Lego + Star Wars, two great loves from my childhood and beyond. A wonderful match, and a real boon for both Lego and the Star Wars brands.
After several other Lego Star Wars games over the years, TT Games have released what can only be described as the culmination of all of their work up to this point.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the pinnacle of their perfectly crafted games of joy. Capturing the spirit of being both a young Lego and Star Wars fan. Better still, as someone in my mid-thirties, it reignites it with ease and leaves you giggling, having fun and remembering all those classic Star Wars moments.
The Skywalker Saga is an easy 10/10 and it’s that simple. If you want to know why read on. Otherwise, just know that it’s excellent and if you’re a Lego fan or a Star Wars fan, you’re going to be having fun for hours and hours.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Story
It’s redundant to talk about the story in Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Because it’s been talked about, debated and argued over for a few decades at this point.
What is important, though, is to talk about how the content and narrative of 9 whole feature-length movies. Moreso, how do you deliver those incredible, iconic scenes and moments in a game built on a Lego foundation? I think it’s fair to say that TT Games have mastered the art of storytelling in short bursts, and delivering iconic moments with ease. The Skywalker Saga, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of their ability to do this.
Having delivered the stories and cutscenes for most of these films now in previous releases. They know exactly what to do.
Serious moments are delivered in family-friendly, Lego-clean style. The humour added to certain situations is legitimately funny, too. Droids playing as a band to deliver the “Duel of the Fates”, a dude mowing the grass in the middle of the battlefield, storm troopers in hot tubs.
It’s silly but good clean fun and never deviates from the tone of the Star Wars story. TT Games have refined this so neatly that it’s slick, it gets all the main story beats and dialogue across, and does it in a way that never hampers the pace of the game either.
Consider again that Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a game covering NINE movies. Nine! Each one is treated with the same care and attention. The attention to detail is incredible.
You can choose which film trilogy order you would like to play in, too. I started chronologically at Episode 1 and moved on through them. But you could start on Episode IV and play in release order. Or, if you wanted (why would you?), you can play Episode VII first and play through the sequel trilogy.
Wonderful stuff.
Gameplay and variety
Lego Star Wars games are renowned for their levels full of content and re-playability. Making them a completionist’s dream. That 100% isn’t hard to achieve, but there’s a lot to do to get it.
Thankfully The Skywalker Saga is chock-full of things to do. You can blast through the stories of each film and follow the entire saga in true Lego Star Wars style. You don’t have to struggle or master complex skills or timing. But what you do get, is the opportunity to play a few different types of game.
Sure, the core element is a third-person action game. But there are hacking events, piloting, combat, interstellar travel, puzzles and even use of force powers like mind tricks. Add to the fact that the traditional “come back with a character you haven’t got yet” style of play, and you have in excess of a hundred hours of gameplay to go at. More than that though, you have variety.
Special mention to the piloting, because I’ve found that to be particularly fun.
Combat is odd, offering a combo meter and some basic button-press combos. I don’t remember this existing so much in the earlier Lego Star Wars games, but odd as it felt initially, it’s good fun and you can have some nice lightsaber duels!
Looks great
How on earth does a Lego Star Wars game look so good? The entire premise is that you’re in a Lego version of the Star Wars universe. Lego. You know, the awesome toy we all remember from our childhoods. Plastic bricks and yellow people with circle hands.
Yet here I am sitting in awe of just how good this game looks. The lighting and textures are incredible. With the minor imperfections on the models. Showing what would be joint-lines from manufacturing, or even scuffing from years of play. It really adds an element of realism.
Beyond that, the environments and sets from the films look incredible. Lego Star Wars is a series renowned for taking all the good stuff from Star Wars and faithfully re-creating it in-game. The Skywalker Sage is no exception.
I played the game on the ageing Xbox One, and let me tell you now it’s one of the best looking games I’ve played on the console. I can’t quite comprehend how they’ve made it look so special. The lighting and sci-fi stylings of the movies shine through here wonderfully. Character models are faithful Lego recreations of their live-action counterparts and everything just sings visually.
Sounds great
Star Wars is chock-full of iconic sound effects and musical scores. Lego Star Wars takes it all and crams it in there to be used with full effect.
The sound of your lightsaber powering on or being put away. Blasts from cannons on an AT-AT, or the engine sounds of a snow speeder. You can’t imitate this stuff, and if TT Games tried, they would be held to ransom.
Everything is here, the licenced audio is there for your listening pleasure.
Voice acting is a bit odd. I’m not 100% certain, but it feels like there’s a mix of dialogue from the films, and perhaps other lines read by voice actors that aren’t the original cast. Some of these are voiced by their animated voice actor counterparts. These actors are respected in their own right, and everything sounds decent. I just struggle to not hear Liam Neeson or Ewan McGregor in some of those prequel movie story beats.
Odd voices aside, Lego Star Wars The Sky Walker Saga sounds incredible. Pulling in all of that wonderful Star Wars audio into a singular package. You can go back and play specific events to hear some of those incredible themes. Damn, John Williams is a genius, isn’t he?
Mixing it all into a package like a Lego Star Wars game can’t be an easy feat. Nor can making sure everything is given chance to shine in the mix of chaos on-screen. The audio team at TT Games have honoured the iconic Star Wars sounds, blended the now (iconic in its own right) Lego sounds and delivered a package that even the most hardcore audiophile would struggle to dislike.
Is great
I feel like reviewing a Lego Star Wars game is a little weird. The series of films is massively loved worldwide. So to, is Lego. The Lego Star Wars games have been huge since 2005, too.
If you love Lego or Star Wars, you’re in for a treat. If you love the Lego Star Wars games, you’re in for a treat.
The Skywalker Saga is the ultimate package. Everything looks better than it ever has, it brings in the entire 9 films worth of story, music and fun and delivers it in such a way that you’re experiencing everything you know and love for the first time. How TT Games have managed this, I’ll never know.
Having a 2-year-old son means I haven’t fully shared my love of Star Wars with him yet, and I often wonder how you would get a little one to be drawn in without watching all of the films. This is how I’ll be doing it.
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is a re-creation of all of these films, whilst remaining fresh, delivering moments with humour and adding some levity to the more tense and dark moments. This is exactly how you deliver the Star Wars universe to a family audience.
Absolutely incredible. Hours and hours worth of fun and varied content with all the Star Wars trimmings.
10/10 no doubt at all.
Now, back to getting those level percentages up! I need more mini kits, too……
I’ll be writing more about how my son starts to engage with the Star Wars universe through this game, over the next year or two, so keep an eye out!
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