no img no img

Write what you are looking for and press enter to begin your search!

Logo
live-news-icon

Live News

GNOSIA Anime Set To Debut In 2025: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // Visions of Mana Director Ryosuke Yoshida Departs Ouka Studios for Square Enix: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here // Hot Toys Teases Mysterious Squid Game Figures: In an intense match, the Lone Wolves came out victorious. Read all about the big night here
post-16 post-13

LEGO Horizon Adventures Review: Another Brick In The Wall?

Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (version reviewed), Nintendo Switch, PC
Genre: Action, Family, All-Ages Co-Op LEGO Game

The LEGO series of video games based on famous movie adaptations have always found great success with a mainstream audience, whether it’s superheroes or popular works of fiction like Jurassic Park or Star Wars. But what if you were to adapt an 8-year old video game franchise made by the people in charge of Killzone? A LEGO video game adaptation of a video game does boggle the mind, and also begs the question “why not an older and more popular franchise like Mario or Sonic?”.

Perhaps it’s a way for Sony Interactive Entertainment to spread the love of its cherished IP with robot dinosaurs further; I’m referring to the Horizon series, and in this context, LEGO Horizon Adventures. This also opens up the question: why not another bigger and more relatable IP from Sony who has a huge library of original and dormant game series?

The answer: because they arguably don’t look as good in LEGO form. A series with tons of robot animals and dinosaurs would look fabulous in Denmark-made brick form, and that really shows when you see LEGO Horizon Adventures in action!

 

Post-Apocalyptic Block Party

The premise of LEGO Horizon Adventures is as simple as its gameplay: you’re going through the truncated version of Aloy’s story, with some major beats covered and without the mature nuances. And that’s fine, because the LEGO video games are supposed to be light-hearted all-ages fare. The jokes come in non-stop, the voice acting works and we get to hear Aloy’s voice actress Ashly Burch channel good bits of Tiny Tina energy in her main character, and the energy never lets up. Though there’s an elephant in the room that needs addressing: Sylens’ voice actor (Star Trek/Spaceballs actor Tim Russ) sounds a little odd and may take some time to get used to, though it cannot be helped as the original VO sadly passed away. However, the game’s lighthearted energy and tone transforms the serious scientist into one that fits in the nature of the title, so perhaps the new character choice is only for this instance of Horizon.

As for the action and interactable bits, you run through various stages in different Horizon locales -jungle, snowscape, desert, Cauldron innards full of metal & unknown tech- and head to the exit, defeating LEGO robot animals/dinosaurs and evil cult folks along the way. You traverse through linear stages, collect LEGO bits, fight off enemies in arenas, then collect more LEGO bits, and build LEGO structures for extra bits. You use your collected bits to either buy upgrades for Aloy and your other playable characters (which we’ll get to), new costumes and clothes, and new structures to populate your All-Mother village with.

Aloy’s main gameplay hook is her bow and arrow attack; you press and hold the attack button, then let go to launch an arrow onto your target. She also gets equipment and power-ups to her default weapons to even the odds against the mechanical LEGO horde; these include Flame arrows, Shock arrows, Spreadshot arrows, gravity bombs, ice groundpound AoEs, and even the Horizon tripcaster which works as an active trap that lets you bar and stun enemies who love to move around a lot. You also get a few other playable characters apart from Aloy, each with their own fighting styles: Varl with the javelin, Teersa with her chicken bombs, and Erend with his hammer. Combine their skills with the powerups you get, not to mention the environmental traps and barrels littered all over the arena, and you have a literal playground of destruction you can express yourself in the game’s combat bits. You will need all the help you can get since the game requires you to move out of harm’s way a lot thanks to big area-of-effect enemy attacks. The machine enemies hit really hard, with health bushes in rare supply as to test your aiming and bow skills while on the go. As far as all-ages new-wave license games go, this one is surprisingly the most challenging.

Sure, it’s simplistic and the enemy AI isn’t the most sophisticated. Even with the aforementioned challenge, one of the playable heroes is more overpowered than the rest; Erend can wreck the game’s balance with his fast dashing charged melee hammer swipes, trivializing most boss fights that require you to be a little more methodical in its defeat. But they’re all fun to play regardless. Co-op can be a messload of entertainment as you’ll have two different characters on-screen throwing bombs and shooting spread arrows all around, creating your own personal LEGO-flavoured bullet hell.

This being a LEGO product, you can also decorate your homestead and village with playsets and structures from various lines like City or Ninjago. You can go ham and just place rocket ship displays and giant clown heads to brighten up the post-apocalyptic crib you chill in, all for the sole purpose of you being able to. It’s pure window dressing, sure, but it’s fun window dressing.

 

A Jungle Out There

I’m not sure if the world needs a LEGO version of the Horizon franchise, but I’m kinda glad Sony and LEGO’s partnership here means more PlayStation games getting the all-ages light-hearted treatment. Plus, seeing the iconic Horizon robot animals/dinosaurs in LEGO form is just really cool and cute, not to mention breaking them into bricks with your cast of characters.

I can foresee a future LEGO Horizon-themed toyline happening if this game gets loads of traction, but at the very least, this isn’t poorly-made license fare. Guerilla and Studio Gobo did good work in making a co-op family game for all, and even moreso fun if you’ve played the Horizon games and see how they’ve adapted the serious storyline into a LEGO-fied concept. A fun experiment, in other words.

 

Pros

  • Fun solo & offline/online co-op LEGO action gameplay.
  • Various styles of play with Aloy and company.
  • Loads of customization with your homebase.

 

Cons

  • Not much mission variety.
  • Some character playstyles can trivialize the game’s challenge.

 

Final Score: 70/100

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Related News

post-07
Genshin Impact To Add Horizon Zero Dawn's Aloy This October; Raiden Shogun Also Announced

In collaboration with Sony Interactive Entertainment, miHoYo has announced Genshin Impact 2.1 update will add Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon ...

post-07
No Co-Op In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Confirms Insomniac

Ever since Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was originally announced, there have been rumours of the game featuring co-op or multiplayer elements. However, Insom...

post-07
The Last Of Us Remake Reportedly In The Works At Naughty Dog

According to a Bloomberg report by Jason Schreier, Naughty Dog is currently working on a remake of 2013's The Last Of Us, which is code-named T1X. ...

Write a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Tournament Tool Kit

Kakuchopurei Community

Popular Posts

post-17
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl – How To Increase Carry Weight?
post-17
These Are The Finalist Games For Apple’s App Store Awards
post-17
The Best Black Friday & Cyber Monday Deals To Get: Gaming & Hardware Edition
post-17
Ultraman Rising’s Ultraman & Emi Are In Gigabash: Check Out Their Moves Here
post-17
Vampire Survivors: Ode To Castlevania – All New Weapon Evolutions
post-17
Infinix Teams Up With Honor Of Kings & Mediatek For Pro-Powered Gaming Phone Showcase
post-17
Four Ways to Increase Your Chances of Winning in EA Sports FC 25’s Rush
post-17
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven – Post Game Guide & New Game+
post-17
Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge Of The Seven – How To Unlock All Classes & Races
post-17
Diablo 4: Vessel Of Hatred – 10 Ways To Maximize Your Demon-Slaying Fun In Sanctuary
post-17
Metaphor: ReFantazio Endings Guide – How To Avoid All Bad Endings
post-17
Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: Kurast Undercity Guide
post-17
Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: All Runes Tier List
post-17
Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: Season 6 Classes Ranked & Best Builds
post-17
Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred: All New Uniques In The Expansion
post-17
From Game Changer To Growth Spurt: Ammobox Studios’ CEO Unveils What’s Next
post-17
The Best PC Games To Play Right Now
post-17
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves – What You Need To Know About The Upcoming 2025 Fighting Game From SNK
post-17
Deadpool & Wolverine: Most Iconic Team-Ups & Moments In Comics, Movies & TV
post-17
Main Game: How To Watch Malaysia’s Best Video Game Show Created By Kakuchopurei & RTM
post-17
Hawkeye Episode 6 Finale Easter Eggs & Breakdown
post-17
Marvel’s What If…? Crew Explains Why They Went 3D Over 2D & A Scrapped Episode That Was Too Close To GOTG 3
post-17
We Talk To Hayden Christensen About Star Wars, Sequels, & Prequels
post-17
Sea Of Stars Might Get DLC Post-Launch
post-17
The Book Of Boba Fett Episode 7 Breakdown & Easter Eggs Explained