Being the resident reviewer of Lego games, it's nice to finally play a title with some new ideas, despite the majority of the tried and tested Lego formula still being firmly present. The new additions are enough to make the game feel fresh.

Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens not at the start of the movie as you would expect, but at the end of Return of The Jedi. We get to battle through the forest of Endor, take control of the Ewoks, wreck AT-ST's using a variety of puzzling contraptions before being transported to the Death Star, and fighting the epic battle against the Emperor.

Playing through the prologue is great fun, even though we've done it before in previous Lego Star Wars titles, it has never been on this scale with such attention to detail. After destroying the Death Star the main Force Awakens campaign starts which consists of 10 chapters containing 5 hub worlds. Hub worlds feel quite small but there is a lot to do in each one, especially if you are going for the 100% completion, which is the main aim of the standard Lego titles.

What's New?

It was high time TT Games added some new mechanics to the Lego series, and what has been put into LSW:TFA is a great start. The most drastic addition, which I wouldn't believe until I saw it for myself, is a cover based shooter mechanic. It actually makes sense in Star Wars when so many of the cast have blasters and rifles etc. and it works well in breaking up the usual, very repetitive structure of the standard Lego gameplay.

General building mechanics have been changed up too. As well as the normal destroy-and-build objects, LSW:TFA features brand new multi-builds where objects can be destroyed multiple times and built into different devices, which creates various ways to solve puzzles or find collectables using the same initial dump of bricks. Although this is a new feature and is a good way to add to the usual gameplay, it would have been nice to see more progress in this area.

Stay on target

Easily my favourite part of the game is the flying missions. I was generally surprised when playing through these dogfights at just how well made and how fun the pilot sections are. They looks visually stunning, are faithfully recreated and play perfectly. I would honestly buy a game that was made up entirely of missions like these, perhaps a bit more advanced, but still, I need a new X-Wing game!

LSW:TFA is a refined, focused entry in the Lego franchise that is well worth your time, even if you are suffering with a bit of Lego fatigue like myself. Having played 4 of the 5 last major Lego games (we skipped Dimensions), I still had a great time playing this one, both alone to unlock the harder stuff for my son, and then free-play co-oping levels with the newly acquired characters and vehicles together. If you've played a Lego title from the last 10 years, you should know what to expect here, but know that this is easily the best the series has been in recent years.

Launch Trailer

Verdict

What We Liked . . . New gameplay mechanics Flying levels Great humour What We Didn't Like . . . Some puzzles may be too complicated for younger players