Developer: TT Fusion
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch
Tested on: PS4
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame – Review
The Lego Movie 2 Videogame is a LEGO-themed Action Adventure game, and the newest installment in the popular and successful LEGO videogame franchise. It is developed by TT Fusion and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It follows the story of The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part, and is a direct sequel to The Lego Movie Videogame, released shortly after the first movie. The Lego Movie 2 Videogame is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Story
After the events of the first videogame, Emmet, Lucy, and the rest of the gang reside in Apocalypseburg, a heckish place to live. When an alien invasion threatens the people of Bricksburg, a strange space traveler, known as General Mayhem, arrives at Apocalypseburg. She is in search of Earth’s greatest rulers, and abducts Emmet and Lucy’s friends, including Batman.
In an attempt to rescue their friends, Emmet and Lucy will have to travel the Systar System. They will visit many different planets and meet a lot of unique characters, such as Rex Dangervest, a trainer of raptors. These characters will aid Emmet and Lucy on their epic quest to free their friends from the clutches of the evil Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi, the self-proclaimed ruler of the Systar System.
Unfortunately, the story does not always follow the same plot points as the movie. Although the game tries to stay fresh, with surprising twists and turns, the story is all over the place, it rushes through the plot, and it ultimately makes for a disappointingly bland experience.
Graphics
You may have already suspected it, but this game contains multiple worlds entirely built from LEGO bricks. The visuals are often very colorful and vibrant, which we’ve come to expect for a LEGO game. The backgrounds look beautiful, and if you like the LEGO built structures, they look perfectly crafted. Because everything is built from LEGO bricks, the game can feel a bit empty and less detailed at times, which in its turn, also contributes to the bland experience you’re left with.
Sound
The music is pretty good in The Lego Movie 2 Videogame. Each planet has its own soundtrack, ranging from a fun, upbeat tune, to a up-tempo action-based soundtrack when the game switches into gear.
Unfortunately, the movie’s famous cast does not return to voice their respective characters in the video game, with exception to Elizabeth Banks, who voices Lucy, also known as Wildstyle. Throughout the game, she narrates plot points and voices the tutorials. Most NPCs are voiced too, with an additional text box to read, and their performances are fine, but nothing extraordinary.
Gameplay
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame is an Action Adventure game, and although it offers some new mechanics, it follows the same formula as most other LEGO games. At this point, the somewhat oversaturated LEGO videogame franchise is in dire need of some refreshing new perspectives, but this will not be the game to do so.
As in most LEGO games, you will be smashing objects, destroying them, to gain coins and bricks, which you can use to buy items and build new structures. You will have to overcome obstacles in your path, by instantly building devices to deal with them, such as building platforms to reach higher-up places, building sprinklers to quench fires and nourish plants, or you can even paint surfaces with a magic wand and much more. Throughout the game, you will acquire more schematics, and in turn, you can build more structures, to reach otherwise unreachable places, or to customize a sandbox-type of planet into your own personal playground. Unfortunately, the controls in this game are clunky and out-dated. Navigating through your craftables is frustratingly unsatisfying and it can take going into three unappealing menus before you can even find the key-structure you will need to build, to progress the game. Combat is more or less the same as the LEGO games of a decade ago, becoming increasingly lackluster. What is added to combat, is a special build attack, but even this can’t save the tedious combat.
Throughout the game, your main mission will be collecting Master Pieces. These special bricks can be acquired by progressing the story, completing objectives, helping people and exploring the planets. Collecting certain amounts of these Master Pieces will unlock new worlds for you to explore. In these worlds, you may come across chests, holding valuable relics. These are basically in-game loot boxes containing blueprints for new things to build, new characters and more. Aside from following the story, which doesn’t take too long to complete, there are a lot of side-quests to complete, and optional planets, such as a Wild West-themed one, to visit. As with most LEGO-games, this game is perfect for the completionists out there.
You can experience some minor performance issues in the game, such as a drop in frame-rate and pop-in issues. The camera is atrocious at times, and makes for some clunky gameplay. The game is unfortunately not challenging at all. Instant respawns and repetitive gameplay, obviously more than ever designed for kids, make this game feel frustratingly unimaginative and easy.
Conclusion
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame isn’t a bad game at all, but it lacks the imaginative refreshing re-design the franchise desperately needs at this point. The story is all over the place, and fails to stay interesting, and the gameplay feels repetitive and out-dated, with clunky camera-movement and controls. Even die-hard LEGO veterans might take some issue with this game, and you might even go as far to say that this game was rushed to be released together with the movie, as a perfect cash-grab for Warner Bros. This game isn’t the worst LEGO game to date however, and can still be enjoyed just fine, but with so many other successful LEGO games on the market right now, there are more interesting ones, if you haven’t played all of them by now. The game still stays relevant for a younger audience, and players who are a bit less critical when it comes to LEGO games. Play this game if you feel a strong connection with the LEGO franchise, otherwise, you can easily skip this one.
The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame - Review,
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