News

New PSP shots and details transmitted on LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

Go on, Force yourself

New PSP shots and details transmitted on LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

We may not have a Star Wars movie to look forward to this year (or indeed any other year, for that matter) but the arrival of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on handheld is just as eagerly anticipated around these parts.

Combining all the classic action from the first and, let's face it, best trilogy (the confusingly numbered Episodes IV, V and VI) with the creative genius of LEGO and a healthy helping of tongue-in-cheek humour, the game is sure to cause a sizeable disturbance in the charts, never mind The Force. Indeed, it has already sparked a few disturbances in the Pocket Gamer office as our rebel alliance argues over who's going to review it.

Fortunately there's a few different versions of the game to share around. Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS and PSP games all due for release on September 12th with mobile to follow later, so it won't necessarily need to come down to a light-sabre duel.

In the meantime, Lucas Arts has managed to smuggle a new raft of shots and some info about the PSP version into our office via an old R2 droid.

Like LEGO Star Wars before it (which only showed its face on mobile when it came to pocket gaming), LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy will recreate key movie scenes out of LEGO bricks, from Darth Vader's pursuit of Princess Leia aboard her Blockade Runner to a showdown on the second Death Star, enabling you to take part and, indeed, to take things apart.

The gameplay involves puzzle solving, action, collecting and construction as you traverse the 18 stages (six for each episode), meeting a variety of characters including everyone from Luke and Leia to Greedo and the Gamorrean guards.

Unlike the first outing you'll now have a wider variety of specific attacks and moves (including Chewbacca pulling enemies' arms out of their sockets, Vader's Force choke and Leia's slap), be able to get in and out of vehicles, and generally be offered even more freedom, especially in the vehicle levels, which are no longer on rails. (Fans of the likes of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories can obviously argue that this freedom is nothing new, but then you can't wander around Hoth in an AT-ST, zip through Endorian forests on a speeder bike or steer a Bantha across Tatooine in GTA.)

The new freedoms also extend to character design, with the ability to take any of the 50 characters and mix-and-match their body parts to create a one-in-a-million hero such as Yoda Kenobi. And once you've completed the levels you'll again be able to import your characters into land levels (or switch between space vehicles at will in space levels) and create your own take on the adventure.

Other neat tricks include an adaptive difficulty option, making the game trickier as you become more adept, and co-operative gameplay enabling characters to take on levels as a team (in single-player mode you'll still be able to swap between players).

As if this wasn't an impressive enough list, the PSP version also boasts some special features of its own.

For starters there's a special challenge mode, which promises to add many hours of play to the experience, as you compete in timed levels to collect pieces of 18 characters from the original LEGO Star Wars game such as Darth Maul and General Grievous. Once assembled you can then use these characters in the Free Play mode.

Better still, the developers have also included a 'Story So Far' feature. This replays the plot of Episodes I, II and III, and then enables you to complete the final level of each of those Episodes from the original game (it boils down to battles between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, Anakin vs Count Dooku and Obi-Wan vs Anakin).

Add to this the chance to play levels co-operatively with friends over wi-fi and share unlocked characters, and you'll understand why we're more excited than Carrie Fisher about the prospect of LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on the PSP – and why you should add it to your 'Track It!' list.

Of course, we'll understand if you don't share our excitement – although we will find your lack of faith disturbing. And so on.

Chris James
Chris James
A footy game fanatic and experienced editor of numerous computing and game titles, bossman Chris is up for anything – including running Steel Media (the madman).