LEGO The Movie Videogame Review
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LEGO The Movie Videogame was released on the 14th of Feb. across all platforms to tie in with the official release of the movie in cinemas. We decided to put JJ’s thoughts into this review for Kiddies Corner, as all we have heard from him since he seen the trailer for the movie is, “It will blow your mindâ€, about a thousand times, and the fact that he couldn’t stop jumping around when the game arrived. For those of us who are not kids, well, there is a big kid inside all of us when it come to LEGO; apart from tidying up every little piece once the kids get fed up playing with it and sticking it into various orifices around their bodies. TT Games have managed to capture the spirit of the LEGO franchise in all of their releases and this one is no acception. Based around the movie and featuring some cut-scenes from the movie you play as Emmet, a builder from the construction world of LEGO. All the master builders have been imprisoned across the various lands and you have been chosen to free them and restore order to LEGO Land, and that’s the basic interpretation.
By now we are all probably familiar with the LEGO games and how they work, if you have played one, it’s like sitting down to catch up with an old friend and JJ had no trouble remembering how they worked, and got stuck in. LEGO The Movie Videogame is the first in the series to have absolutely all of the scenes and everything else on screen completely built from LEGO. This may be a good thing but, after your child sees all the things that can actually be built using the various kits, they are gone straight for the box and demand that we try build it, (and we all know kids, there is no telling them that we don’t have the parts they just want it built ). The first few hours JJ was totally engrossed in the game as more and more characters from across the LEGO games and universe started to appear. Secretly his favourite part was the rather camp dance scene in the construction area, that immediately reminded me of YMCA, it was amusing to watch the smile on his face as they danced. The game features a cast of 96 characters like Batman and Superman from Lego Batman 2, Gandalf from Lego Lord of the Rings, historic figures like Cleopatra and Abraham Lincoln are all along for this wackey ride.
As you would have guessed, each character set has their own abilities, with the master builders being the most important, their ability enables them to combine 3 green segments and quickly craft them into a vital piece of the level. There’s also the Instruction Builds: collect X number of pages of an instruction book and you’re treated to a timed mini-game where you choose the missing parts of your creation out of an eight-piece lineup. All of this thrown in amongst the usual innocent fun that these games bring to this age of violence. The LEGO games have a way of uniting parents and kids through the co-op mode, and I don’t know one adult that has said they don’t enjoy playing these games either on their own or with the kids. JJ definitely enjoys playing these titles in co-op, just so he can kick my character to pieces every chance he gets and then laughs about it, I usually spend more time running from him than progressing through the levels. LEGO The Movie Videogame is shorter than the other titles in the series with just over 6 hours to complete, but this is just motoring through the levels you then have them all unlocked for free play, and can go back through them using the characters needed to get to certain areas. The game will keep your kids entertained for months as usually they just want to potter around, kick stuff, collect the gold pieces and generally do what they want. I think JJ has replayed The Old West level about ten times just because he likes the cowboys, any game that keeps anyone entertained for that long gets a thumbs up in my book.
Big kid or not, everyone should go see the movie as most of the plot and cut-scenes are taken straight from it, and of course as JJ says, “It will blow your mind !â€. When I asked JJ for his opinion to put in the review he said two things to me “I love it !â€, and “It’s the best ever !â€, what more can I say to that he loved every minute of play and continues to love playing it. My opinion is that as far as LEGO games go this one is shorter than the others and didn’t push the original format, other than having everything made completely from LEGO. However, if the format changed too much it wouldn’t be the LEGO game we have all come to know and enjoy on a number of levels. The main plus point for me in LEGO The Movie Videogame, is the variety of different environments the adventure takes you through. It’s good clean family fun from start to finish with some surprising characters and levels, and if you bring the kids to see the movie too you won’t regret either. You may even get the reaction I did, “You are the best dad everâ€- JJ.
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