their characters as well as the dialogue from the film being used in cut scenes giving a great level of authenticity.
All the above comes together to truly bring the majestic LEGO touch to The Force Awakens and successfully captures the Star Wars spirit of the film within the story told via the levels and each character is brought to life just brilliantly, and there is a real kick to playing as LEGO BB-8 and exploring the Millennium Falcon and all the world hubs that you will visit in-between the story missions. From Jakku to Takodana and D’Qar to Starkiller Base, the world hubs are full of additional side content to play with gold bricks to find throughout as well as new characters to unlock on the 213 strong character roster the game has which does not even include the DLC Character packs that will be released in the coming months.
The level designs brilliantly recreate the moments from the film and if you are familiar with how LEGO games play, you will be happy to know that you will discover some refreshing new gameplay mechanics for LEGO The Force Awakens. You will still need to build structures in order to solve puzzles or provide access to other areas of the mission but TT Games have added a new twist to the this time around. Some of the builds will have multiple options of what to construct with the LEGO pieces making the puzzles more multi layered. Sometimes the different options may give you an alternative build to solve a solution such as distracting or dealing with an enemy and often in a humorous way. It is fair to say that the comedy is as strong as the force in this game and like all the humour used in LEGO games, the comedy moments in the cut scenes expand to dialogue the characters will speak during missions and are full of little nods to the Star Wars universe and The Force Awakens that fans will instantly recognise and smile along with. I recommend going for a good walk around the hub areas and keep an ear out for what the characters will say when you go near them, the banter is perhaps the funniest element to the humour in this game.
The comedy walks the very fine line between parody and taking the Michael but never goes too far and it is all in good taste and tone. It is very clear that the developers are hardcore fans of Star Wars and this is can be seen in the tiniest of details added to levels and in the cut scenes which dilute the dark tone of The Force Awakens in order to keep it the traditional family friendly video game that LEGO titles all promote but still keeps the flow of the story and character arcs without making them too silly to enjoy. The extra missions that can be unlocked with gold bricks add even more to The Force Awakens experience by allowing the player to explore events such as just how Han Solo and Chewbecca caught the Rathar’s in the first place and how Poe rescued Admiral Ackbar from the First Order before the initial events of the film. These all add that extra bit of fan service as well as game content to enjoy outside of the main story missions.
Sadly yet again however, there is no Online Co-Op and only offers the split screen couch co-op if you want to share the game with a friend. The split screen does work well despite the close up camera being a little off-putting should both players wander off into different areas of the map. I really do wish TT Games would finally incorporate online co-op with its LEGO games and allow players to share the experience with friends who may be unable to join you on the sofa for a quick game. The levels are designed to allow complete solo play with the switching between required characters to use their skills and talents as fluid as ever but it is just more fun when playing with a friend and teaming up.
I really loved how the levels incorporated many different playing styles from being on the ground solving puzzles or taking to the skies in an X-Wing to do battle in space against Tie Fighters and destroyers. Those some of these sections are on rails, you can have great fun when you are just flying around destroying Tie Fighters and gun placements all of which use all the sound effects and music from the film to give them that extra added punch. The extra details of having the X-Wing foils close when using the boost then the sound effect of them opening to go into battle is a real fanboy moment. Some levels also have a shootout sections where you have to jump into cover and fight enemy troopers in a wild west style shootout.
I did have some issues with the Playstation 4 version which I played such as on occasion when the game tried to switch from cut-scene to gameplay or vice versa, it would lock up and freeze requiring a full game reset. The AI at times of the characters can be frustrating if they fail to comply when teamwork is needed to solve some puzzles but that is a part of all LEGO games, still be nice to have it become a thing of the past going forward though.
I thoroughly enjoyed LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens, it joins a superb LEGO universe of Star Wars games and continues to offer fans of both LEGO games and Star Wars of all ages a superb experience after enjoying the film. It has a lot of content despite focusing on a single film and has a great sense of humour threaded all the way through its story and with Free Play allowing the playing of all missions but using any of the characters you have unlocked on the roster, it has a high level of replay value. TT Games have once again managed to capture the very essence of why Star Wars can capture the hearts and minds of so many fans and LEGO Star Wars The Force Awakens delivers the same excitement and fun you get from watching the film but with the added bonus of the fun LEGO gameplay.
This is definitely a must have for any Star Wars and LEGO game fan, the force is certainly strong with this title and gets a good BB-8 thumbs up from me.
