The most unexpected surprise of this E3 2019 was certainly LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, last effort of the boys TT Games. The game, as we could see from the trailer and how you can tell from the name, retraces all nine cinematic episodes.
The release date is still unknown, we only know that it will hit the shelves in the course of 2020, obviously after the screening of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
It's been more than 12 years now since the guys at TT Games released LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga to the public. This new game will be neither a remaster nor a remake of the title released in 2017, but it will be something completely new, especially in terms of gameplay. The plot will be that of movie films, but set up differently from what was seen on the previous title.
There are many innovations that the guys at TT Games have introduced on LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. The demo we saw was a short hands-off played live by a developer. The version shown to us looked like that of Xbox One, but it could also have been the PC version but played with the pad.
To choose the episode we want to play, we will have a menu available where, in addition to the title of the reference film, there will be a short animation in an ironic key typical of Lego, of one of the events of the film, in order to be able to understand immediately at first glance what film it is. The demo was set in the early stages of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. In the role of Lando Calrissian we will find ourselves in fly the Millennium Falcon, the iconic ship of the saga that managed to sail the Kessel route in just 12 Parsecs.
The first big news lies in the fact that we can pilot our own spaceship itto navigate within the gaming galaxy. You read that right, it will be possible to travel into space and visit other planets. We will also have the option of fight against TIE fighters empire or try to take down the huge cruisers. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga will not be divided into levels, but we will be able to cover each planet as we please. Each world we visit will have its own collectibles to find, puzzles and puzzles to solve. Once landed we can move using a Landspeeder or riding the surrounding fauna, provided this has the necessary characteristics.
Once the brief fight against the TIE fighters is over, we can finally land on Tatooine, the place where Anakin Skywalker was conceived by force, and where his son Luke grew up.
Our mission, for those who have made the mistake of not having seen the Star Wars saga, will be to free Luke Skywalker and Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt, before he gives them to the Salrlacc. The brick version of the huge beast that lives under the deserted dunes of Tatooine is excellently reproduced. Unfortunately, the developers did not grant us the honor of attending the mission, but focused on the surrounding environment and on the gameplay mechanics which, as mentioned before, have been completely revised.
The technical sector is of the first order, even if it is hard to believe since it is a video game about Lego bricks. The environments are rich in detail and extremely beautiful to look at with high-level textures. Even the phases of space exploration are really well done and really give us the sense of infinity typical of space. The planets, seen from the porthole of the Millennium Falcon, are impeccably made and manage to make us amaze. As mentioned in the preface, the game will not be divided into levels, but it will be possible to explore each planet at will.
The viewing distance is truly remarkableIn fact, from Luke's house on Tatooine it will be possible to see Mos Eisley in the distance, the city where our aspiring Jedi knight will meet Han Solo. Obviously the size of each planet will not be extremely generous, but it will still allow us a good degree of exploration. The lighting is really well done: the lights are volumetric and can illuminate anything that passes in front of them, so it will be possible to notice the rays of light reflecting on a shiny surface.
The shooting mechanics have been revised and designed from scratch: while in the 2007 chapter it was enough to frame an enemy and hit him once with the blaster to take him out, here depending on the part of the body where our laser will arrive, we will get different damage. In fact, there will be the possibility of aiming and framing the most critical parts of the character in order to try to inflict the most damage.
The available attacks will change from character to character: if we play Han Solo we can face the enemies with our trusty DL-44; instead if we take on the role of Luke we have both the lightsaber and the Force available. With this type of characters, therefore Jedi or Sith, it will be possible to combine the two types of attacks in order to give life to very powerful combos. It will also be possible to use force to lift our teammates in order to overcome the obstacles that the developers will put in front of us.
About LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga any brick-shaped object can be destroyed, in order to find coins or collectibles. Of the latter, every planet will be chock-full and finding them all will take you many hours of gameplay.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is developed on fully explorable macro areas, full of collectibles and even secondary missions to complete. Yes, TT Games has introduced several side quests to be carried out in order to increase the longevity of the game which, covering a narrative arc of nine films, will certainly not be short. Depending on the character we have available, we will be able to accept or not a certain secondary quest. For example, in the demo that the developers showed us we found ourselves in front of a Gonk, a Jawa droid, who asked for help but in order to accept the mission we had to select C-3PO because, thanks to his knowledge of over six million forms of communication, he was the only one who could understand the little droid.
During the course of the adventure it will be possible to have a maximum of two characters with you and change them in real time, exactly as it happened in previous LEGO games.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga was a pleasant surprise despite the developers showing us very little. This is not a remake or a remaster, but a new title, conceived and designed from scratch, where we will find stories from all nine films. The game mechanics have been completely revised in order to provide a more refined and different gameplay from what is seen in all other LEGO games. The technical sector is truly excellent, worthy of a triple A title.
We loved LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and can't wait to get our hands on the final product; unfortunately for the moment we only know that it will see the shelves during the course of 2020.
