GameCenter - Issue 68 - 47

THE GNK'S
ALL HERE

McLoughlin told us that experimenting with different looks is intrinsic
to the LEGO games' DNA, pointing
to past LEGO Dimensions and The
LEGO Movie Videogame. But The
Skywalker Saga might be the biggest
departure yet, with a charming mix
of near-photorealistic environments
and LEGO minifigs and builds that
feel like they truly exist in the game
world, picking up dirt and snow from
their surroundings. There's also a
new camera angle that brings players
closer to the action. "We wanted to
get more cinematic, we wanted to
make the player feel like they were in
the Star Wars universe, so one of the
natural choices was to change the

february 2020

camera and get right down into it,"
McLoughlin said.
For more than a decade, the LEGO
Star Wars games have defined the
relationship many fans have with the
films, offering a fun, charming, and
often hysterical way to spend more
time with their favorite characters on
memorable adventures. For these
players, The Skywalker Saga will
be as much of a capstone on the
Star Wars saga as Episode IX. It's a
challenge, and an honor, that means
everything to the team at TT Games,
McLoughlin told us.
"We believe in the power of story,
and this is one of the best stories to
tell," he said.

The effect of
mixing detailed
environments
with LEGO bricks
and minifigures is
visually striking.

The LEGO games are known for their
absolutely massive rosters of characters,
diving deep into their respective
universes to let fans play as just about
everyone they could hope for. To take
just one example, 2016's LEGO Star Wars:
The Force Awakens topped 200 playable
characters.
So of course, we had to ask game
director James McLoughlin if he had
a favorite among The Skywalker
Saga's roster. "One of the more loved
characters within the office, aside from
Darth Vader and the big hitters, is actually the GNK Droid," he said. "We have
made a few quests for this droid type
and, of course he is playable because
he is clearly one of the cutest droids
around. We often find that we gravitate
towards the droids as they have a ton
of personality for often non-speaking
characters. GONK!"
As for the Walmart Gamecenter
crew, we've got two characters on our
longshot wishlist: Episode IX's diminutive
droidsmith, Babu Frik, and the galaxy's
cuddliest meme machine, Baby Yoda.

47
GameCenter - Issue 68

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of GameCenter - Issue 68
