Does anyone else think of a significant other; wife, girlfriend, etc. when they play a game? Well, I do and I found not only the perfect game, but the perfect series of games to play with my wife. When you combine powerhouses like LucasArts, Lego, and Traveller’s Tales, great things are bound to happen, swap LucasArts with Warner Bros. and you have a great comic/movie-game crossover.
Every one of the titles I will cover has their own great story and cast of characters, still there are many similarities in them. Characters abound, different character types have different abilities, not to mention all the vehicles to put those characters in. No matter where you look, there are items to unlock, you can play through each game at least three times and still not get everything. In a new world of movie-style cut scenes there is not a single word of dialogue, plenty of innuendos, but nothing spoken. That doesn’t keep the developers from doing zany slapstick, and using body language to do the trick. The first time through each of these levels you only get the two standard issue characters, but after beating it once, you can do the freeplay and pick any one of the characters you have unlocked. Indiana Jones and Star Wars keep pretty close to the story, using the more action oriented scenes, while Batman takes on new ground, but still uses many elements from the movies. The multiplayer feature that makes the game perfect, the Drop Out function, at any non movie scene time either player can go to the start menu and since there are always at least two characters the one reverts to A.I. control.
What hero could be complete without a base of operations? Dexter’s Diner for Star Wars, Barnett College for Dr. Jones, and of course The Batcave for Batman. This is where the player can stroll around and check on the games status, choose which chapter to play(six levels to a chapter), buy and view unlockable features, or you could run around aimlessly beating up the locals while collecting lego studs along the way. The first time through each of these levels you only get the two standard issue characters, but after beating it once, you can do the freeplay and pick any one of the characters you have unlocked by going to the same area as the story mode was located.
Since Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga includes both Lego Star Wars: The Video Game and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, I will review the former. Star Wars takes us through the episodes I, II, and III. The hype about the game was that it was released just before Revenge of the Sith, so many gamers could get a sneak peek at the movie. You can play some of your favorite moments in the movies; the Darth Maul fight, good clones gone bad, escape Tattoine and the Death Star, as well as many Darth Vader fights and the epic Emperor battle. This one doesn’t need dialogue to raise a laugh; hilarity ensues even in the dramatic scenes. How can you take a dying Qui-Gon seriously when he has a Lego body?
*Insert Indiana Jones theme here* The trouble-making, whip cracking archaeologist makes the Lego scene with a little help from his friends and love interests. There are plenty of treasures to find, Nazi faces to bash, and damsels in distress to save, there is even an achievement for kissing each of the leading ladies. The developers added a fear factor into the game. Indiana has his phobia of snakes, Willie hates spiders, and Henry Sr. has his fear of rats, whenever one character encounters the animal, they are shaken and must move out of range to act normally.
POW! WHAM! KaPOW! The old Adam West Batman shows its influence in LEGO Batman: The Video Game. The time has come for the streets to be cleaned and the villains to be locked up in Arkham Asylum, permanently. There is only one hero with the strength and dark insight to live up to the task, with a little help from a cowardly boy-wonder. All of the Dark Knight’s arsenal is at your thumb tips; Batmobile, different bat(and robin)suits, and the ever effective batarang. Once your finished fighting the baddies, it’s time to play as them. This is a lot of fun, as each of the villains have cool unique abilities to be explored.
There are only a couple of major flaws seen throughout each of the games, one being the “friendly” A.I. Here we realize that friendly doesn’t mean helpful. Like I said earlier, I played these games with my wife so it didn’t affect me much, but whenever she dropped out, half the puzzles become impossible, as you need 2 people for them. The combat can be repetitive at times and hard if you’re going solo since the A.I. doesn’t kill enemies only stun. The combat repetition does get broken up by the vehicle missions.
Lego has a good thing going here. No one will ever be able to get enough of the classics, especially if they are done in new and exciting ways. There are a few things that have needed to be addressed since the first installment, maybe they’ll be seen to maybe not, even if not the series will keep doing well.
