Level Review: "Sack Wars ep. IV : too late!" by Deweychat

"Sack Wars ep. IV : too late!"

I first saw this level while I searched for Star Wars themed LBP levels on-line. There are numerous levels that are Star Wars inspired, some are more successful than others in capturing the Star Wars essence. Most levels are simulations of vehicles such as the AT-AT, the snowspeeder, the land speeder, the X-wing fighter, etc… There is only a handful that tries to immerse the player into the Star Wars universe in the Little Big Planet style.

"Sack Wars ep. IV : too late!" is a level created by Deweychat, in my opinion, is the best Star Wars parody that I have played so far. The level captures all the major events from the movie Star Wars: A New Hope, but gives it a hilarious spin to the storyline. As stated in the title, you get to follow Luke's journey, but just a bit behind the actual storyline. So you arrive at every scene after it had already happened.

Here is the footage of on youtube:

The overall craftsmanship of the level is not very good, but it does gives a certain charm to the level so it stands out from others. Example, paint that does not cover the entire object, objects with jagged edges, visible patch works, and camera views that wonders off and reveals glimpse of unfinished areas are what makes the overall design and look of the level kind of “rough around the edges”. But surprisingly, it works in this case. It did for George Lucas with his original production design of A New Hope.

Some memorable scenes would be the Rebel Blockage Runner escape pod drop to Tatooine; the trip on the Jawa's Sand Crawler thru the “sand storm”; the visit to the cantina to meet Chewie’s brother Dewie; the light speed ride on the Millenium Falcon 2 and the crash land into the Death Star; the Death Star trench was quick but presented effectively to get the point across which led to the destruction of the Death Star.

In general, the level was not too hard to get thru; there are some frustrating moments like jumping over a crate in the Blockade Runner while avoiding laser beams (very beginning of the level); or a scene in the Death Star where you are trying to jump on to some wobbly tiny platforms and not fall into an electrified pit. There are some glitches that I discovered by accident.

- Getting on the Jawa Sand Crawler, make sure you don’t leave the sponge stuck on the high platform. Because if you die before you get to the cockpit of the crawler, you will be forced to start over because there is no other way to climb up the crawler.

- Don’t die inside the cantina before you get on board the Millenium Falcon 2 (I am sure the creator did not expect anyone to die in the cantina scene). The cantina door opens after you activate the switch high above the door and closes right after you enter the cantina. However, once the switch is activated, there is no way to activate the door again. If you happen to die inside the catina, you will respawn outside of the cantina staring at a closed cantina.

I appreciated the details that Deweychat put into the creation of this level which made the level a better Star Wars inspired level compared to other. You can be the judge of it by playing it. Let me know what you think!

My rating for this level is as follow:

Overall Impression: B

Replay Value: B-

Storyline: B+

Craftsmanship: C

Prizes and Gifts: C-