As the name of this game clearly suggests, The Lego Movie Videogame is based directly from its movie counterpart. So with that in mind, for those that plan on watching the movie, obviously there will be spoilers ahead. Long ago the good wizard Vitruvius attempts to stop the all powerful super weapon known as the Kragle from falling into evil clutches. Even with Vitruvius most valiant efforts, he cannot avoid the Kragle from falling into the villainous hands of the evil Lord Business. When all hope seems to be lost, Vitruvius informs the evil Lord Business of an individual, a prophet simply referred to as the ‘Special’ one and he is the key to finding the Piece of Resistance, the only tool capable of stopping the mighty Kragle from leashing its power.
More than eight years have passed and we are introduced to our unlikely hero, Emmet Brickowski. He is a simple construction worker that loves to build with Lego bricks. He’s a simple man, with a simple life, with simple needs, unbeknown to him what his true destiny beholds. After spending what seems an ordinary day at work, Emmet falls into a portal and by what seems to be complete chance, he discovers the great Piece of Resistance. The Piece of Resistance draws Emmet near to it and he has an uncontrollable urge to touch it and when he does his purpose in life flashes before his very eyes. He then wakes up being held in custody by the Bad Cop, who just so happens to be Lord Business’ left lieutenant. It is here when Emmet discovers that the Lord Business plans on using the Kragle to destroy the world and just when things were about to go from bad to worse, a mysterious girl named Wyldstyle swoops in to save Emmet from the Bad Cop.
Emmet has no idea of his importance to the survival of the human race and truth be told, Wyldstyle doubts Emmet’s prophecy. All she knows is that Emmet is apparently the one prophecy that can save the world from the evil Lord Business. Is Emmet really the unlikely hero or is he a simple man that was in the wrong place at the wrong time?
In terms of visuals The Lego Movie Videogame is quite possibly the most joyful looking Lego game yet, I can’t think of any better way to describe it. It’s bright, busy and cheerful, everything that you would wish a Lego game to be. But the standout visual feature to The Lego Movie Videogame in my opinion is that the whole game is made from Lego. Now I know what you must be thinking “Well of course everything is made from Lego, it’s a Lego game after all!” Every other Lego game is made from Lego, of course it is. But in this game literally everything from buildings, environmental objects, vehicles to the floor is all Lego. For example in Lego Marvel Super Heroes just about everything is made from Lego, apart from the floor and even some environment objects.
With The Lego Movie Videogame having its world completely made from individual Lego bricks, it makes the experience as a whole all that more authentic and its one that I’m sure almost every Lego fan will appreciate. With it also being an addition to its movie counterpart, while the vast majority of the game is in real time, it will of course have its customary movie cuts-cenes. They don’t seem to last all that long, perhaps a minute at best, but it’s enough to help evolve the story within the videogame and not too much to ruin the movie for whenever you choose to watch it (if you haven’t already). While I can only speak for the Xbox One version of the game, The Lego Movie Videogame looks fantastic and its authentic visual style is trend that I really hope we’ll see more of in the near future.
If I was to have one very minor criticism with this game, it would be via its in-game soundtrack. To put it simply, it’s very repetitive and within minutes I found myself accessing the in-game options to turn down the music. Though in saying that, its “Everything is awesome” jingle will stick in your head long after playing the game, whether you enjoy that tune or if it annoys the hell out of you.
By now fans of the Lego series will know exactly what to expect in terms of gameplay, thankfully those that are new to the franchise will have no problems what so ever picking up and playing this ever so accessible title. The easy pick and play factor is one key appeals to the franchise and The Lego Movie Videogame is no exception. Within no time you will be running around easily disposing of enemies, smashing just about everything up in sight and building Lego bricks to your heart’s content, it’s just some of the many reasons why we love the Lego games after all.
Each character within the game will have their own unique skills (though many also have the same skills as others) which will allow them to have their own part to play in story progression and puzzle solving. During your first playthrough you will always have with you the characters that will get you from A to B, but there will also be plenty of puzzles and certain areas that those characters won’t be able to access initially. This is where the much needed replay value will come into play, because as you unlock each new character whether it be via story progression or purchase, most will allow you to back track and reach those previously unreachable areas or puzzles.
There are a few new simple puzzles to The Lego Movie Videogame, such as a dance rhythmic mini-game which will require you to press the QTE as perfectly in-time as you can. The other new puzzles (if you can really call them that) are incredibly simple as you might expect, but a lot of fun none the less and should crack a slight smile to even the most clay-faced of gamer. One new addition that I really appreciate in this title is the instruction manual based mini-games. Pretty much all Lego objects that need to be built up will be done so by holding down the Circle button, but from time to time you will now be prompted with a mini-game. How this would work is that you’ll have before your very eyes instruction manual to how to build a certain object, not too dissimilar to what you will find in real Lego sets. You will then be prompted to find the required Lego piece to match the on-screen prompt, the faster you find the correct piece, the more coin bonus that you will receive.
Again the instruction manual mini-game is very simple puzzle, but a welcomed addition none the less as it a nice touch and adds more authenticity. It’s not something that your required to do every time you build a new object, just most of the key story progression objects. It’s a feature that I quite like and from what I hear, it’s something that will be carried over into the forthcoming Lego The Hobbit.
There is one huge overdue addition to this Lego game instalment and that is finally you can have the camera inverted! While I can play a game without the invert, it can get very uncomfortable and awkward at times and is something that we’ve just had to deal with in all previous Lego games. But now we can finally have an inverted camera, it’s a godsend to all us backwards gamers out there and I will be keeping my fingers crossed that you have the option to invert the camera will all future Lego games.
After playing games such Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes, Lego Lord of the Rings and the more recent Lego Marvel Super Heroes, we’ve been a little spoilt with their open worlds. While The Lego Movie Videogame does offer a certain degree of freedom within realms, you’d be wrong in thinking that you’ll have the kind of freedom that you might be use to with recent games. It took a little getting used to at first, but it certainly doesn’t hamper your enjoyment of the game. The Lego Movie Videogame has far less restriction then Lego games of old, but If you think of Lego games such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, then you’re getting close to the kind of freedom that you’ll be leased in this instalment, just with a little more exploration.
As with most Lego games, The Lego Movie Videogame comes with bags full of replay value. You still have the vast amount of characters to unlock, many of which will allow you to access some previously unreachable locations. You also have bonus items to acquire such as collecting all the golden manuals, Red Bricks and all the pairs of pants (trousers in the UK) and much more. So there’s plenty in The Lego Movie Videogame to keep you busy for a very long time, not to mention you can team up with a friend for some good old co-op action.
The Lego Movie Videogame is the weakest Lego game in recent years. I think the success of the more recent Lego games has perhaps set our standards high for almost any future entry into the franchise and rightly so, the games have been great recently. The Lego Movie Videogame is almost like a time warp for games of old, before the days of the huge open worlds. This by no means should put off any potential fans considering a purchase, because The Lego Movie Videogame is great fun, a perfect no brainer pick up and play kind of game.
As with all Lego games, this instalment has a perfect dose of family fun for all ages and with the movie tie-in genre being somewhat cursed, The Lego Movie Videogame is one of the best movie companions that I’ve played and Lego fans should certainly consider picking this game up, because when anything involves Lego…everything is awesome!