We have to talk about the opening level. It's a slight spoiler - if you believe in spoilers for a Lego adaptation of a film you've already seen - so forgive me, or skip the rest of this paragraph if you must. But, here's the thing - Lego's take on The Force Awakens begins long before the film does, 30 years before, in an extended prologue which showcases every front from Return of the Jedi's Battle of Endor. It sees you stomping across Endor's moon in AT-STs, forming a band of Ewoks, fighting Darth Vader, defeating the Emperor, piloting the Millennium Falcon and blowing up the Second Death Star. Not only is it a complete surprise opening, it is an amazing first half hour.
You may be thinking it's all downhill from there then. It's not, though some later levels are admittedly not great - we'll come to those shortly. I love the prologue - it sets the scene, it gives you a chance to play as some of the saga's heroes in their heyday, it gives them an excuse to appear on the game's character roster. It also showcases how far Lego games have evolved, however slowly, since developer TT Games originally adapted these scenes ten years ago. It is the Lego games' own Special Edition moment, with all of TT's' latest tech in place. But while Force Awakens' prologue does plenty to move the series' gameplay on, it also acts as a reminder of the series' regular pacing, which Force Awakens throws out the window.
Lego's basic game formula remains largely unchanged. Smash stuff, build stuff, funny cutscene, rinse n' repeat. Two new types of gameplay help break this up, however, and a third invention adds a new twist. Levels are now interspersed with cover shooting and aerial dogfighting, both fun additions, even if shooting people in the face feels slightly odd for a Lego title. Almost every mission includes a cover-based battle, where the camera pulls in to an over-shoulder perspective and you pop out to fire on enemies. Aerial battles, meanwhile, are genuinely great, especially in areas which let you fly freely around, find collectibles, and blast enemy craft.
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