New LEGO Star Wars Game Delayed to Next Year

At last week’s Gamescon, the gaming world found out through a three minute trailer that the highly anticipated LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga would not have a 2020 release. In a year where many games have been pushed back due to COVID-19, the game had been slated to come out in October of this year at one point. But it appears the team at TT Games have decided that more time was needed for the development of what will be its biggest gaming project yet and its current release date is now set for Spring 2021.

I can only imagine that the reaction of those who viewed the “Spring 2021” date at the end of the trailer was one of sighs and groans. Count me as one of those who was initially annoyed that the game was being pushed back from its October date especially after months of no information. But the fact is that I would rather developers take their time to create the highest and best quality of their vision possible before releasing it to the general public. Being that this is a Star Wars game, the expectations will be very high.

It does baffle me that I am eagerly awaiting a LEGO game. Sure I played with LEGOs when I was a child but how in the world am I looking forward to a LEGO video game in my 40s? Easy. A friend of mine recommended LEGO Star Wars to me years ago. He told that he had played the game with his nephews and that they had a blast. I remember thinking his recommendation to be strange but I still went to GameStop and decided to buy LEGO Star Wars: Complete Saga. This game combined LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Star Wars: The Original Trilogy to cover all six Star Wars films that had been released at that time. This was my introduction to LEGO Star Wars video games.

To my pleasant surprise, I found the game to be a blast and had a great time playing the story from start to finish. Sure the gameplay was child-like simple but that was part of its charm. It also never took itself too seriously as it took many moments from the films and warped them into hilarious interpretations. The game featured a large cast of characters that you could unlock and then use in “Free Play” mode. You can also use the parts of the in-game LEGO Star Wars characters to create a custom character. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga contains so much content that it puts other Star Wars titles to shame in that area. Needless to say, LEGO Star Wars made a believer out of me that LEGO video games could actually be fun for adults as well as children. No wonder it is a top choice for parents who game with their children.

So now, what do you do for the rest of 2020 if you want to get a LEGO Star Wars fix? Perhaps if you’ve never tried LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars or LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, now is the time to do so. You should be able to find these games for $20 or less. The good thing about these games is that they cover a lot of the Star Wars story from the films and TV shows with the exception of the movies The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One and Solo. Yet you will still find many of the characters from those movies still within the three LEGO Star Wars games listed in this paragraph. These three games should provide many hours of content to keep you busy.

If you’re looking for something Star Wars related outside of LEGO games, I would recommend Star Wars Battlefront II on the PC, PS4 and Xbox One. After a tumultuous release in 2017, EA Dice actually applied a significant amount of updates that took the game from a “pass” status to a recommended title. It is the best game to simulate the battle aspect of the Star Wars universe and it features characters and planets from the franchise’s nine main films. If you are more old school and have a PC, Playstation 2 or Xbox, the original Star Wars Battlefront II (released in 2005) is a fantastic game that covers episodes 1-6 of the main movies. There are also loads of mods for the PC version that not only add characters and maps from the main films but also the Clone Wars animated series, Knights of the Old Republic role playing games and so much more.

Like engaging stories? Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II are two role playing games that take place years before the era of we know in the main movies. You actually have choices that you make throughout the games that either put you on the side of good or evil. Knights of the Old Republic is considered BioWare’s forerunner to the Mass Effect series. There is also Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is an massively multiplayer online role playing game that you can play for free.

Lastly, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy is another option if you are on PC. Not only is the base game fantastic but there is a sandbox mod called “Knights of the Force” that allows you to create your own scenarios using an enormous amount of assets from the Star Wars universe from characters, planets, weapons, lightsabers and more. All of the games mentioned in the last three paragraphs are inexpensive at this point.

This is the trailer that was released from last week. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga has the potential to be the top earning LEGO video game of all time. It already has the huge Star Wars brand behind it, all it needs is the gameplay experience to back it up. Based on the track record of LEGO games, I know that it will do just fine. Hopefully more information on the game regarding its features will be released soon.

-TVGA