PixlBit

               

For some reason this same corridor on Kamino inspired me to take another screen shot, but this time from its opposite end, as a friend and I played through all of Episodes I-III today in Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

Co-op in this game is really fun. My only issue is that you are tethered a little too tightly together on the screen, meaning you can't roam too far from each other. It ends up requiring a little bit of communication to keep things enjoyable for us both. I tend to comb every corner of a room and my friend likes to hack and slash through enemies and blast from level to level. At times we get on each other's nerves, but for the most part, the game gives you enough space to do what you want.

The levels aren't that big and it seems to me it wouldn't be too hard for the game design to allow the camera to pan up from the action when two people go in opposite directions. There was one level where you have to run through a collapsing corridor near the end of Episode III. The camera was in so close, I couldn't see the holes in the floor before I ran into them. It took many tries and cursing before we discovered that if one of us hung back a little bit, the camera would pan back just enough to make the lead runner have a little space in front of him to see the holes in the floor. Once one of us was through, both of us were shoved to the next area. There is some mobility to the camera but not much.

The game only supports two players at once which is a shame because I saw rangergirl come online while we were playing. I set the game to open right then, but then I realized only two can play this at once. Unfortunately all the Lego games, excepting Lego Rock Band, are two player only. I'm going to have to start favoring games with more online players. It would be so cool to have more in on the fun.

So, I have to say, John Williams music, which is used throughout in interesting ways, is fantastic and lends a lot of excitment to the game for me. Music in games is woefully underrated. Just last year I played Halo 4 and realized how much I missed Marty O'Donnell's music. I haven't even finished Halo 4 maybe partly because of that. The trailer for Bungie's Destiny with Marty's music really sold me on that game. Music is very important, clearly. 

My friend and I are both excited to keep playing Lego Star Wars and work through all the achievements once we finish the story. I'm using xbox360achievements.org's road map page to guide us. It's an excellent site with some really good guides on how to approach a game in the most efficient way. I don't use it too strictly though. The main point for me is to have fun with the game first and then go for achievements, but it's good to take a look at their guides here and there so you don't miss anything and waste time replaying the whole game just to get that last achievement.