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.