Podcast:E3 2008 wrapup with special guest Yahtzee
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 3 Wrap-up
News:Mainstream Media Hits - Matt on ABCs PM program
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 2 Wrap-up
Review:Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
News:Too beautiful to ignore..
Review:Monster Jam
News:Big trouble in little China
Feature:E3 2008 - Day 1 Wrap-up
News:E3 2008 ... it begins
News:Final Fantasy XIII announced for the Xbox 360
Update:A History Of Refusal
Interview:Firemint talk about their iPod game The Sims DJ
News:BtVS Sacrificing itself for that pesky hellmouth
News:Rock Band 2 Trailer and sneak peak at Rock Band 2 Drums

'Monster Hunter Freedom 2' Review
by Carl

Ebgames by EdgeCrusher at 4:55am
Duke Nukem Trilogy by EdgeCrusher at 4:52am
Global Warming by SniperXtreme at 4:52am
boom blox? by EdgeCrusher at 4:50am
Favourite Weapons by EdgeCrusher at 4:49am
DUN DUN DUN Dun dun by SniperXtreme at 4:48am
Second Is RE5 Really that Great. by EdgeCrusher at 4:44am
Hey, IT"S FRED!!!! by ArmTheBomb at 4:10am
Call Of Duty World At War by MickeyMOUSE at 2:33am
WoW player trades sex for gold by Schlen at 2:20am
PODCAST [ E3 2008 wrapup with special guest Yahtzee ] by Schlen at 2:14am
Harry Potter & the half blood prince trailer by Lord Halo Nerd at 1:35am
Unofficial Melbourne catchup with Yug by Vesuvious at 1:17am
Sword of the Stranger by Vesuvious at 1:02am
Site Errors by Vesuvious at 12:55am

PC

24 Jul

NDS

24 Jul

NDS

24 Jul

WII

31 Jul

NDS

31 Jul

If you are anything like me, when you first heard about the game ?Lego Star Wars?, you really didn?t think or expect much. The majority of Lego games, while fine for their target audience, are nothing to write home about. The last few years of Star Wars games, or at least the ones based on the movie prequels, haven?t exactly been making headlines either. So it comes as somewhat of a surprise that, not only was I compelled to try Lego Star Wars, but that it?s actually surprisingly FUN as well. Trust me here, keep reading.

The thing you have to really try to grasp before I go any further is the absurdity of creating the Star Wars universe as Lego. And I mean EVERYTHING is Lego, from R2-D2 to massive starships. If you don?t crack a smile when you first see Darth Maul as a cute little Lego figurine, then you just aren?t a true Star Wars fan, and this game might not be for you.

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The game takes place during the Episode 1 to 3 of the Star Wars movies, and you can switch between which episode you feel like playing through early into the game. Stuck on a mission in Episode 1? Go play a bit of Episode 2 and come back to it. The levels themselves are fairly linear and straight forward, what sets them apart is how accurately they capture the feel of the planets or buildings from the movies. It?s all here, from escaping the trade federation ship in episode 1, to fighting the final battle while surrounded by lava on Mustafar. The game is also broken up occasionally by vehicle only levels, where you will find yourself speeding along the canyons of Tatooine in the pod races, flying and fighting your way through the attack on Geonosis, to the epic starship battle over Couresant (The last of those three being particularly impressive, and convincing me when I played it for the first time that ?this is not just another Lego kids game?).

The graphics themselves aren?t exactly groundbreaking, I mean, its Lego, there?s not really all that much texturing you can do. You can turn on bump mapping, shadows and reflections, but it doesn?t really matter that much in the grand scheme of things. All that matters is that the levels and characters look like representations of their real life counterparts in the movies, and in that respect, Lego Star Wars nails it.

One area where the game does slip however is on the controls. Put simply, this game just isn?t designed to be played on a keyboard. The camera is constantly moving and requires you to move in a more seamless motion than the keyboard arrow keys can provide. If you have a PC AND an Xbox or PS2, get this game on the console. The game is the same, except you can control your characters using a joystick, plus it?s a hell of a lot easier for someone else to play co-operative with you.

While we?re on it, the co-operative mode is extremely fun and easy to get into. Anyone can jump in at any time and start playing along in a level with you, and it all adds to the fun when there are a few situations where you actually have to co-operate in order to progress further in a level, an example being both Jedi characters standing on two platforms, using the force to lift each the one under the other character up at the same time.

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Even when you have finished the game, there are a heap of unlockables to keep you coming back for more. Throughout the game there are heaps of bits and pieces to collect which reward you with collectable vehicles, to the ability to purchase bonus features. Secret characters and special modes make it entertaining to actually play through levels again, something which I found shocking. I hardly ever replay levels in a game, and I have a feeling it could just be the inner geek in me being able to do things like play as General Grievous and fight against Darth Maul.

This is still a Lego game. It?s not particularly deep, and the game itself isn?t all that long. But for any self respecting Star Wars fan, even the jaded ones among us (which is a good portion, myself included), this is a very different type of Star Wars game, and one that, unlike the movies, perfectly achieves what it sets out to do.

Final Verdict

This is a suprisingly enjoyable game, and while you won't find anything particularly deep, you will find yourself enjoying the simple game mechanics and star wars references.

Pros
Great sense of humour, co-op mode, some well designed levels, heaps of unlockables
Cons
Terrible PC control scheme, Very easy, lack of sound effects