It’s been a while since I picked up the trusty DualShock 3. Not because I have been consumed by the PS4, but due to the fact I have just moved and the consoles have been in a box, somewhere in a shipping container. They have survived their ordeal and I had the LEGO Movie Videogame waiting for me to get back into the swing of things. Did it satisfy my gaming cravings? Well, yes and no….
The game is essentially the same as the film, so I won’t go into too much detail as it would spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it. In brief, the story revolves around Emmet Brickowski, an overly positive (and slightly camp) construction worker (village people anyone?!). Upon discovering a supernatural relic, Emmet finds himself on a journey to save the LEGO universe from Lord Business, who curiously wants to freeze everything and everyone. Building is definitely at the forefront of this game, even more so than previous LEGO games and as such Emmet and his strange band of friends and master builders have to do a lot of this as they progress through the game.
Unless you have been playing hide and seek for the last few years and have been especially good at it, you will know the LEGO formula well. This game has it in spades and it works, but the slight tweaks haven’t really progressed the feel of this as much as I would have liked. If you are a fan of the ‘smash it’ and ‘build it’ regime you will be a happy bunny, but if you want a massive progression in the gameplay you will be disappointed.
Visually, apart from a few glitches that are few and far between, it looks as good as a LEGO game should. It is more colourful than the back catalogue has been before and as it is a standalone game/film the creative side is showing through. There are plenty of characters to choose from including some well known ones such as the Green Lantern and Spiderman, and some not so well known, but equally as interesting; Metal Beard is my favourite and reminds me of the P-5000 work loader in Aliens.
The storyline is ok… slightly strange in my opinion, and it confused my son to the point that I gave up trying to work out his description of the gameplay. The cut scenes are very good and are more movie like than in LEGO Marvel Superheroes. A lot of the jokes and dialogue are aimed at an older audience, in the same way Toy Story had enough adult aimed content/references to keep parents happy. Being the owner of a 6 year old son I should by now have sat through the LEGO Movie, sadly due to the move I have not and I think this puts me at a bit of a disadvantage when reviewing this game, let me explain:
My first real foray into the LEGO games was LEGO Marvel Superheroes, a game I reviewed for Codec Moments last year. Such was the positive effect it had on me, I looked back on the LEGO back catalogue and played titles such as Batman, Star Wars and Indiana Jones. I wanted to play these games, as like LEGO Marvel Superheroes, I wanted to see how the LEGO guys would interpret the city of Gotham and iconic characters from Star Wars. I have watched these films along with all the Superhero films and have a fondness for them. In this lies the problem with The LEGO Movie Videogame, it has to stand on its own as a game, I have no expectations or rose tinted specs that would excuse any problems with the gameplay. I don’t know many of the characters, the lead character in particular, so they have to be better and impress me more than previous well known film adaptations. I didn’t play the Harry Potter LEGO games as I don’t like Harry Potter – yes, they would have the LEGO gameplay but with wizards on broom sticks? No thanks.
Overall for me the game looks good and has the same LEGO robustness, if you like the film chances are you would like this game. For me, it just falls short and leaves me a little flat.
PlayStation 3 review copy provided by Warner Bros. PR team.
The Verdict
Graham
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