Those that have played a lot of LEGO games, particularly those tied to movies, know the drill by now. Iconic scenes, some of which that are actually light on action, are recreated and exaggerated in order to deliver fun, accessible gaming. It's a formula that works well, too, even if over-familiarity may be leading to a little weariness.

The upcoming release of LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens is an interesting one, then, as it has to make a full game out of a relatively limited number of action scenes. There'll be some exclusive backstory content to flesh it out, while there'll also be sections that take relatively innocuous scenes - from an action standpoint - and turn them into full-blown levels.

The early scenes of Rey on Jakku seem to be undergoing this process. Lead artist on the game, Josh Pickering Pick, has shown Game Informer how early scenes of dune sledding and scavenging in a wrecked Star Destroyer actually form the basis for a level.

I think this one just works really well. It's nice and varied, you get to slide down this section here, and then you land into this arena area where you have some gameplay, then you move into the hangar as well. It's destroyed and darker inside. For one level it's got quite a few unique areas visually, which is always a challenge.

The section in question is below - first is the wire frame build, and then below you can see a fully rendered version of the stage in the game's engine.

LEGO Jakku concept.jpg
LEGO Jakku.jpg

They've made this in 3D to elaborate on their written design.

I get a look at it at this stage, and I can play it in the game and I can give my feedback on it, which is usually sometimes performance feedback or sometimes asking 'How am I going make that work, how am I going to make that realistic?

The process of signing off on a level can apparently take around six weeks, placing great importance on early concept work so that development time isn't wasted.

We're rather looking forward to LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, even if we're not expecting it to shake up the series formula. We're also aware that our LEGO Marvel's Avengers Wii U review is overdue - it'll be with you very soon.

[source gameinformer.com]