9.2

Star Wars Lego II the Original Trilogy

LEGO Star Wars II follows the Rebel Alliance's crusade to dismantle the Galactic Empire and rebuild a galaxy in pieces. Build and battle your way through your favorite film moments, from Darth Vader's pursuit of Princess Leia aboard her Blockade Runner to a showdown on the second Death Star!

The Star Wars Lego saga returns and this time it’s the Xbox 360 turn which is probably one of the simplest and greatest games of all time. Prophetic words my dear readers but who would of thought that something so simple could be so damn entertaining and addictive.

Features:

• For the first time ever, build and ride vehicles (landspeeders, AT-STs, speeder bikes and more) and mount creatures (from the banthas of desert Tatooine to the tauntauns of frigid Hoth) through on-foot levels.

• Now, all non-droid characters - not just those with the Force - have the power to build.

• Unlock more than 50 playable characters, from cultural icons like Luke, Leia and Darth Vader to fan favorites such as Greedo, Jawas and Gamorrean guards.

• Unlock up to 54 more playable characters with a game save from the original LEGO Star Wars.

• Create unique playable characters like Yoda Kenobi, Lando Fortuna and millions more by mixing and matching the LEGO body parts of all playable characters.

• In Free Play mode, experience the Original Trilogy in a new way by importing any character into land levels, or switch between vehicles at will in space levels. Make Darth Maul a hero of the Rebellion, or destroy the Death Star with a TIE fighter!

• Character-specific attacks include Chewbacca pulling enemies' arms out of their sockets, Vader's Force choke, Leia's "slap" melee attack and many more.

• Solve a greater variety of puzzles that encourage creative thinking through the use of teamwork and unique building situations only possible in a LEGO galaxy far, far away.

• The adaptive difficulty option creates more challenging gameplay for Jedi Master gamers - the better you do, the tougher it gets.

The premise behind Star Wars Lego II is that the title is basically an adventure arcade game that although is based in the remarkable Star Wars universe is actually made up of Lego. That is correct; almost the entire universe of Lego Star Wars II is made from tiny Lego blocks, even the characters themselves that simply look amazing.

To make things even more interesting, the entire storyline of Lego Star Wars II revolves around the original first three movies (Episode IV, Episode V and Episode VI), so whether your fighting your way through the Deathstar, battling huge imperial walkers on Hoth or exploring Jabba’s palace, the entire storyline has been faithfully recreated.

Star Wars Lego II begins where all good Star Wars games should start, the Canteena bar on the desolate desert world of Tatooine. In this Lego version of the Canteena bar, the player is greeted by a variety of different Star Wars characters made from these popular toy blocks. Within the bar, there are a variety of doors that lead to various areas in the movies.

However, before these areas can be accessed, the player must first complete the first scene from Star Wars Episode IV A New hope that has princess Leia searching for R2D2 in order to hide the plans for the Death Star. The beauty of Star Wars Lego is that although it follows the storyline of the movies, there is a plethora of comedic anecdotes such as an imperial officer crying when he gets chastised by Darth Vader or if you accidentally hit another member of your party, they sometimes chase you around for payback until their anger has subsided.

The gameplay of Lego Star Wars II heavily borders on action and adventure with the main objectives in the game being to solve a variety of puzzles by using whatever Lego blocks may be littered around the gaming area. The game also reminds me of the old arcade game called Vikings that has the player using all the players in their party to complete the mission. For instance, only R2D2 or C3PO may have the ability to open doors or Luke Skywalker is needed to use the force to move Chewbacca to another area of the game.

Apart from solving puzzles and exploring, the Star Wars gamer must also engage in a wide variety of enemies that range from Storm Troopers, Gamorrean guards to Ewoks that all have their own distinct personalities and weapons. Although characters like Leia, Han Solo or Chewbacca generally rely on their blasters to destroy their opponents, other characters such as Luke Skywalker uses his trusty lightsabre to perform a variety of Jedi-like maneuvers.

Another key aspect of Lego star wars is that the player must also collect a wide range of Lego bolts and nuts that assists with your score and unlocking new areas. However, each time you die, you lose a portion of these collectibles and then there is a mad rush to collect them again as they are scattered throughout the area you are currently in.

If you die, you automatically come back as your character and you can also swap between characters by pressing the Y button. Other controls that you should be familiar are the stock standard use and jump button that must be used in conjunction to successfully complete the title.

Graphically, Star Wars Lego II is a visual treat on the Xbox that looks simply amazing on our high definition Plasma TV. Even though the majority of the game is based on Lego, it looks virtually identical to all the movies and whether you’re running through Jabba’s palace or fighting your way through the Deathstar, you really get the sense that you are in the Star Wars Universe.

All the special effects from the movies have also been included in the game, whether it’s the familiar hue of the lightsabre or the various lasers in the game, they have all been professionally implemented. Nothing could be more entertaining than using your blasters to blow Lego storm troopers away and see them fall into bits.

As with the graphics, the sound in Star wars Lego II is exceptional and features all the sounds from this wondrous universe. Although there is no voice acting in the title, all the characters sound a little like the Sims but each character has their distinct voice such as Darth Vader.

The music has also been taken directly from the movie and although the soundtrack has only been slightly modified, there are some bits where the music has been implemented into the gaming world such as building a ghetto blaster that blasts the imperial march theme and seeing the Gamorrean guards dance to it is worth the admission alone.

In conclusion, Star Wars Lego II the Original Trilogy is a brilliant and addictive game and even though it may be aimed at the younger market, had this old gamer having some grave difficulty in completing a few of the levels, especially the puzzles. With great graphics, amazing storyline, awesome music and sound effects, Star Wars Lego II is a must have for your Xbox 360. Highly Recommended!