The latest installment in the classic Lego Star Wars series has been hit by many delays since its production in 2017 and has been subject to an intense crunch culture throughout. While this toxic work culture has intensified and broken into public knowledge more recently, and certainly something I don’t condone, boycotting the game in protest is just salt in the wounds for the hardworking developers. And boy have they worked hard.
A recent gameplay trailer has outlined the incredible depth of this entry in a franchise that risks falling into familiar patterns. Collecting all nine Skywalker films for the first time, the game will allow players to begin with the trilogy of their choice – prequel, original, or sequel – with each episode containing 5 story chapters each. While the previous ultimate edition – 2007’s Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga – had 6 chapters per an episode, The Skywalker Saga will fill in story gaps through wandering the open-world hubs (of which there are many).
Not only will players be able to explore these worlds, they will also be able to fly to them
Players will be able to free roam around iconic planets, such as city world of Coruscant and the lava seas of Mustafar. From footage shown in the trailers, these planets appear to have amazing attention to detail, creating an immersive experience. Not only will players be able to explore these worlds, they will also be able to fly to them, engaging in dogfights along the way if they so choose.
What I’m sure many people will be excited for, is the overall of the combat system. From Jedi powers to blaster fire, TT Games have implemented more intricate combos and fighting systems to add variety for older players, who may grow bored of the series’ accessible control scheme.
Finally, it’s been announced that there will be a “mumble mode” that can be toggled on and off throughout the game. Though the series has moved to voice acting for many years now, this toggle will allow players to experience the game in the vintage mumbles of Lego games gone-by.