Now its probably not a good idea to mix my childhood enjoyment of Lego, and my adult enjoyment of Star Wars for a 3rd time, considering how much time I have lost to the previous Lego Star Wars games, but for the sake of you fellow gamers, I’m willing to make that sacrific! Read on to find out more….



For those who aren’t familiar with the Movie based Lego games (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, Harry Potter and the soon to be released Pirates of the Caribbean) the premise of the game is to go through various levels based on scenes of the movie(s) and smash various objects to collect bits of lego studs whilst overcoming various obstacles. This particular Lego game is based on the “Clone Wars” animated series of Star Wars, and also the movie Episode II: Attack of the clones.

The graphics on LSW3 have been upgraded from the previous Lego games, and now can have up to 200 moving pieces on screen (I’ve seen this in action where on one level, there is a never ending stream of droids coming from the background) and all in all, the levels look like you are really in the Star Wars universe and it gives a sense that even as a lego character, you belong there and doesn’t look out of place. When you’re not in a level and you can roam around a starship doing various bits and pieces (Which I’ll come to further on in this review) the environment has more lego for you to smash. The cut scenes are also well done and I often found myself having a bit of a giggle! I have to give a big well done to Travellers’ tales on this front, its top notch work as usual!



In terms of sound/music, from the moment the main screen music hits, you instantly know you’re playing a star wars game. All the music is authentic, atmospheric and immersing you into the world of Star Wars, all the lightsabers, tie fighters, R2D2 etc. all sound exactly as they should and even though the characters don’t talk at any point in the game (just grunt, and mumble and make random noises) the actors who played the roles of characters (Anakin, Jar Jar Binks etc.) have provided Travellers’ Tales with their grunting skills to give us a more authentic experience.

There is so much to do in LSW3 that you won’t be done in a hurry if you want all 1000 achievement points: There are 20 main story levels, and 40 (Yes, 40) bonus levels, 18 red bricks that provide “enhancements” such as Stud magnet (that draws studs to you) or invincibility etc, 10 minikits per level and a total of 130 gold bricks (each level completion gives you a red brick, collecting 10 minikits in 1 level is another gold brick, and there are various other ways to get them) so there is plenty to do here. The 20 story levels can be done in Story mode which uses default characters specific to the level or Free Play where you choose some characters with specific skills to try to get both the “True Jedi” on each level (where you have to get a certain amount of money “stud”s) and also the 10 minikits per level (Obtained by doing various tasks such as destroying 5 certain plants, or by accessing restricted area’s with unique characters such as Jedi, Bounty Hunters, Droids, Sith etc) so there is more than enough to keep you occupied for at least 30 hours, not to mention over 130 characters to find and unlock!



The levels are a cross between the standard platform levels, some of which contain sections where the characters split up and put them in different locations, and you can switch 3D space battles or Star Wars Battlefronts style Real time strategy levels (think Command and Conquer or a similar game) where you build your base(s) and use your forces to destroy the enemy forces. These RTS type battles can be quite time consuming and you can find yourself taking 20-30 minutes to mop up the level but you can rack up a huge amount of money studs which are used to buy red brick enhancements, playable characters, or to build up your forces in big battles. LSW3 features local co-op which is drop in and drop out. Another two-player feature is Arcade Mode, which lets you battle it out in a number of variations on the stud-spending, weapon-generating, base-claiming battle bit described above

Achievement wise, you can pick up 260gs just by doing the story levels, around 40-60gs by doing little tricks like kill 5 enemies with 1 lightsaber throw from Yoda, and then the rest of the achievements are ones to grind (get all 130 gold bricks, 100% the single player mode etc) which will certainly take a bit of time to do! Strangely, it doesn’t get too repetitive though!



To summarise, I will say that this may initially seem like more of the same, but it isn’t and really is worth picking up as it will take you easily upwards of 30 hours to get 100% of everything possible. Lego Star Wars fans will love it, Lego fans will enjoy it, and is certainly worth picking up. At the very least rent it and see what you think

I would give this a solid 8 out of 10