LEGO Star Wars:
The Quest for R2D2
In October of last year, George Lucas and Cartoon Network introduced us to a new chapter in the Star Wars universe. An epic tale taking place between Episodes II and III, that deals with the fabled Clone Wars. The series has been a ratings success for the network, and is now an established part of the Star Wars universe. So it should be only natural to bring it into one of the most successful spin-off franchises in Star Wars history: LEGO Star Wars. And that's where LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2D2 comes in.
For those unfamiliar with the franchise, LEGO Star Wars is a 3D action adventure series that takes the familiar characters, vehicles, and locations of the Star Wars universe, and reimagines them using the building blocks of our youth (assuming, unlike me, you ever grew out of them!). Easy to pick up, fun to play, hard to put down, the games have become a success on every platform they were released. Web developer Three Melons has harnessed the power of the Unity 3D engine to bring the LEGO Star Wars experience to the web browser, and has done a bang-up job of it!
In The Quest for R2D2, the titular astromech droid is lost and transmitting a distress signal in the hopes that his master, Anakin Skywalker, will find him again. Unknown to the little droid, the signal he is broadcasting also contains the location of blueprints to a new starship with the power to turn the tide of the war. It doesn't take long for the Sith to get wind of this, and a race ensues to locate R2 and the plans.
The player has the chance to choose to play the game as either Anakin Skywalker for the Republic, or as the Jedi assassin Asajj Ventress. Just as their ultimate goals are different, their paths through the game also differ. As Anakin, you go through the level from left to right, and you face the forces of the Trade Federation. But, play the level as Asajj, and you will start where Anakin's level ends, going from right to left. And instead of the droids of the Trade Federation armies, you face the Republic's clone troopers.
The weapon of choice for both Anakin and Asajj is the venerable light saber. Anakin wields a single blue blade, while Asajj takes on the Republic clone troopers with dual red blades, just like her master, Count Dooku. Tapping the [X] key will send your character through several pre-programmed moves in an attempt to take out whatever is in your path. Along with slicing and dicing, they will also block most laser fire and reflect it back towards the shooter. This is an effective, if slow way of taking out enemies that are too distant or difficult to attack directly. Holding down the [Z] and [X] keys will allow you to charge and release a Force attack. At first, this attack merely stuns and throws your enemies back. But, after increasing the ability (see below) it becomes a truly effective attack.
There are 15 levels to work your way through during the game. The locations range from the inside of ships from both the Republic and Trade Federations' fleet to various planets under both Republic and Sith control. As you make your way through the levels, you will encounter red and yellow crystals. Collect as many as you can in each level to increase your score at the end. You will also occasionally find silver LEGO bricks. These bricks will allow you to increase your stats between levels, much like the character stats in an RPG. Sign up for a LEGO.com account (which is free) and your progress through the levels, as well as your character stats, will be saved for you.
Analysis: Games using the Unity 3D engine have been helping to bring the console-style gaming experience into the browser for a while now. LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2D2 sets a new standard for browser-based gaming. This game is truly download-quality, and I could see paying money for such a game. How fortunate it is for us that it has been released for free!
The game plays great. Motions are fluid, and the controls are very responsive. Walk into battles, light sabers swinging, and take out the baddies. It all happens so fluidly and naturally that you can simply enjoy playing the game without having to worry about accidentally facing the wrong direction or making the wrong move and getting taken out by a stray laser bolt. Like other games in the LEGO Star Wars series, the hard-core gamer will probably breeze right thought without breaking a sweat. It is directed at younger gamers and the casual gamer, as well as fans of the franchises involved.
It's the graphic presentation that is truly astounding here, though. The game plays in 2.5D, but all of the graphics are rendered in full 3D. And they look excellent. The character models for your Jedi avatars as well as the enemies you face are sufficiently complex to look indistinguishable from their real-world toy counterparts. Surfaces are detailed, so as not to look simply like a mush of pixels. The one complaint that I do have is about the design of the background objects. In previous games in the series, these objects have always had the appearance of being built with LEGO bricks. This really gave the feeling of being in a LEGO version of the Star Wars universe. Here, even though you see random LEGO bricks fall away when you destroy something in the background, it is obvious that the objects are not built with LEGO bricks. A minor quibble, but it does detract some from the experience.
The sound here is excellent. All sound effects have been pulled directly from the Lucasfilm sound archives, with authentic laser blasts and the familiar hum of the light sabers as they cut through the air. The music is the same as in the television series, with Kevin Kiner's brilliant militaristic-take on the original John Williams material. The only thing missing from the presentation are the newsreel-style opening montages from the series.
Forget what you think you know about browser-based games and give LEGO Star Wars: The Quest for R2D2 a try. It won't be long before you get sucked into a time long ago in a galaxy far, far away, where plastic bricks vied for control of the universe.
Wow.
After flash games all day, this is pretty incredible.
Anyway, quick question, is it just me being dumb or is this game missing a pause function?
Just hit the "P" key...
Hi Marcus, Thanks for the review. I just want to add that the music and the sounds were also created by musicians and sound designers from Argentina. There were a couple of songs from the series and a couple of sounds from Star wars, but in majority be created all the rest.
Again thanks for the review, apart from that it was good one :)
Bye bye
Bleh--the only thing that worries me about this is that it requires a third-party program--the Unity plugin--in order to play. Wonder if they'll release a standalone version for download in addition to the browser/Unity version. I love the LSW games...but after the stuff that Wild Tangent pulled, I have qualms about Unity. :-/
I love LEGO Star Wars! I'm amazed to see a browser-based version - maybe this will help increase the Unity install base and pave the way for future Unity games. :)
Anyone else haveing trouble using the force? Or is my keyboard just crap or something, it seems pretty uncertain when i try to use that function
Sorry about the assumption on the sounds and music. It was all so well done, I assumed that it was pulled from original source material. Definitely a credit to the musicians and designers that worked on this game.
Thanks Marcus! We feel really honored :)
I'd love to try this game...but it keeps crashing on me!
I was somewhat let down by the review. After reading it, I expected an amazing game. And even though it might be technically good (it didn't drive me wild) the biggest fault I see is in the gameplay - I found it repetitive and got bored, even though I played 3 or 4 levels to see if it varied in something.
For people having problems with the game crashing:
I was using Chrome and it kept crashing so i switched over to FF and it has been running smoothly.
However I did get to a point in the game and when it tried to save it, it got stuck on the sending..... screen
Anyone else having this issue??
It's really impressive :)
I share some of the criticism. It's very repetitive. And I also felt the diamonds not worth the trouble. Maybe if the diamonds were used to improve your character's abilities (instead of those magic pieces) would be more interesting. More than 3 points per attribute would also make it more interesting, I think.
All in all, it's still a GREAT game! I'm probably going to replay it from time to time.
Sigh, every time I try to upgrade my character, I get a message box saying 'sending ...' and then nothing happens and I have to reload the page.
This is pretty impressive, from a technical standpoint, though I, too, was bored with the gameplay after two levels. I could see my nephew loving it.
Interestingly, if you had asked me five years ago to predict what browser games would look like today, I would have described something much more advanced. WildTangent had a pretty good 3d engine and a few titles worth playing (I know they were Satan-incarnate, but they did start with a good idea). Shockwave had a lot of momentum and some 3d capability. I would have guessed we'd be farther along four or five Moore's law cycles later.
BTW, it is my understanding that the Unity Player platform is completely on the up and up - I believe their business model is based entirely on licensing to developers (and it's a lotta dough). Anybody heard otherwise? I can't imagine Lego would risk their brand with malware.
Pete J
Great game - so well done. FF browser worked best, esp. in Full Screen mode.
But I'm looking for help on the location of all the platinum bricks. Can't seem to find it out on the net anywhere.
Found it on L1. Haven't found it on L2 yet.
Doesn't work in Safari for Mac OS 10.6.1, but works in Firefox.
kl: I've been having the same issues using the force. My keyboard is fine so I'm guessing it is a (rather annoying!) bug.
I can't force push at all. And yeah, gameplay is fairly repetitive, but decent effort.
ohmygod... finally! lego star wars is on the internet! i love the lego video game rentals, so this is a real treat for lego fans. anyway, thank you for choosing to review this. it'll real fun.
I've been trying to find the silver bricks in each level, and I can never find one. Is there any secret to finding them, or could you tell me where they are?
Jesse, I think theres one per pair of levels. It seems random whether its in the first or the second of each pair.
Well my 'use of the force' only works part of the time. Now I went through a whole level, got the brick and had to assemble the controll pannel at the end using the force and it is not working at all :(
Ideas?
game rules put anakin red lightsaber :) :P
I'm having trouble running this game on one of my PCs. When I start the game, the main character and the surrounding area is all black. I can still move/jump/use the lightsaber, but I can't see my player (the black surrounding area follows him everywhere).
I tried IE 8 and FF but get the same results. I loaded the game on my laptop and it works fine.
Can anyone help?
Thx
There are cheats for this game. Pause the game, click enter cheat code and use them! "dualsaber" gives only the Jedi 2 lightsabers. "redsaber" again only for the Jedi, gives the Jedi red lightsaber(s)(A Jedi can have 2 red lightsabers. "triplejump" makes your character (both Jedi and Sith) jump higher. "darkforce" gives the Sith double strength. "clonehelmet" puts a clone trooper helmet on a character's head. "greensaber" makes a Sith's lightsaber color green. Enjoy these cheats!!!
How do you use the force?? i really need to know
Alright, the rules on the site say pres x and z at the same time to do a force push or something? But how do you build the creations at the end of level 3 and 4 using the force? I can't advance/unlock anything pass this before I learn to do this... I'm losing my "super Mom" status from my 5 year old...
Ya gotta help me out!
Wow! I didn't think LEGO® could make a game this awesome! Beautiful graphics, terrific storyline, and tons of gameplay make this an all-time high for LEGO®.
My son is also having problems building the generator. Z-X together does nothing, even if held down. Since others report the same problem and no one has responded with a solution I am assuming it is bug that is affecting only some users. Might have something to do with browser add-ons conflicting with the game. I just don't understand, however, why Z and X buttons work separately but not together. I'm gonna try to get some bricks and try buying more "force" to see if this works.
Yes, we also can't "use the force" to build the generator. X and Z together just doesn't do anything. Any help?
I am having the same problem several on here are. I get stuck in "sending data", as such I cannot upgrade any of my skills. I add the skill and confirm, and it will sit at "sending data" for hours. I have tried muiple PCs, browsers and times. IE7, IE8, FF...none work.
Ideas?
Same problems for me - I have platinum bricks but can not upgrade skills for any of the characters... just says "sending data" and stalls out. I've tried using multiple browsers, but my son won't be able to finish the game if he can't enhance the characters (the levels get progressively harder).
Any advice is welcome.
Same problem... Sending data for hours with no resolution.
I had to jump on the stuff and then push z+x then the force started building the generator.
can anyone post a link to a place where I can see the blueprints for the lego model at the end
Thanks
My 5yr old was having the same problem. I helped him - collected all the jewels possible. I then went back to the generator & stood along the edge of the circle & pressed X+Z. It worked this time. I'm not sure if it's where Anakin was standing...or if it was b/c of collecting all the jewels.
Supermom
do any body know a code to the quest for r2-d2???
My son got to the end of the game with each character and when we click to try to see the Data Received, we just get a blank screen without any information. Tried it on Safari and Firefox. Any thoughts?
how do you unlock the two secret characters?????
Wish it didn't require A Lego id to save between sessions. Fun game though,and wish it was for wii
shift-z-x worked for the power force
Update