LEGO Horizon Adventures Review

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As a seasoned gamer who has spent countless hours building and battling in various LEGO games, I must say that my experience with LEGO Horizon Adventures left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. The game certainly boasts impressive graphics and a charming stop-motion style, but its level design and overall gameplay fell flat for me.

I’ve been enjoying LEGO games since 2005, starting with the original LEGO Star Wars. These games have consistently followed a traditional approach: they transform popular licenses into LEGO versions, allow for cooperative play, encourage destruction, and encourage the search for numerous collectibles while expanding a massive roster of characters to play as. However, LEGO Horizon Adventures, though similar in many aspects, was not developed by the usual LEGO game creators, Traveller’s Tales, and it does not strictly adhere to their formula for LEGO games. Regrettably, this means that LEGO Horizon Adventures may not resonate with fans of LEGO games or the PlayStation’s Horizon series.

Despite my fondness for the Traveller’s Tales LEGO games throughout the years, it’s no secret that many of them are plagued with glitches and lack polish. To illustrate, the recently remastered LEGO Harry Potter Collection is still grappling with a pesky bug from LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, an issue that has persisted for a staggering fifteen years since its launch. On the other hand, the technical prowess of LEGO Horizon Adventures is evident; it’s a game free from the usual technical issues I encounter in most LEGO games, making it a standout product in terms of quality and craftsmanship.

Although LEGO Horizon Adventures boasts a more refined quality compared to the Traveller’s Tales LEGO series, it falls short in terms of enjoyment. Unlike the Traveller’s Tales games that are brimming with destructible objects, LEGO Horizon Adventures offers far fewer, making most levels less engaging. True, there are items to destroy, but not nearly as abundant as in similar games. This results in many levels feeling monotonous, as there’s limited interaction between combat encounters.

Instead of offering thrilling platforming or puzzles, LEGO Horizon Adventures primarily has players traverse from one spot to another, gathering LEGO studs. Silver studs unlock “hidden” areas that deviate from the main path and often contain a chest to open or unique object to construct, but otherwise, the stages could be considered corridors. Even when climbing or ziplining are incorporated, they lack significant impact on the overall gameplay. These segments essentially play automatically as Aloy and her companions are drawn to ledges and ziplines if players get too near.

LEGO Horizon Adventures Has a Level Design Problem

When players aren’t battling robots or cult members, LEGO Horizon Adventures can feel excessively dull. It seems the game’s intent was to appeal to a broad audience, but it swings too far in that direction, making the whole experience feel unenjoyable. The levels in LEGO Horizon Adventures lack intrigue and do not present players with any substantial challenges. Unlike other LEGO games, there are no tricky collectibles to find; instead, there’s nothing comparable in LEGO Horizon Adventures.

Although LEGO Horizon Adventures might seem dull during the downtime between battles, the fighting sequences can be quite enjoyable. Engaging with the iconic machines from the Horizon series is what players do in this game. Just like in the original Horizon games, success in combat relies on finding and hitting the robots’ vulnerable spots for maximum damage. The game also experiments with stealth mechanics similar to those found in the Horizon series by allowing players to hide in tall grass. However, this feature doesn’t seem to serve much purpose, so players can feel free to attack any enemy they encounter without worrying about hiding or sneaking up on them.

In LEGO Horizon Adventures, battles stay engaging due to the consistent addition of novel tools for combat, as well as fresh characters to play with, each boasting unique weapons. What sets LEGO Horizon Adventures apart from many other LEGO games is its strategic approach to character selection, concentrating on four main characters rather than a multitude of interchangeable, insignificant ones. Apart from Aloy, players can also control well-known characters from the primary Horizon series such as Teersa, Erend, and Varl. Teersa employs explosives, Erend wields a hammer, and Varl uses a spear. Furthermore, there are diverse upgrades for every character’s weapons, allowing players to inflict fire damage, shock damage, ice damage, and more on enemies. Additionally, tools like the tripcaster and blast boots provide extra combat options.

LEGO Horizon Adventures Retells Zero Dawn’s Story

Beyond its battle elements, LEGO Horizon Adventures excels in storytelling by reintroducing actors from the original games, albeit with a new voice actor for Sylens following the sad demise of Lance Reddick. The characters are portrayed in a lively, cheerful manner that contrasts with the grim reality and threats faced in the main Horizon series. Essentially, LEGO Horizon Adventures offers a lighter, more optimistic take on the story of Horizon Zero Dawn, veering towards parody at times. While this less serious approach dilutes some intense moments and doesn’t treat them with the same gravity, the voice actors deliver amusing performances, complete with humorous sight gags and witty dialogue.

A potential rephrasing of your text could be: “The handling of the Zero Dawn story in LEGO Horizon Adventures has a drawback, as it simplifies things excessively, leading to plot points that become repetitive. Repetition is an issue throughout this game, with players frequently performing similar tasks and exploring visually identical locations. The game repeats the unique builds found within the stages, and the Cauldrons, resembling dungeons, don’t offer enough variation to distinguish themselves from one another. Fortunately, LEGO Horizon Adventures‘ combat, which I enjoy, might have suffered the same fate if not for its community board.

The game LEGO Horizon Adventures centers its action around Mother’s Heart village as the main hub. At the heart of this community lies a bulletin board, encouraging players to innovate their battle strategies for gold bricks rewards. Accumulating gold bricks not only provides access to additional community board challenges but also enables players to personalize the village according to their preferences. Furthermore, players can amuse themselves by dressing up Aloy and her companions in silly outfits, such as a hot dog suit or chicken costume, which they can acquire using studs gathered during gameplay.

LEGO Horizon Adventures Has Co-Op, But There’s a Catch

In LEGO Horizon Adventures, you can team up with a buddy to construct everything in Mother’s Heart. Similar to other LEGO games, this one allows for drop-in/drop-out co-op play throughout the entire game. However, some issues from previous LEGO titles have been transferred to the new game. For instance, your co-op partner won’t be able to earn any trophies in LEGO Horizon Adventures. The game may also occasionally take control away from your co-op partner if you get too far apart, moving the second player closer to the first one. This usually happens during LEGO Horizon Adventures’ larger-scale battles.

Although the cooperative aspect in LEGO Horizon Adventures could be improved, fans will still value its presence. They’ll also enjoy the aesthetics, mirroring the visuals and animation from The LEGO Movie, featuring the same stop-motion style. From a gameplay standpoint, I found LEGO Horizon Adventures unremarkable. However, it shines in terms of graphics, boasting stunning lighting effects, creative use of LEGO blocks to construct the game environment, and intricate details on the LEGO minifigures themselves.

It took me seven hours to complete LEGO Horizon Adventures’ main story missions. I also had 74% total completion at that point, so getting the Platinum doesn’t take long at all.

The LEGO Horizon Adventures game excels in certain aspects over other LEGO games, yet falls short in others. It boasts superior graphics, attention to detail, and combat compared to any other LEGO game I’ve encountered. However, it struggles with unoriginal level design and an overall lack of excitement. The game seems excessively simple, presumably aimed at children, but it might fail to engage even young players before the end credits. Despite being technically sound, LEGO Horizon Adventures is not particularly enjoyable to play.

The game titled “LEGO Horizon Adventures” will debut on November 14th, available for play on PC, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. For the purpose of this review, we received a PS5 code from Game Rant.

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2024-11-13 14:06