Welcome to The TPS Report, home to video game blogs, mix sets and even the odd piece o' 3D art.

Broke arse student, freelance games reviewer and rambling obsessive that I am, I currently seek work in mags and web sites throughout the world. If you're in a position to make that happen - and like what you see around here - let me know. I've published work with the likes of IGN and Gaming Steve.

-Matt/Diggler

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Future Plans For the Site
28/7/2012 22:31

Preview Time! Games to Look Out For in 2011
8/1/2011 5:54

2010's Games of Shame
6/1/2011 22:47

My Fave Games of 2010!
6/1/2011 20:12

StarCraft II Review - Dig Loveth the RTS!?
7/11/2010 12:48

10 Must-Have iPhone Games
2/6/2010 18:09

A Little Hotlink to An Article I Stuck Up On GiantBomb
21/4/2010 15:01

Aliens Vs Predator is Here! Woo! Oh, Hang On...
6/3/2010 20:58

iPhone Games!
6/3/2010 20:40

The Top 30 Games of an Obscenely Packed 2009. Shit Gets Epic
7/1/2010 20:09

More...

If interested in discussing writing opportunities for on or offline gaming publications - either UK based or abroad - please contact me via E-Mail. Sparkling CV available on request

 

 

LEGO Star Wars Finally Invades the Original Trilogy! But is it Any Good?
Posted by Diggler - 23/9/2006 20:19

LEGO Star Wars is back...and this time it's gone old skool
The first Lego Star Wars was ace. It didn't last particularly long, and those without a sense of humour needed not apply, but it was imaginative, hilarious and really sorta charming. Who'd have thought a simple little platformy hack 'n' slash made out of LEGO by way of the Star Wars prequels could have been such fun? I loved it to death.

Still, did such a barmy, off the wall idea really beg for a sequel? Didn't we say all we needed to say with the first LEGO Star Wars? No! Well okay, in a way, yes. LEGO Star Wars II is hardly a complete re-imagining from the ground up. One that reinvigorates the much overcrowded (cough) LEGO blockbuster movie/videogame hybrid as a whole. Nope, this is really just more of the same, but with a brand new setting. If you can overlook this fact though, you'll find a fabulous bit of innocent little fun in LSWII, and one that as a nice bonus also fetches pleasingly cheaper than its peers right now.

Newness

Playable vehicles are indeed a blast, yet only the speederbike and AT-ST prove particularly useful
To be fair, there are actually one or two neat (albeit minor) new additions to the formula. Fully controllable vehicles pop up in many missions for one, ranging from landspeeders to Dewbacks to full blown AT-STs. There's also a funny new mix 'n' match feature that lets you create your very own custom Star Wars toons out of LEGO pieces.

Finally the character's abilities and general level design have also seen some pleasing improvements and added depth, by way of Bounty Hunter side missions, useable thermal detonators and even expanded implementation of The Force. Wanna choke Jabba's pig guards in the air 'til they explode into a fountain of LEGO bricks? This game'll make you a happy man then.

Far more importantly than all this though, LEGO Star Wars II's greatest new asset is merely the fact it's set in the classic original trilogy of the '70s and '80s. For people not prequel-inclined - those who found the idea of podrace mini-games and escorting Jar Jar Binks around sheer terror - LSWII is just the ticket.

No Reward is Worth This

Overlooking the fact it's freakin' LEGO, this level is amazingly fun and creative. Just wait 'til you see the bloody Hoth battle...
Much like the first game, it splits itself up into three separate chapters, one for each of the trilogy. A New Hope kicks off with you playing as Leia on board the Corellian Corvette, before moving on to Tatooine for some hot Luke on Ben action, then rounding off with a triple whammy Death Star love-in. It's the same simple, harmless fun many of us grew to love in the first game - running around pretty environments whacking stormtroopers and solving wee puzzles - only made infinitely cooler here due to the much improved subject matter.

Yet don't underestimate LEGO Star Wars II. The final level of A New Hope in fact - which sees you piloting an X-Wing as Luke and ultimately blowing that grey planet of doom to kingdom come - could well be one of the better recreations of that iconic space battle yet seen. How bizarre given it's made from big blocky bricks...

The sheer brilliance of this level is a prime example of how Traveller's Tales have taken many of the original game's admittedly pleasing ideas, and sorta perfected them this time around. The space battles are now fully free-roaming for instance - as opposed to on-rails as before - and now come far more fleshed out to boot, with tons of secrets to track down and even some unlockable ships for you to mess around with (wanna try that trench run in a TIE Fighter next time?).

He's No Good to Me Dead

Cut-scenes pay respect, yet mock their subject matter perfectly
Moving into Empire Strikes Back territory, things get slightly more challenging too. From the icy brilliance of Hoth, to Jedi training on Dagobah, then ending with a Vader showdown on Bespin, levels become increasingly longer and even occasionally tricky if I'm perfectly honest.

Don't get me wrong, LSWII retains the prequel's inability to truly die (infinite respawns return), but it does feature an optional adaptive difficulty setting now, along with considerably longer missions. As a sucker for tracking down every last single bloody secret and collectible on each and every level, some took me almost an hour to complete.

This is a good thing in my book, as the first title had some definite issues with its ease and longevity. Not so here; if like me you enjoy exploring every nook and cranny of every room, LSWII will take some serious time to see through. I like.

You're Gonna Die Here You Know. Convenient

The game covers all three movies in their entirety, although events have been slightly re-jiggled at times
Return of the Jedi rounds things off with very pleasing glimpses of Jabba's Palace, the ability to kill Ewoks, an amazing speederbike level and a superb finale in which you get to pilot the Millennium Falcon. Don't for one second think the game ends there though. One of the game's greatest features in fact, is its sheer wealth of additional unlockable bonus content...

Brand new levels, dozens of additional characters, extra modes, new vehicles, comedy extras, you name it. There's an endless stream of this stuff to track down and enjoy here, and unlike so many other games these days, it's actually fun for a change. There's a heck of a lot of meat to this game, and I must admit it surprised me in that regard. With the main campaign finished in fact, I'd barely hit 50% on the total completion-o-meter.

Oh, and best of all? It's funny too. Real funny. Whether it be Han luring Chewie down the Death Star garbage compactor with a doggy bone, or Luke's show-off somersaults while walking the plank on Jabba's sail barge, LSWII is refreshingly side-splitting for a video game. Way more so than the first in my book.

More Plastic Beauty

Visually and sonically, little has changed from the previous game. For such a simple concept as plastic LEGO bricks bouncing around on platforms though, that game looked surprisingly gorgeous, and the same can be said here.

Environments and overall visual quality remain simplistic yet undeniably beautiful. She's a looker I tell ya
As the first Star Wars game to hit the machine, the 360 version is the one I've been spending my time with (naturally...), but I hear the PC, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube and even PSP versions stack up pleasingly well. Internet murmurings speak of unbearable horrors in store for DS owners though.

As well as Achievements, HD resolutions and all that other good stuff, for the 360 rendition Traveller's Tales have also added some sparkly new visual effects that not even the PC version can boast. Namely, there's a stunning depth of field thang going on, in which objects and buildings in the foreground and background appear soft and out of focus, giving the game striking visual depth which you would hardly expect from a bleedin' LEGO game. On the downside you will run into minor framerate issues from time to time, but the trade-off is reasonable I guess, and by all accounts it's still the best version of the lot.

Letting it down is a conspicuous lack of online co-op, a feature which could have elevated LSWII up from minor harmless fun, to a genuine 360 great. The offline same-screen co-op remains - with its drop-in, drop-out brilliance firmly in tact - but it would have been nice to enjoy that same craziness over Live as well. A big let-down, this.

Yub Yub

LSWII constantly retains at least two characters in your party at all times, hence a second player is always but one click away from joining in the fun
All in all LEGO Star Wars probably won't win over haters of the original game then, as while the formula has most definitely been tightened up and improved, it remains a startlingly similar game when all's said and done. If you dug that silly little title as much as I did though, rest assured its follow-up provides just as many laughs and just as much fun, while even having the common courtesy to provide some decent value for money this time around too. Can't complain about that.

It certainly does its film property justice, and is (for better or worse) one of the better Star Wars games to come out in quite some time I might add. Buy it. For me. And for Yoda.

LEGO Batman's up next, incidentally.

(Pictures courtesy of LucasArts)

Untitled Document

The Polynomial. Like playing a rave

Untitled Document

Game
Fallout 3

Enjoying a fully modded out re-visit. Wow

Film
The Road

Pretty much due to the above

Show
Breaking Bad

Already shaping up to be the best season yet

Tune
Explosions in the Sky

Easing the pain of living in a post-Friday Night Lights world

Untitled Document

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The Kojima Productions Report
Official podcast from the team of Hideo Kojima, creator of the much-loved Metal Gear franchise. Full of news and interviews relating to all things Metal Gear, it's probably one for die-hard fans only

Pure Pwnage
Mockumentary series on the life of a pro gamer. Episode five is possibly the funniest thing on the internet

Other Sites

Kotaku
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Easy to use multimedia-rich web site offering official trailers, video demos and sneak peaks at all the upcoming releases

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Gamespot
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Giant Bomb
Speaking of Gamespot, the controversial "letting go" of editor Jeff Gerstmann resulted in him starting up this new venture with fellow former writers of the site. Great podcast in particular

1up.com
Discounting the audio and video shows mentioned earlier, 1up's main site is also worth a visit in its own right. Not only bustling with quality gaming articles and extensive developers' blogs, it also doubles up as a massive friends network, ideal for meeting fellow gamers and joining like-minded communities

Live Marketplace Feed
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Xbox Reloaded
360 backwards compatibility can be a minefield. This blog attempts to shed some light on the issue by playing original Xbox games for you and reporting back the results

GameFAQs
The ultimate resource for walkthroughs and cheats

Disposable Media
A wonderful (and free) E-zine, full of reviews and articles on gaming, movies, music and TV. Puts most high street mags to shame

X-Fire
A must-have for all PC gamers, X-Fire is a buddy list and communications tool that keeps constant tabs on what games both you and all your mates are playing, on or offline

Steam
A contender to the X-Fire throne that has pretty much overtaken it straight out of the gate. Valve's Steam client contains friends lists, downloadable games, Live-style achievements and plenty more to sink your teeth into

MyGamerCard.net
Convert your Xbox Live gamercard into an image, for use on forums and web sites for free. That's mine further down

Ain't it Cool News
The latest news, gossip and spy reports from the world of movies, TV and (occasionally) video games

Smodcast
Writer, director and actor Kevin Smith - he of Clerks fame - records a monthly podcast in which he and fellow pals discuss everything from trying to felate oneself, to the time his dog got covered in ejaculate. Riveting stuff

 

Matt Robinson, 2011

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