Page 1:Justa few years ago, Travelers Tales struck gaming gold with its excellentblend of co-op gameplay and Lego branding in the Star Wars universe.Ever since then the combination of Legos and popular franchises haslead to numerous games and spin offs. Some people may not know this,but Travelers Tales have had a long history of Lego video games, datingback much further and without big movie names. In a sense Lego Battlesis a sort of return to that era, when it was splicing different gamegenres with Lego rather then movie and pop culture icons. Developed byHellbent games for the Nintendo DS, Lego Battles is a perfect marriageof real time strategy and accessible gameplay on the perfect system forit.
While Lego games have never been graphical power houses,they have managed to look good in there own right. Lego Battles uses anoverhead perspective much like the classic PC RTS games of yesteryear.The game hardly taxes the Nintendo DS, and uses traditional gameplayelements such as the fog of war. This is likely done to keep the gameflowing when massive battles break out with dozens of characters movingon screen. There is some CG cutscenes that preface campaigns, althoughits mostly static images between levels. As with all lego games, thereisn't any dialouge during the movies.
Oneof the more surprising elements to the game is the soundtrack. All ofthe recent Lego games have had the advantage of being able to rely onclassic music from John Williams and Danny Elfman in the background.Lego Battles does not have that luxury but you might still be surprisedat how good it turns out. The quality of the music is pretty high for aDS game, it doesn't sound like a GBA title.The compositions areactually very well done, going for a more epic quality I wouldn'tassociate with little yellow Lego men. While maybe not as catchy as youmight expect, Lego Battles is no slouch in the sound department.
Thereal time strategy genre, or RTS for short, is one of the most puregameplay driven genres in gaming. No where is this more evident then inthe continued popularity of games such as "Starcraft" whicj is stillpractically a national past time in South Korea. As such even if LegoBattles contained the greatest presentation values in the world, itwould all be meaningless without strong gameplay. Lego Battles does notdisappoint. This is a very well done RTS, on a system that curiouslyshould have a lot more. There is plenty of turn based strategy gamesalready. While this somewhat works in the favor of Lego Battles by nothaving to much competition, it also stands well enough on its own. Thegame has a nice easy learning curve as it was clearly designed forpeople who are not accustomed to the genre. This was perfect for me, asmy experience with such games as "Warcraft" and "Starcraft" was limitedat best. It manages to provide enough explanation for its many elementswithout overwhelming the player. The controls are straight forward. Thestylus is used exactly like a mouse to click on characters andbuildings, or you can drag across the screen to highlight multipleones. Each building and leader has their own sub menu which appears inthe top left corner of the screen when activated. You can scroll acrossthe world with the D-pad, but be warned the fog of war is in play inthis game. Each World is also littered with Lego Studs which can beused to purchase extras inside the in-game shop on the main menu. Thisrewards the more exploration minded gamers who like to seek out everylast nook and cranny.
Ifthere is any real failing of the game, is that as well done as it is,veteran RTS players will likely scoff at the difficulty. This won't bea problem for young gamers or those new to the genre. However, thosewho dreamed of an experience that matched the difficulty of classicBlizzard or Westwood titles might be disappointed. Another bummer ofthe title is the lack of any online features. One of the reasons thegenre thrived so well on the PC was because of online multiplayer.While it does feature system link play, the game cries out for theNintendo Wi-Fi connection. Despite that, the game offers plenty ofthings to do, collect, and buy. There are six campaigns to conquer,each with its own unique Lego theme. As well as the option to playfriends and expand your collectibles in the shop. It will certainlykeep players entertained for hours, which is exactly what anyone wantsfrom a video game. I reccomend giving Lego Battles a look. You might besurprised at how much you enjoy it.
