Console corner
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga review
As I fired up the brand new Lego Star Wars on Nintendo Switch I was filled with that fuzzy, warm, nostalgic feeling but couldn’t quite figure out why.
It is a feeling usually reserved for games I enjoyed during my relative youth but Lego Star Wars hadn’t been around that long had it? It prompted me to reach for my phone for a quick Google search upon which I was staggered to learn that the reason for that nostalgic sensation is because the brilliant franchise is now nearly 20( yes, TWENTY) years old. Wow.
Unlike most Lego games – where you advance through the story in a linear format – this latest allows you to choose your starting point from any of the three Sky walker Saga trilogiesand complete them in any order you wish.
Each episode has five story missions, making a total of 45 levels, contrasting from six levels per episode in previous games.
The combat has been overhauled somewhat from previous titles. Light saber wielder snow use a variety of combo with light attacks, heavy attacks, and Force moves while blaster characters have an over-the shoulder camera.
LSW: Skywalker Saga features a whopping 380 playable characters! As a result there is no character customisation tool. The Mumble Mod is an extra feature allowing players to switch between the game’s original voice acting and having the characters mumble and grunt, akin to the style of older Lego video games.
And much like its predecessor, the game’s hub is not a single area, but instead a wide range of fully explorable planets filled with iconic Star Wars landmarks.
The revamped combat mechanics give this Lego game so much more depth in terms of strategic fighting and makes for seriously interesting combos.
The wider variety of character types also provides new depth never seen before both in terms of the combat and puzzles as it really dangles the carrot for players to swap regularly rather than play through with one particular character.
The graphics are sensational on both handheld and big screen for Switch with the Lego bricks and highly-detailed models on each planet making for some awesome exploration and backdrops. The writing and humour, as ever with Lego games, is hilarious and designed to bring a chuck le to players of all ages.
There are some small grievances when it comes to certain campaign objectives which amount to little more than grinding walks between waypoints. But it does not de tract from the overall enjoyment.
This is a top class reinvention of some of the most memorablemoments from the Lego Star Wars canon set in levels and on planets that look better than ever with more depth than we’ve seen in this excellent franchise’s two decades.
Some elements feel a touch shallow in parts and it is easy to see why the upgrade and cover systems as well as co-op mode drawbacks have been universally criticised in reviews.
Overall though it does little to affect the enjoyment of a thrilling and engaging journey from Episode I all the way through to Episode IX.
A must-have for any discerning Switch owner’s collection.