Version tested: PS4
Game length: 7 hours (1st playthrough)
PEGI: 7 years
RRP: ?20-25 online
The game is available rather cheaply, I got it for ?24.99 on launch from Amazon.co.uk and I believe it's only ?21 at time of writing, bargain!
The Lego Movie ?VideoGame? is the latest in the series of Lego games and second to be available on Xbox One and Playstation 4. A digital foundry assessment suggests both NG games play almost identically on the consoles, with crisp 1080p visuals as a step up for the game, and sadly a reduction to 30fps on the framerate. (For tech nerds, this is the first confirmed game to run at more than full HD on PS4, with downscaling in order to provide smoother edges.)
This is my first Lego game where I put more than half an hour in, and that is because my 7 year old daughter is now old enough to play and enjoy games. The format is fairly well defined: A hub is available for each world, and then a sub level or two breaks off the hub and the concept is: "Collect coins, Solve puzzles, Make things, Break things and look for secrets." There is a huge number of characters to find and use, but actually it boils down to about half a dozen special skills that are needed: A jack hammer to smash concrete, Laser to melt Gold, Higher Jump, Mast that can be used as a swing hook, A hacking ability and mini pacman game etc etc...
The game looks absolutely AMAZING, it really does, and it seems to have a great sense of humour. I haven't seen the film, but I got an impression that many of the funny scenes and lines were being used in the game, so maybe watching that first would have been better.
Here are some captures I took:
What impressed me visually was the fact that everything was made of lego blocks,
and the care and love the design team put in is incredible. Playing with a 7 year old was perfect. You respawn immediately, so basically the focus is teamwork. You have to solve the puzzles together and this is something that we both really enjoyed very much. The "Cuckoo world" was her favourite and for her scuba diving daddy, my favourite was on and outside a crazy submarine.
I suppose the game could be considered an interactive kids novel really. There aren't many places where true skill is needed, but more good communication about who does what. My daughter was very clear that my role would be as the "Helper." She was to do all the interesting stuff, and I was to always be the guy hanging around taking care of the enemy, on only a few occasions did I have to step in and help.
We used 7 hours to complete the game first time around (23%) and the goal now is to return to each level and use new superpowers to unlock secrets and golden plans needed
My daughter says that she would now score Knack 4/10 because it was just "The same all the time dad, just smash smash smash" and she would score Lego Movie as an 11/10 because "It's so pretty and you can do so much and we can play together. And Kitty gets very angry
" I'd give the game a solid 7/10 and perfect for sharing with the small ones.I hope this first play was of interest. I believe the game is smaller and less complicated that other games in the series (Rushed for the movie release no doubt) so really ideal for the youngest of gamers. For twenty pounds I think the price is absolutely spot on and it would make a great PSN+ candidate.
7/10
Comment