How LEGO Horizon Adventures’ Hub Presents an Alternative to The Skywalker Saga

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How LEGO Horizon Adventures' Hub Presents an Alternative to The Skywalker Saga

As a seasoned gamer who has traversed countless galaxies and post-apocalyptic landscapes, I must say that the unique approach of LEGO Horizon Adventures stands out as a refreshing change from the open-world extravaganza that is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. While I’ve spent hours wandering the vast expanse of Tatooine and Hoth, the charm of Mother’s Heart in LEGO Horizon Adventures offers a cozy and engaging hub that invites customization and interaction unlike any other.

In the realm of LEGO video games, LEGO Horizon Adventures stands out in several aspects. To begin with, this particular LEGO game is unique as it’s the first to be developed by Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo, instead of the veteran LEGO game developer TT Games. Furthermore, LEGO Horizon Adventures is one of only two LEGO games that are based on an existing video game series; the other being 2009’s LEGO Rock Band. However, when it comes to gameplay and setting, there’s a significant difference between Horizon Adventures and its predecessor, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Unlike the latter which offers a fully open world, Horizon Adventures features a hub instead.

The Worlds of LEGO Horizon Adventures and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

The game titled LEGO Horizon Adventures borrows its storyline and events from the world of Horizon Zero Dawn, but presents them in LEGO’s signature humorous style. Unlike Zero Dawn, Horizon Adventures is not an expansive open-world game that allows players to freely roam post-apocalyptic regions of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah across the entire map. Instead, in Horizon Adventures , players pick quests from Mother’s Heart, the central hub of the Nora tribe’s capital. In this hub, players can modify Aloy, Varl, Teersa, and other characters, as well as construct various structures adorned with LEGO-inspired decorations inspired by Horizon, LEGO City, and Ninjago toy lines. There are also numerous other activities to engage in.

Unlike some games, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga doesn’t feature a central hub. Instead, it adapts all nine Star Wars movies that span across various alien planets, space stations, and warships located throughout the galaxy. To navigate this expansive universe, TT Games opted to let players travel directly to specific locations on each planet to progress through the main storyline. This journey might involve flying through hyperspace in different spaceships, engaging in short battles, or simply fast-traveling from one planet to another. In this game, upgrades and bonus features are acquired not from a physical shop but from a convenient menu accessible during your galactic travels.

LEGO Star Wars’ Old Hubs Explained

Previously, LEGO Star Wars games incorporated hub areas akin to Mother’s Heart, such as Dexter’s Diner from 2005’s LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game, the Mos Eisley cantina from 2006’s LEGO Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, and the warships Resolute and Invisible Hand in 2011’s LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars. These hub areas offered various unique activities and rewards, including constructing miniature LEGO sets with kits, customizing characters, and participating in side missions as bounty hunters. In addition to this, the games like LEGO Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars even permitted players to engage in short space battles as they journeyed from the Resolute to the Invisible Hand. These locations also featured characters that were unlocked and wandering around the hubs, making them seem more inhabited.

The Potential Role of Hubs in Future LEGO Games

In simpler terms, Mother’s Heart serves as a personalized village where players can interact with characters and the environment. If Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo were to create a LEGO version of Horizon Forbidden West, they could either keep Mother’s Heart as the central hub or introduce a new one called The Base, which served a similar role in Forbidden West. Additionally, Studio Gobo could expand upon Mother’s Heart by allowing players to customize interior rooms within The Base, much like how Zo personalizes her room. If Studio Gobo were to adapt other popular video games into a humorous LEGO style, they might continue using central locations such as Firelink Shrine in a LEGO Dark Souls game.

In possible future LEGO games, developers could adopt an open-world system akin to The Skywalker Saga, allowing players to navigate their worlds freely instead of relying on a central hub. For example, if Halo Studios were to create a massive Halo game as a response to Horizon Adventures, they might opt for an open-world design given the diverse galactic settings in Halo, such as various Halo rings, Earth, and High Charity. Similarly, if TT Games or another studio were to develop another LEGO Marvel or DC Comics game, they could use The Skywalker Saga’s open-world system due to the numerous locations found in both comic books and films. Both the hub system seen in LEGO Horizon Adventures and the open world in The Skywalker Saga have their own pros and cons for future LEGO games.

Studio Gobo introduces its initial LEGO game with LEGO Horizon Adventures, whereas TT Games has been responsible for creating 29 different LEGO games since the year 2005.

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2024-11-20 22:07