Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens follows the story of the film while focusing on specific sequences at the same time. Like all other Lego titles out there, the game plays out more like a puzzle game with action elements rather than one which purely gives you a burst of adrenaline. By now all of you have seen the film and know all the twists and turns. Some of the rather shocking moments have been injected with copious amount of humor and additional dialogues to make them more bearable for a younger audience. While Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a good game, for some odd reason it feels disjointed and not the polished experience we were promised from the trailers and prerelease footage.
For those of you who have never played a Lego game before, there are two main mechanics to be aware of. Apart from your standard shooting and punching enemies, you have to find ways to progress through the levels by triggering switches and solving puzzles. This is accomplished through breaking apart certain structures in the environment—which give you Lego bricks—and repurposing them to build new devices such as trampolines or bridges. The variety of the contractions is quite remarkable and it captures the essence of what it means to play with Legos. You’re given the option to construct a couple of different items and have to figure out which ones to make first. For example, constructing a trampoline to launch BB-8 onto a ledge and then using the same bricks to contract a bridge so that he can reach the other side is just one such scenario. There are many others that, towards the end especially, require a lot of complex puzzle solving. So, if you’re expecting a proper action game which just looks like Legos, this isn’t the one for you.
The second mechanic is the necessity to switch between characters. For example, an Ewok is the only one small enough to crawl inside trees and reach higher ledges. Chewbacca is way too big for that. However, he’s much stronger and can rip certain mechanical structures right off their bases. You eventually get access to a lot of characters and figuring out when to use each one is necessary. The game does tell you though so it’s not really a mystery if you’re ever confused. This is definitely a neat feature which sets these titles apart from others.
Something I didn’t like about the gameplay would have to be how the shooting sections sometimes involve cover-based moments which feel like they last for years. Why these sections aren’t shorter is beyond me because they can become really boring. However, there are some amazing sequences like when you’re flying spaceships and taking out enemies and structures. I wish they would’ve lasted longer. The game needs more of these amazing moments because cover-based shooting is a standard and overused industry tool.
The best way to play Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens in my opinion is co-op mode. If you play the game alone it’s quite a standard experience but with a friend it adds another level of humor to the game. It also makes it much easier because you don’t have to switch between different characters to accomplish even the most basic of tasks. Have your friend do it.
One aspect that has to be praised are the graphics. Since the last few Lego games, the lighting has definitely seen a massive overhaul. It looks amazing and much nicer than what we got before. However, with the graphical improvements there are still issues when it comes to the voice acting. I’m not sure how these games are made because sometimes it feels like they’ve taken dialogues directly from the movies and sometimes it feels like they’re new ones recorded specially for the game. They’re just odd and disjointed. Sometimes it feels like they’re even delayed. It doesn’t feel natural or right in my opinion and because of this the game suffers considerably. If they couldn’t get the actors to record proper lines, why not just hire others to do it? It would’ve elevated the experience rather than made the dialogues stick out like a sore thumb. They’re just weird. I’m not sure how to even describe how they sound because it’s just bizarre.
Summary
Overall, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a good game which is let down by this feeling of disjointedness which comes from the dialogues primarily. The voice acting needs to be improved because I’ve seen stronger sound design in small independent games than the Lego titles. If you’re looking for a title that relies heavily on problem solving with some action mixed in, then definitely give this one a go. I loved the gameplay, graphics and mechanics but the sound really needs more work. How such a crucial element wasn’t corrected in the first place is beyond me. Maybe the developers can fix this with a patch or improve it in the sequel.
Xian was a regular ICXM contributor between 2015–2017, publishing 162 articles across game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative.