Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the fifth iteration of the popular Lego Star Wars game franchise developed by TT Games. A Lego themed, action-adventure video game, this Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment title is newly released across multiple platforms including Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, iOS, PS Vita and Wii U.
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes up the plot of the latest Star Wars film and follows new lead characters, Rey, Finn and Poe as they join the Resistance in order to prevent the evil Kylo Ren from destroying galaxies with his super weapon, the Starkiller.
The game is enticing, giving players the opportunity to explore new planets, with open areas that allow for side quests, races, and puzzles, which provide players with rewards such as new Lego collectibles to pick up and the ability to unlock new characters and vehicles. These vast areas of exploration meant that players are able to return time and time again despite completing the main story arc of the game. This made for several hours of endless fun that was new and exciting throughout each run.
What was especially new and intriguing in this game is the new gameplay feature of blaster battles, which allows players to duck for cover and attack while fighting off enemies from the First Order. This provides players with an experience of being in the Star Wars film itself, full of action and thrills. Another rather cool aspect of this game is the multi-build system which, in essence, allows players to create and build their own Lego structures, which in turn reveals secret objects and collectibles.
Whilst these two gameplay options are appealing, what caught my attention was the flying missions that gave me the chance to pilot various ships, including the Millennium Falcon itself, in battles or in timed races. This really gave me the feel of being a resistance pilot, flying around in space pulling daring manoeuvres while blasting away at enemies.
Following the plot of the film, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens does well to keep players’ attention with funny moments and rather creatively well done ‘bits’ of humour. Imagine a cut scene in which you find the great evil baddie, Kylo Ren, in his ‘fan boy’ bedroom filled with Darth Vader memorabilia, including Darth Vader slippers. This scene was just too funny and only acts as a reminder that Kylo Ren is merely a brat playing at being a villain. There were several other chuckle worthy moments such as Stormtroopers taking selfies, which will only make the game so much more enjoyable. I have to admit, the humour is on point in this game and the dialogues were great.
Visually speaking, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens was spectacular. The well designed graphics really did make the game pop. The added bonus was having the actors of the film voice their characters in this game as well. This made the game feel all the more real in terms of being a film adaptation.
The Lego Star Wars games has always been popular but this new addition takes the franchise to a whole new level. Filled with great visuals, fantastic dialogue (with some lines directly from the film), epic gameplay and spot on humour, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a game worth playing over and over.