More epic than the new trilogy could ever hope to be.
The play control is definitely the games strongest suite. The interface and controls are extremely simple and easy to use. Next to the control stick, there's only two or three buttons that you will ever be pushing to do anything, in most cases, during the game. These are attack, jump, and your force powers if you have them. The games frame rate has no slow down; and thanks to the simplicity of the controls, Lego Star Wars flows very fluidly. Once you pick up the controller you'll be deflecting blaster bolts and using your force powers to build things out of LEGOs in no time. This is great because Lego Star Wars is clearly a kid’s game; and as we all know, children have no patience.
Graphically, LEGO Star Wars is simple yet sound. While the Xbox and PC version don't share the rough edges that the PS2 version has, coupled with the variety of reflective surfaces and simple particle effects, everything comes off as being solid regardless of which platform you choose to play on. One of the really unique things about this game is that the entire Star Wars universe within it is rendered in LEGO. Even the major and side events of the trilogy are done this way in little mini LEGO cinemas. As a result of this, many of Star Wars’ overly serious tones and dramatic moments, which were quite gripping in the films, come off as completely hilarious, and impossible to take seriously. An example of this is the death of Qui Gon Jinn at the end of episode I, which will have players laughing out loud and left eager for more.
Audio wise, the game has no faults. All of the sound effects and music in the game are taken directly from the Star Wars films. You will hear all the familiar background music, themes, and sci-fi sound effects that Star Wars fans are familiar with, and have come to both love and/or loath. This does a great job of creating the atmosphere in the game, as it feels like you are really in the battles from the movies. There is no spoken dialogue in the game, nor any text dialogue. Everything is done in sort of a silent film/mime fashion with the LEGO characters. This is good on one hand because it saves you from having to listen to the actors voices in the same tired audio clips over and over again. However, on the other hand this is probably one of the few faults LEGO Star Wars has, if you want to count it as a fault. This is because it can seem rather odd to watch the cinemas without sound, especially when you can clearly see that the characters are speaking. However, as odd as this is, there is no confusion as to what is being said, occurring, or why it’s occurring. This is because the animators did a superb job animating and miming the characters and their overly flamboyant actions say everything that you can’t hear.
One factor that is a definite strike against LEGO Star Wars is that the game, while it takes you through the story's of the episode I, II, and III, has little to no story in itself. This is because all you wind up doing is playing through the major battles of those films. As a result of this, if you haven't seen the films, or aren’t familiar with them, you won't have any idea on why what you are playing through is happening. LEGO Star Wars is just a hodge-podge of levels thrown together with nothing really connecting them aside from the games global theme. A second strike against the game is it's ridiculously easy. Dieing is a challenge here, which is almost impossible to achieve. You probably never will die simply because your lives equal a certain number of LEGO pieces, which are abundant in the billions. This is because everything that is destructible in the game is made of them, and as a result said LEGO pieces go everywhere when you destroy something for your collecting pleasure. The game has a co-op mode, which is extremely good, and if you’re playing co-op you and your partner can cannibalize each other, not to mention any other characters in your party (come here Jar Jar), for LEGO pieces giving you an infinite supply of LEGOs.
There is a plethora of unlockables in LEGO Star Wars, which will keep you busy for a while after you have beaten the game. As you might have guessed, like everything else in the game the key to obtaining these hidden treasures is by collecting the proper LEGO pieces. Once players have said LEGO pieces, they can unlock everything from display models to playable characters to mini-games. However, LEGO Star Wars is a kid’s game at heart, and so it’s usually all pretty silly, but no less enjoyable. LEGO Star Wars’ main focus is to just let the player have fun, which it dose very, very, very well. Collecting LEGOs, blowing up LEGOs, and building things out of LEGOs is as addictive in the game as it is with the physical toys. LEGO Star Wars will make you feel like an intergalactic LEGO Maniac, or that LEGO maniac you were oh so many years ago all over again. All in all, LEGO Star Wars is buckets of fun and belongs in every Gamers library regardless of their age.