Lego: Star Wars for Xbox

People always question why I bought this game. I'm 21 years old and I work a full-time job, so most people assume that I'm just a little too old to be playing this game. I don't take the comments personally, however, because I know that they're missing out on what is actually a really good game, but not quite perfection.

So what is my reasoning for picking up this game? Quite simply, I wanted to play a Star Wars game that involved some real lightsaber fighting. Most of the Star Wars games on the market right now, with the exception of Jedi Academy, and a couple of others, have very little lightsaber play. Take Attack of the Clones for instance: it does have some lightsaber fighting, but very little, and it's lackluster at best. Take also Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic. You can use the lightsaber, but it's a turn based role playing game, so no fun there. Then I found Lego Star Wars, which has plenty of lightsaber play. It also has some vehicles, such as the Mos Espa pod race from Episode I, and the Battle over Coruscant from Episode III. Also, as an added bonus, you get to play characters with blasters. What's not to like?

Basically, the game plays through the highlights of Episodes I, II, and III, for the most part. It misses out on a couple of things; I would have liked to have driven an underwater vehicle, but such is life. The game has a tag team cooperative system, where you can either let the computer play your other partner, or a friend can jump in and help out. You can play through the game in story mode, in which you play the episodes the way they happened in the movies, or you can play in Free Mode, which allows you to swap between characters.

Speaking of characters, this game contains a slew of characters you can choose from, from Chewbacca all the way to Darth Maul. However, the characters are essentially clones of each other. The Jedis can use Jedi powers, such as force pushes, and they can use the force to switch objects, the blaster characters can all fire blasters, as well as grapple, the droids can open various doors, and the child characters can slip into small spaces, and a couple of characters have jumping abilites. While each character does have his or her own unique features, they all essentially play the same, with the exception of General Grievous, who can wield light sabers but not use force powers.

Each episode consists of 5 or 6 levels, and the levels are all pretty easy, so the average adult gamer could finish the story mode in a night if they chose to. The real meat in this game is the Free Play mode, which allows you to go back and replay levels with different characters, allowing you to reach things you couldn't reach before, collecting things called minikits, which allow you to build and view Lego models of Star Wars vehicles. You also collect studs, the Lego equivalent of coins, that allow you to purchase upgrades. Most of the upgrades are useless, such as moustaches and purple lightsabers. In fact, there are only really two upgrades that you need: invincibility and the minikit detector, which points out where the minikits are hiding, making it easier for the player to finish the game entirely. Each episode has its share of cutscenes, most of them goofy and childish, but some can inspire a chuckle from even the most jaded adult gamers, such as the birth of Luke and Leia.

This game's biggest flaw is that it's too easy, simply put. But it's hard to hold that against it, since it is intended for kids. But at times it's also very frustrating. Some levels have recurring enemies, and if you're playing with the computer as your partner, they don't play very good defense. There are some puzzles for finding minikits that I had to think for a while on, but nothing too challenging. The biggest example of the lack of difficulty is the Mos Espa pod race. It's a three lap race, but it's filled with checkpoints. As long as you're patient, it's almost impossible to lose the race.

Another flaw I have to point out is that you get to play as Yoda, which should be great, but unfortunately he's hard to control. He jumps around all over the place, and sometimes seems to be controlling himself. A little obnoxious, but you only have to play Yoda in a couple of levels, so it's not that bad.

The sound is about what it should be as far as sound effects, but it really rises to the occasion by using John Williams' score to highlight the levels. Granted, it's looped, but still makes a nice touch. The most important thing is that everything sounds like Star Wars.

The graphics are simple, but it's Lego. The designers did an excellent job of converting Star Wars environments to a Lego world.

Bottom line, this game is not just for kids. I've had a blast with it, and it's twice as fun if you can get a partner to play with you. Yes, it is childish, but it's a kids game, but has enough crossover appeal to keep adults entertained. I don't have kids yet, but I can't wait to play this game with them.