Real name: Unknown
Occupation: Professional criminal
Base of operations: Gotham City
Eyes: Unknown
Hair: Unknown

Born a prisoner for crimes committed by his father, the child who would become Bane survived cruel solitary confinement in a Santa Prisca prison. During his long lonely years, he developed incredible powers of concentration, and, once released into the prison population, studied every book he could get his hands on. After nearly four decades of imprisonment, he was chosen for a military experiment with the drug Venom, which greatly enhanced his strength. Escaping, he sought out Batman to prove himself to the world by destroying the greatest specimen of mankind. Bane broke Batman, but the Dark Knight went on to recover and defeat Bane.

• Master strategist
• Enhanced stamina
• Enhanced strength
• Superior hand-to-hand combatant

After his circus aerialist parents were murdered by criminals, young Dick Grayson was adopted by Bruce Wayne, becoming his ward...and his partner in the war against crime as Batman's sidekick, Robin. Years later, Robin struck out on his own as Nightwing and now lives in the corruption ridden city of Blüdhaven where by day he serves as a member of that city's police department...and patrols its streets by night as Nightwing.

Attributes:

• Expert in most known forms of martial arts
• Trained in all aspects of criminology
• Trained gymnast
• Trained in stealth and espionage techniques
• Expert escape artist

Powers and Abilities:

In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Nightwing is a bonus character, he can also utilize all of Robin’s technology suits.

Real name: Basil Karlo
Occupation: Former Actor, Professional Criminal
Base of operations: Mobile
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Black

Initially an actor in horror films, Karlo went mad when he learned a classic film of his was to be remade. He donned the mask of the film’s villain, Clayface, and killed several of the remake’s cast and crew before being stopped by Batman and Robin. Later, Karlo joined a collection of villains who subsequently used the name Clayface in an alliance that came to be known as the Mud Pack. While that group was defeated, Karlo tricked his allies, injecting himself with the essences of several of them, becoming a superhuman imbued with the abilities to change shape, melt others into protoplasm with a touch, and mimic the powers of heroes or villains he copies.

Attributes:

• Clayface can alter his physical form, adopting the appearance of anyone or anything.
• If those whose appearance he adopts have super powers, he copies those as well.
• His touch can reduce an enemy to proptoplasm.

Powers and Abilities:

In LEGO Batman: The Videogame, Clayface has the ability of super jump allowing him to jump to heights unattainable by other characters and even make his body elastic to reach higher characters. Clayface also has the ability of super strength, enabling him to pick up super strength objects and smash super strength walls.

As the game prepares to release across multiple platforms in the US on September 12, we've brought you new screenshots from LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy today. Offering less-linear levels than the original, along with other features like being able to swap LEGO pieces between more than 60 playable characters, the title should be a hit among Star Wars' army of fans.

]]> Mon, 28 Aug 2006 13:29:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_ngc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_ngc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_ngc# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

Lego Star Wars for the GameCube, despite releasing six months after its sister versions for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, is the same fun adventure you’ve experienced before. It’s got the primary characters for all of the first three episodes; it’s got gorgeous, realistic environments that Star Wars is known for; and it’s got a plethora of little tricks, force powers, extras, and secrets, and thanks to the GC version, it’s now got them – intact – on the market’s most family-friendly console. If this seems like a recipe for success, it is.

Lego Star Wars comes complete with the saga’s first three episodes, a bonus “episode”, and a ton of goodies to collect, including character biographies, tips, and gameplay extras (super large blasters, moustaches, invincibility, and about a dozen more). The game begins by casting players as Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi (you can “tag” characters to determine whom you’d rather control) and sets them in Dexter’s Diner, the HQ of Lego Star Wars. Characters you unlock as you proceed throughout all the episodes will appear in the Diner and you’ll then be able to use them in free mode, but as you first begin, you’re stuck in story mode with only one episode and one level available: Episode I, level one. Each episode has at least five levels, and each level can only be unlocked by playing through its proceeding one. The fact that Traveller’s Tales connected all the episodes to the Diner and then encouraged players to experiment with the surroundings is more than cute, as it quickly gets the game’s main point across: to proceed in this version of the Star Wars universe, you’ll have to use the force – a lot. Each item in the Diner is surrounded by a green aura as players position Qui-Gon in front of it; the green symbolizes that the item is “force-ready”, which means that players can use the force to float the item and shake it until coins – currency used for purchasing extras – pop out. After you’re done exploding soda cups and attacking Obi-Wan, it’s time to head through the first door and begin your Star Wars adventure.

Each level in Lego Star Wars is gorgeous, intricately detailed, and very befitting of the Star Wars universe. As each episode only sports five-six levels, each level is chosen for portraying some sort of important, action-packed event, so you’ll run through swamps (stopping only to marvel at your reflection in small pools), fly through space (while admiring all the bright explosions and swarming enemy vehicles), and fight through hordes of enemy droids to approach Darth Maul, Count Dooku, or even Darth Vader, and all in style. Though the environments are realistic, they’re full of lego objects and parts just waiting to be assembled by someone strong in the force, and a lot of these objects can be adjusted to enable players to reach secret locations and obtain extra goodies; in this regard, level layouts cleverly accommodate these bonuses without paying for it in loss of realism, as areas feature scorching hot lava pools, gentle patches of smoke, and beautiful overhead skies.

When it comes to featuring the characters of the Star Wars saga and then actually making use of them, Lego Star Wars takes full advantage. From Anakin and Amidala to Padme and the most meaningless trooper, every character receives a quaint lego redesign and a special power. Jedi use the force, characters with blasters can climb, droids open locked doors, and even Jar Jar has a unique super-jump ability; all of these powers are used to navigate throughout the game’s many small puzzles. Each character controls smoothly, moves fluidly, has a subtle fighting stance, and feels right at home on the GameCube. Each character is of course made of lego blocks and sports a non-lego weapon (blaster or lightsaber) and a detailed (if stereotypical) head. Darth Maul’s got the red painted face; Yoda’s present with a wrinkly, green head; and even R2-D2 rolls around with lego feet and a spinning top. Character design is adorable, and you’ll enjoy characters’ quirky motions and simplistic facial expressions as well as their little screams as their lego body parts are severed.

Perhaps to break up the monotony of using the force to build bridges, slicing droids into pieces, and scouring the environment for coins, Traveller’s Tales included a few shooting/racing environs. These sections are more difficult than the average level and are a little repetitive as every time you make a mistake, you start back from the last check point (and you’ll be making a lot of mistakes as you adjust to the different level style), but they’re fun and more fast-paced. Players can compete in the pod-race or soar through the skies while shooting down enemy ships, and although there are only three levels of this action, they’re welcome variety.

As we’re essentially living in a sea of one-player epics, it’s nice to see Traveller’s Tales offering players a two-player option that both children and adults can easily take to. To activate two-player “mode”, simply insert a second controller and hit the start button. The manual even includes a list of basic tips for adults who have never played (modern) videogames before along with encouragement to take part in a child’s playtime, and considering that the Star Wars franchise is loved by both the young and the old, Lego Star Wars is the perfect product to do so and very family-friendly.

The audio elements sound very Star Wars authentic. There’s the steady hum of the drawn lightsaber; the pitter-patter of lego feet on land or wading through small pools of water; the great, ever-present Star Wars soundtrack and boss battle theme music; the clink of money as it hits the floor; and the shake, rattle sound as items are jiggled to produce coins.

There’s very little that Lego Star Wars does wrong, but its biggest fault is the lack of a manual targeting system. Though the targeting is automatic, a manual system would have been of great help during certain segments (like the Darth Maul fight, where you have to reflect blaster beams back at droids but can’t control the direction). The camera can also be a pain as you can’t control it at all, though the times when you really need to are rare.

As you’ve heard before, this game is a fairly quick ride, and while it’s enjoyable and cute there’s no substance and thus, even with the ability to replay all the levels in story/free mode, once you’ve gone through the episodes you’re probably done.

Some people may bemoan the fact that they have to play all the episodes in order during story mode to unlock everything in free mode, or that some of the more dramatic scenes (which would have been expressed comically in lego-form) are absent, but these aren’t devastating losses.

In two-player mode, it’s been discovered that you can accidentally attacking your teammate. In one-player, your teammate is practically useless, except in rare circumstances when s/he’s needed to stand on a button, so I assume this balances out.

And finally, there’s no voiceacting, but this is a little quirk that doesn’t detract from the game at all.

Lego Star Wars is a fun, adventurous one or two-player game for the whole family, and it features all the recent Star Wars lore and more active scenes for those who just love a good, old fashioned Star Wars fight. It’s a quick trip, though, and the game is quite easy to play, even with the few difficult puzzles and racing/shooting sequences. If you have any appreciation of Star Wars at all, Lego Star Wars deserves a look.

Fun and imaginative, though short and overly simplistic. Good two-player option.

Lovely environments and nice special effects, but nothing too high caliber. Cute characters.

The superb Star Wars soundtrack, but no voicework. Solid ambient noises, though.

You’ll enjoy it, but you’ll enjoy it more with a friend.

Some of you are going to love finding all the extra secrets in each level.

]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2006 14:01:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_xbox http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_lego_star_wars_xbox# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Chances are that when you first heard about Lego Star Wars, you were a bit skeptical, especially if you played the terrible Super Bombad Racing, which was also geared towards children. While the game’s premise, familiar Star Wars characters in Lego form, might not seem like the best idea for a game, it works remarkably well. It’s fast-paced, accessible to a wide age group, and above all else, fun.



The developer, Traveller’s Tales, has done an excellent job of making the game enjoyable for all age groups. Certainly the character design appeals to a younger crowd, as does the basic gameplay, but the older crowd will enjoy the story, inside jokes, and the challenge of going back into levels they’ve already beaten to find hidden items and unlock the game’s many secrets. Lego Star Wars doesn’t focus on just one film in the saga, but instead devotes equal time to the three newer movies, Episodes I, II, and III.

The game begins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in a hub area, where you can purchase hints and unlockable characters using the currency you found in the levels. After heading through the Episode I door, you enter another hub area, where six doors represent each chapter of the movie. The levels follow the basic storyline of the movie, focusing on the exciting parts, and moving things along at a brisk pace. Rest assured there is no playable scene where you must argue about the ramifications of a trade dispute in front of the senate here.

In each level you start with a couple of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Qui-Gon is powerful, Obi-Wan is quick, Jar-Jar can jump high, droids can open doors, Anakin can crawl through ducts, and Amidala can use a grappling hook and fire a blaster. Switching between characters is as simple as walking up to the one you want to use and pressing the triangle button. As you make your way through each level, you’ll use the force to move blocks, open doors, and solve simple puzzles. There is some platform jumping here and there, but thankfully it’s not a whole lot, because the game’s camera really isn’t conducive to that style of gameplay.

Combat is a breeze, which is a good thing because you’ll be taking out hundreds of bad guys while saving the galaxy. There’s one attack button, which will swing your lightsaber or fire your blaster, one jump button, and another to use the force push. Despite these simple controls there are many moves available, though many of the lightsaber moves only happen in certain situations. You can reflect blaster fire with a well-timed swing of your lightsaber, and it’s quite rewarding to watch the droid that made the mistake of firing at you pay for that mistake by getting blown up by his own shot.

There are no “lives” to lose in the game; it just costs you some of your money when you die. After you’re killed, some of the Lego pieces you’ve collected fall to the ground (like in Sonic the Hedgehog) and you can scramble about quickly after respawning to pick some of them back up, making your death a bit easier on the wallet.

One of the game’s key focal points is co-op play, which is an absolute blast to play. You and a friend can play through the levels fighting hordes of droids and solving puzzles together.

After you beat a level, you can go back with any character you’ve unlocked to search for hidden items, or collect currency. Some things can only be reached by specific characters, so it will be necessary to head back to each level a couple of times to find everything. Fortunately the levels are so much fun that revisiting them doesn’t feel like a chore; a rare feat for a game that has so much to collect.

In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, all of the characters in the game are made from Lego. It might look a little odd at first, but the unique design actually works, and feels right at home in this game. All of the characters are easy to recognize, even in their Lego forms, and with 30 unlockable characters there are sure to be some pleasant surprises when you unlock them all.

Lego Star Wars is a gorgeous game with backgrounds and special effects that one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see based on the simple character design. The levels are faithfully recreated from their movie counterparts, and they simply look terrific, even the water in the game looks great. The framerate is smooth, and the draw distance is also quite impressive.

Other than the occasional scream when someone dies, there’s no voiceacting in the game, and the characters all convey emotion via facial expressions and body language. This works really well, and when you realize that this means you don’t have to listen to Jar-Jar Binks, you’ll be singing the praises of whoever decided against using voices.

Of course, all of the sound effects from the movies are here; lightsabers, blasters, and droids all sound exactly as they should. The soundtrack is also lifted straight from the movies, and is used to effectively to convey a sense of danger and urgency when it kicks in as you enter a room.



The game’s camera, which is rather unfriendly in the single-player mode, works quite a bit better when two people are playing at once. It’s not really much different, but since it moves so infrequently, it makes it easy to move around large rooms while far apart from one another. It would be nice when you’re controlling the same characters at the same time for them to at least have different colored uniforms, or an indicator letting you know who is who, but that’s not in the game as of yet. You can also “accidentally” kill your partner, which happens from time to time since it can be tough not to hit him when fighting in close quarters. It’s nice to be able to kill him when he screws up and makes you angry, but it’s not so much fun when you’re close together, working to take out a bad guy, or when he bumps you off a ledge when turning on his lightsaber.

In addition to fighting on-foot, Lego Star Wars has numerous vehicles that you can pilot throughout the game. These sequences just aren’t as much fun as the rest of the game; they’re frustrating, and not being able to skip in-race cutscenes makes them grow old quickly. The flying sequences aren’t too bad, but the pod-race is pretty painful if you’re not very good at racing titles.

The game’s so enjoyable that going back to previously completed levels to collect more items is fun, and doesn’t feel like a chore. People that are strongly opposed to collecting items won’t get the same replay value as others, but a little Lego Darth Vader is good incentive to find every item in the game.



If you’ve got someone else to play with, especially a younger sibling or a child, Lego Star Wars is the ideal game. It’s challenging enough to keep your attention, and the unique design allows stronger players to take charge and lead a lesser player through a level. If you’re a parent, this means your kids can save your hide and get you through the hard parts. Even if you’ve got nobody else to play with, but you’re a fan of the series, the game is worth a purchase. Traveller’s Tales and Eidos should be commended for taking a chance on a game concept that many people don’t initially find appealing, and making it enjoyable.

The gameplay hides surprising depth for a game of this genre.

Surprisingly pretty graphics and some nice special effects.

Extra points for not having Jar-Jar speak. Music is of course great.

If you’ve got someone to play with, this game is a blast.

The game makes collecting items fun with some cool unlockables.

]]> Fri, 29 Apr 2005 14:48:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lego_star_wars_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lego_star_wars_ps21 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_lego_star_wars_ps21# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

Games based on the Star Wars franchise have always been a hit or miss proposition. For every Knights of the Old Republic there’s a Super Bombad Racing, and for every Rogue Squadron, there’s usually a handful of horrible GameBoy games shoveled out to retail. Many eyebrows, including my own, were raised when Eidos announced that they would be publishing Lego Star Wars, a game featuring the familiar Star Wars saga with Lego characters and ships. But, after some extensive playtime with the game, I am happy to say that the force is strong with this one.

Lego Star Wars is being developed by Traveller’s Tales, a group with several Disney games under their belt, so you might assume that this game is being designed with kids in mind. Well, yes and no. The developers have done an excellent job of making the game enjoyable for all age groups. Certainly the character design appeals to a younger crowd, as does the basic gameplay, but the older crowd will enjoy the story, inside jokes, and the challenge of going back into levels they’ve already beaten to find hidden items and unlock the game’s many secrets.

One of the nice things about Lego Star Wars is that it doesn’t focus on just one film in the saga, but instead devotes equal time to the first three episodes. This preview will focus on Episode I, with later updates taking a look at the other movies covered in the game. I’d happily talk about Episode III now, but Eidos would of course, be forced to lock me in a room with Jar-Jar for the rest of my life.

The game begins with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in a hub area, where you can purchase hints and unlockable characters using the currency you found in the levels. After heading through the Episode I door, you enter another hub area, where six doors represent each chapter of the movie. The levels follow the basic storyline of the movie, focusing on the exciting parts, and moving things along at a brisk pace. Rest assured there is no playable scene where you must argue about the ramifications of a trade dispute in front of the senate here.

In each level you start with a couple of characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Qui-Gon is powerful, Obi-Wan is quick, Jar-Jar can jump high, droids can open doors, Anakin can crawl through ducts, and Amidala can use a grappling hook and fire a blaster. Switching between characters is as simple as walking up to the one you want to use and pressing the triangle button. As you make your way through each level, you’ll use the force to move blocks, open doors, and solve simple puzzles. There is some platform jumping here and there, but thankfully it’s not a whole lot, because the game’s camera really isn’t conducive to that style of gameplay.

Combat is a breeze, which is a good thing because you’ll be taking out hundreds of bad guys while saving the galaxy. There’s one attack button, which will swing your light saber or fire your blaster, one jump button, and another to use the force push. Despite these simple controls there are many moves available, though many of the light saber moves only happen in certain situations. You can reflect blaster fire with a well timed swing of your light saber, and it’s quite rewarding to watch the droid that made the mistake of firing at you pay for that mistake by getting blown up by his own shot.

There are no “lives” to lose in the game; it just costs you some of your money when you die. After you’re killed, some of the Lego pieces you’ve collected fall to the ground (like in Sonic the Hedgehog) and you can scramble about quickly after respawning to pick some of them back up, making your death a bit easier on the wallet.

One of the game’s key focal points is co-op play, which is an absolute blast to play. You and a friend can play through the levels fighting hordes of droids and solving puzzles together. The game’s camera, which is rather unfriendly in the single-player mode, works quite a bit better when two people are playing at once. It’s not really much different, but since it moves so infrequently, it makes it easy to move around large rooms while far apart from one another. It would be nice when you’re controlling the same characters at the same time for them to at least have different colored uniforms, or an indicator letting you know who is who, but that’s not in the game as of yet. You can also “accidentally” kill your partner, which happens from time to time since it can be tough not to hit them when fighting in close quarters. It’s nice to be able to kill them when they screw up and make you angry, but it’s not so much fun when you’re close together, working to take out a bad guy, or when they bump you off a ledge when turning on their light saber.

In case you hadn’t figured it out by now, all of the characters in the game are made from Lego. It might look a little odd at first, but the unique design actually works, and feels right at home in this game. All of the characters are easy to recognize, even in their Lego form, and with 30 unlockable characters, there are sure to be some pleasant surprises when you unlock them all.

Lego Star Wars is a gorgeous game with backgrounds and special effects that one wouldn’t necessarily expect to see based on the simple character design. The levels are faithfully recreated from their movie counterparts, and they simply look terrific, even the water in the game looks great. The framerate is smooth, and the draw distance is also quite impressive.

Of course, all of the sound effects from the movies are here; light sabers, blasters, and droids all sound exactly as they should. The soundtrack is also lifted straight from the movies, and is used to effectively to convey a sense of danger and urgency when it kicks in as you enter a room.




Count me in as one of the converted when it comes to Lego Star Wars. After enduring Bombad Racing, it’s tough to think such creative license could be successfully applied to the Star Wars franchise, but Traveller’s Tales looks to be doing an outstanding job. It’s already the best co-op I’ve played on the PlayStation 2, and even though it’s not finished yet, it’s one of the best Star Wars games I’ve ever played. ]]> Wed, 02 Mar 2005 21:54:00 -0600