LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy Xbox 360 Review

The intentions of all involved are clear for all to see in the LEGO Star Wars games. A unification of building bricks, little people, lightsaber’s, jedi’s, stormtroopers and everything else Star Wars was a little unexpected to say the least, but fans of both avenues were over the moon with the results. It might be a title that is clearly aimed at a younger audience, although there’s still enough character and playability to delight even the people who have never bothered with Star Wars or stopped playing with – or chewing – LEGO a long time ago.

The original LEGO Star Wars sourced its materials from that of the modern Star Wars trilogy, whilst this sequel lovingly recreates the original three movies. There’s a certain charm and a likable sense of humour running throughout, although Travellers Tales certainly haven’t forgotten to make use of the heavyweight Star Wars name, and of course that of the LEGO brand.

In fact both brands are well represented, on the one side you have all the popular Star Wars characters and on the other you have a world of bricks inhabited by LEGO people. It’s all rather cute, and witnessing our characters building with plastic bricks done nothing but make us chuckle. As for the naysayer out there , using the LEGO name did open up a ton of possibilities.

An orderly hub splits up the three movies, and a number of things can be purchased here with the in-game currency. Also if you have the inclination to customise the characters in a million wild and wonderful ways (Princess Luke anyone?) then the ability to do just that is sure to please you, these custom creations can then be taken onto any completed level in the freeplay mode.

The game itself puts you into familiar Star Wars scenarios and casts you as a number of characters from the series. Most enjoyable here is the cooperative multiplayer mode, which sadly is never present as much as we’d like in our games. It’s definitely a highlight to have another human in tow, and ideally any player can drop in and out at anytime, which makes it even more worthwhile.

The games DNA is made up of some rather imaginative puzzles, a fair amount of jumping and even some vehicle sequences. The latter are fun, although that’s only when you know what’s going on, as the camera does tend to confuse in such a situation. The game is certainly at its best when your little LEGO characters are on-foot, smashing your enemies to pieces with lightsabers, laser pistols and so on. You can also switch between accompanying characters, which is often essential for progression past a certain door etc, whilst the freeplay mode allows you to take unlocked characters onto completed levels where you can then make use of their skills or enter doorways that were inaccessible earlier on. This gives the player ample reason to return to cleared levels, and as the game is always so enjoyable it’s well worth drawing out all its blood and getting your full moneys worth.

Dying isn’t something to be afraid of as you’ll never run out of lives, only running a little drier on coinage, which can be recollected when you have gathered yourself once again, or by an accompanying player (granted that you haven‘t fallen down a bottomless chasm). It’s something that assures the completion of the game, whatever your skill level may be, although the option of having a certain number of lives would have certainly been preferred, the 360 achievements do go some way in amending this, as going through levels without dying is encouraged on this version.

LEGO Star Wars II is one of those games that is very difficult to dislike, and even the more glaring of flaws don’t manage to do any lasting harm to this charming and amusing adventure.

8/10