Use the Force... and Legos...

Legos. Star Wars. Two things I grew up on and that many of us grew up on. Iconic in their own ways, brimming with creativity and excitement. So when I first learned that there was going to be a Lego Star Wars game, I thought it was a brilliant idea. However, I never got a chance to play it on the older systems. Shortly after getting my Xbox 360 however, my wife and I downloaded the trial of the game, and we spent over an hour playing it together. This is a somewhat older game, but one I thought I would still review as newer Lego video games are slated to come out soon: Batman and Indiana Jones.

Graphics: This is something of a mixed bag for me. The graphics really are not that impressive. Legos are fun and creative, but building a world out of them lacks detail, and such is the case in this game. Many of the different classic Star Wars characters and locales are faithfully reproduced, and the colors are vivid while the environment is highly interactive. I enjoyed it, and it certainly fit the theme and style of the game, but it is hard to consider them a technical achievement either.

Sounds and music: Overall, these are pretty good. They do not have any spoken content, which was probably a good choice. I like voice acting in most of my games, but it would be hard and almost odd to try and use original voice clips with a game that is so intentionally over the top and campy. That said - much of the classic Star Wars music was used and to great effect here. Also lightsabres and blasters all sound appropriate as do other things that take place in the environment.

Game play: The camera sometimes spins oddly, and some jumping mechanics and aiming mechanics are not terribly precise. I often found myself accidentally shooting my allies while completely missing my intended targets. Also, I am generally not a big fan of platformers (though I enjoyed them when I was younger) and every once in awhile the environment here would surprise me with falls to my doom I did not expect.

Intangibles: It's Star Wars. It's Legos. As far as I am concerned, that is a winning combination any time. Some of the vehicle scenes were pretty fun, and there was an over the top approach to the entire thing that made it simply fun to play and watch - my kids got a kick out of many of the intermissions, often asking me to go back and play them again. Additionally, this game covers the content from the first 3 movies (or episodes 4, 5 and 6) and the stages are actually somewhat lengthy giving the game pretty good depth. There is also a ridiculous amount of unlockable content, which never goes wrong in my opinion.

Overall the game is a lot of fun, and it made for good co-op play as well. It was one of the first games I got my wife to play on my Xbox 360, and my kids all enjoy it too (including my 6 and 9 year old girl and boy, who have both snuck turns at it while I was sleeping in in the morning). It is not a great game compared to other shooters and platformers, but if you are a fan of the content and want a game just about anyone in the family can play, then this would be a good one to consider for the family. I would give the game 3 out of 5 stars.