Lego Horizon Adventures – Destructoid

Lego has actually turn out to be a staple within the online game world over time, taking on common worlds and including the extra informal and foolish Lego allure. Final yr, the Lego universe expanded a bit extra outdoors of the field with cart-racer Lego 2K Drive and the open-world survival Minecraft-like Lego Fortnite. However the subsequent chapter within the Lego universe, Lego Horizon Adventures, is a bit outdoors the traditional Lego method.

Whereas earlier action-adventure Lego video games have taken place contained in the worlds of legendary film franchises (Star Wars, Marvel, Jurassic World, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and so on.) Lego Horizon Adventures is exclusive in that it serves as an abridged reinterpretation of the unique Horizon Zero Daybreak.

My largest concern going into Lego Horizon Adventures was that I wasn’t certain how effectively the world of Horizon would translate right into a Lego recreation. As nice of a recreation Horizon Zero Daybreak is, it’s primarily due to its unbelievable story, huge lovely open world, and fast-paced and difficult gameplay. All of those are issues that Lego video games sometimes strip out when changing to the Lego universe.

Lego Horizon Adventures (PC, PS5 [Reviewed], Swap)
Developer: Guerilla Video games and Studio Gobo
Writer: PlayStation Studios and Sony Interactive Leisure
Launched: November 14th, 2024
MSRP: $59.99

Lego Horizon Adventures begins off identical to Zero Daybreak. For these not acquainted with Horizon, the world is a post-apocalyptic United States 1,000 years sooner or later. Humanity has been scattered and compelled to type primitive tribes that attempt to combine the know-how of the “Previous World” into their on a regular basis life. By way of story, I can’t stress sufficient how a lot of the story of Horizon Zero Daybreak is omitted, trivialized, or just not defined in Lego Horizon Adventures. I do know that’s frequent for the Lego video games, however I simply need to level out that in case you haven’t performed the unique and are enthusiastic about doing so in some unspecified time in the future, I’d advocate doing so earlier than leaping into the Lego world of Horizon.

As a substitute of roaming round exploring the mysterious world, you’ll play by principally linear ranges break up into totally different areas. Between every degree, you’ll return to your tribal village the place you’ll be able to work together with NPCs on the village—although there’s not a lot motive to take action—in addition to rebuild the village the way you need. Then, head to the doorway into the realm of the extent you need to embark on and repeat the method. Every of the degrees in a specified zone is comparable in design and structure, however not utterly similar. There are a number of facet paths you’ll be able to go right down to open a chest filled with studs however for essentially the most half, the degrees are utterly linear and really fast, with each solely taking a couple of minutes to finish.

Once I first found the village constructing function, I had hoped it might be significant and unlock new interactions or much more programs to discover. As a substitute, it’s principally simply beauty fluff that means that you can select from a wide range of prebuilt constructions with totally different coats of paint—principally themes from different Lego franchises like Lego Metropolis and Lego Ninjago—to throw down in your village as you full a sure variety of missions. It’s basically a moneysink—err, studsink—for spending your forex earned by enjoying by the degrees, however for essentially the most half, every part is simply ornament.

Embarking on a mission will take you on a linear journey by the realm, progressing part of the story as you run by the extent performing some gentle platforming, gathering studs, and combating off numerous enemies that spawn all through the extent together with humanoid cultists and staple animal-like machines that Horizon is understood for. The machines have distinctive weak factors much like their counterparts in Horizon Zero Daybreak. When focused, you’ll inflict large harm to the machines, permitting you to take them down a lot faster.

The gameplay itself is about what I anticipated from a Lego model of Horizon. You maintain sq. to nock again an arrow then fireplace it in any path, aiming together with your thumbstick. As you kill enemies they will drop numerous powerups corresponding to a model of your bow that catches your enemy on fireplace on hit. There are three aspect varieties: fireplace, ice, and lightning. Some enemies are weak to sure aspect varieties, however even when they aren’t they will nonetheless typically be taken down in a number of hits together with your bow. Hitting them with the aspect they’re weak to will typically simply reduce that down to 1 or two hits.

There are additionally utility objects you’ll be able to choose as much as additional develop your arsenal. There are all kinds of things—typically foolish ones—that enable to interact in fight in a wide range of methods. One such merchandise acted as a large hammer that allowed you to slam into your enemies. One other had you shortly construct a, uh, sizzling canine stand, the place the seller threw explosive sizzling canine at close by enemies. Yep, sizzling canine bombs.

I’d describe the fight in Lego Horizon Adventures as higher than a lot of the Lego video games, however total nonetheless a bit missing. My largest gripe with the fight is there is no such thing as a evade or dodge roll kind of mechanic, which I really feel would actually add to the fight right here. Quite a lot of the enemies do telegraphed assaults that present up as an enormous AoE circle or a line that you must get out of the way in which of earlier than the enemy prices at you. However with none kind of dodge motion, you should cease attacking after which simply run out of the way in which. It slows down the fight and at many instances I nonetheless discovered myself hitting a button to try to dodge out of the way in which simply because it actually feels such as you’re supposed to have the ability to.

I believe my largest problem with Lego Horizon Adventures is that I don’t actually know who it was made for. Though it’s an abridged reinterpretation of the Zero Daybreak story, far an excessive amount of has been omitted, watered down, and even simply downright skipped or not defined to make the story wherever close to as coherent or significant. If you happen to haven’t performed Horizon Zero Daybreak, this actually isn’t simply an alternate alternative to the expertise. There’s an excessive amount of lacking, and every part that makes Horizon Zero Daybreak the nice recreation that it’s is solely not there in its Lego rendition.

And on the flip facet, when you’ve got performed by and loved the unique recreation, what motive is there to expertise the watered-down Lego model? For many Lego video games, the complete storylines for the video games (as soon as once more, Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, and so on) merely don’t have playable media in which you’ll discover their worlds. Becoming a member of the Lego video games universe means that you can really play in these worlds for the primary time whereas in any other case they will solely be explored by their films. That’s not the case right here; if you wish to play within the Horizon universe, you’ll be able to play Horizon Zero Daybreak and even Horizon Forbidden West.

To be clear, there’s actually an viewers for Lego Horizon Adventures. If you happen to’re an enormous fan of the Lego recreation method and both love Horizon Zero Daybreak or have no real interest in ever enjoying by it, there’s some enjoyable available blasting by the sport, particularly when you’ve got somebody to co-op it with. However for me, I shortly discovered the complete expertise very repetitive and never a real illustration of what makes Horizon particular. Look, I’m a Lego fan. However this time round, I really feel it actually doesn’t do the supply materials justice.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}