8/10
And that's not all...
24 January 2010
This is a review of the version for the Wii. While I have not played the others, I understand that this doesn't particularly have anything new; it's a compilation of them both, and adjusts things. If your buying or skipping this relies upon only the following, then let me answer the question you may be wondering, right off the bat: No, this does not follow the exact movements you do with the Wii-mote when you're using a light-saber. You have the choice of moving it when you want to strike, which doubles as defending with it(it is honestly a matter of just using it whenever you are attacked, though if you want to do that nifty trick of deflecting of a blaster shot back at the one who fired it, you do need to nail the timing, and that's cool), and there certainly are awesome twirls and the like(and it is one of the best systems, and certainly one of the most dependable), and that's about it for that. Duelling is silly, to put it plainly. You spam the 2 jump moves, that's it. As a Jedi or Sith, you really have no options for long-range, so you'll be slowly, gradually making your way to the enemies and taking them out when you reach them. Force Powers leave you vulnerable to everyone but the one dude or bot you're using it on(yeah; you don't get to choose the one you use, and you really only have one per type. You can push droids, and make humans do that head-spinning thing from The Exorcist. ...no, I don't get it, either), and since there are no controls for switching what you're using it on(those would be *incredibly* helpful), you may wind up affecting something else(and you will seldom know exactly what you are doing, or to what effect). Those who wield guns, on the other hand, are pretty useless up close(they do have that uncanny ability to not get hit that all Hollywood leads seem to possess, however; yes, I'm telling you that you can dodge bu... uh... shots) and you can only aim by pointing them in the basic direction of your target. Oh, and if you wanna live, avoid incoming fire. No, really, picking up hearts to restore health(the main source of them are foes that you've just dispatched) means leaving yourself open to being wounded again, and thus goes the circle. Anyway, what this mainly has to boast with is content. There's quite a lot of it. This has an immensely large amount of unlockables, with 160(!) recognizable, playable characters(do keep in mind, numerous are different outfits for the same person or being; you can create two of your own, as well, using parts of others, etc.) and vehicles. This also has plenty of locations right out of the saga. The episodes each have six chapters, so there is a total of 36 levels(and a handful of them are memorable). All of them have an introductory crawl(with that said, no real objectives are ever stated, and it's all simple), and those are, along with all the famous scenes from the trilogies re-enacted in Lego(isn't it sad how, here, the ending of Ep III is so engaging, compared to the "real" one?), what the story-telling is comprised of. The first one of all 6 are available right from the start, and all three dozen can be played in 3 modes: Story, Free Play(where you can change who you're playing as and in that way get to areas otherwise inaccessible) and Challenge(timed, find ten specific things for a reward). A second player can join in(and leave from one second to the other) at *any time* for co-op by pressing + on his joystick, and there is an "Arcade" for friends to duke it out against each other, as well. This saves automatically when you complete or purchase anything. Credits are in the form of "studs", and collecting these is a trial, more so than it seems like it should be. You don't always know when they will appear(typically when you "transform" or destroy something), they go off in every direction(if there's a lethal drop nearby, say goodbye to some of them, as a bunch will go over the edge), and rather than attempt to aid you, your allies sometimes get in your way, and why the heck can you not tap into the midichlorians and attract them? You can't gather them all every time, and in that case, why not make there be fewer, and let it be possible to get them all? This skips potentially really fun parts, and in spite of you getting to "blow up the Deathstar for the bazilionth time", as the manual puts it, this could provide greater entertainment, and the majority of the things this lets you do have been seen and done better before. This isn't varied enough, for all the trying to let you do things to mix it up, like use a crane or man a turret. It frankly grows stale and can be repetitive. There's little sense of danger or risk since there are no lives, and it's basically not challenging much at all; on the other hand, it can be frustrating. Walking lacks speed, and flying goes so fast that you risk missing things you're attempting to pick up. The control is straightforward, and less limitation on what you can do would have been excellent. This is a third-person action adventure with platform elements where you solve puzzles and take out opponents, when you aren't running around as someone seemingly not strong enough for what they face; honestly, at times the amount and volume is preposterous. The camera works against you at times; don't backtrack unless you have to. Meant to be "cute", the humor is too goofy and over-the-top, and takes the seriousness out of this; it's not likely to make those above the age of five laugh. I recommend this to fans of the SW universe, especially kids. 8/10
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