Star Wars Pit Droids Review

The lowly pit droid, ever the comic relief of the more recent iterations of the Star Wars films, is now the central figure in a new puzzle game from Lucas Arts. Star Wars Pit Droids brings the Star Wars universe into puzzling in a big way. In this title, players have to help hordes of hapless little robots find their way to their transports. This is accomplished by placing arrows on a grid that makes up the playing field. The pit droids are catapulted on the stage and walk forward aimlessly until they run into an obstacle. If the droids walk over an arrow they will turn in that direction and proceed until they hit an obstacle, another arrow, or their destination.

Each level introduces a number of droids and exits. Using the arrows, the player must get all the droids to the appropriate exits. However, in each level the player only has a certain number of arrows to work with. Sometimes the arrows are colored, meaning that only the droids of that color will follow the arrow while other ignore it. Also, the game introduces various barriers and obstacles that can only be crossed by droids of a certain color making it necessary for the player to sort the droids into the right positions before crossing the barriers. All these things combined make Star Wars Pit Droids a fairly complex and challenging puzzle game.

The animated pit droids and environments are extremely well done, and the interstitial cutscenes are fun and comical. Ultimately the game captures a more whimsical side of Star Wars that is often overlooked or under appreciated. The puzzling is top notch and remains interesting without become too complicated or overwrought. Puzzle fans and Star Wars fans alike will find something to love in this title.