By Jon Evans
LEGO Dimensions is the next young upstart in the massively lucrative Toys-to-life genre. With an already large and devoted LEGO fanbase in place, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group are onto a no-brainer with their version.
BC got their hands on the starter pack at the show, which included the lego Dimension base, and the three starter figures, Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle as well as Chell from the Portal Pack. We also looked at the vehicles that come with some of the packs and tried to get our head around the confusing variety of bundles that are being released over the next year. there are 14 Licensed entertainment brands coming to the system, with a variety of LEGO own brands, as well as cartoon, comic, video game and film characters that are linked to Warner Bros' vast entertainment empire.
The LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack includes the videogame, bricks to build the LEGO Gateway, three LEGO Minifigures, Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle, plus the LEGO Batmobile, and the LEGO Toy Pad, which allows players to transport special LEGO minifigures and models into the game, as well as direct in-game action all with the movement of the physical toys. This is what we found particularly interesting.
LEGO have thought more about how their product will interact with the game world. At it’s heart, LEGO is a physical object, with tactility and great potential for the imagination. The game actively encourages you to put the controller down and play with their toys. There are a variety of different packs, which give you different combinations of levels you can play, characters to play with and vehicles to drive. The vehicles are made with authentic lego, and can be built in the three different ways, which contain a special chip that then allows the various vehicle builds match those in the game. It’s going to be great as a child to see your new creation in-game. More interesting though is the gameplay.
We were shown by the LEGO rep on the stand how to play though the initial tutorial level, with four characters in various positions on the lego pad. At certain points of the game we could only progress by moving the various LEGO mini-figures around on the pad, indicated by flashing lights on the pad that matched the colour of prompts on the screen. It was a bit like playing 3D chess and was quite bewildering to get the hang of. One wonders how easy it will be to pick up by children. Nevertheless it added an extra, ahem, dimension to gameplay and was very welcome. We felt like the physical objects mattered more and it meant we were still playing with LEGO. Better still unlike their competitors, there will be no limits on which character can play in which game, allowing for some crazy franchise mash-ups. I’ve always wondered how Scooby-Doo and Shaggy would deal with Glados. Probably abject disappointment that the Scooby Snacks are a lie.
It is highly likely that LEGO Dimensions will be a huge success and on many people’s Christmas wish list this year. You can get hold of the starter pack right now, with additional packs being released in waves though November 2015, to January, March and May in 2016.
BC got their hands on the starter pack at the show, which included the lego Dimension base, and the three starter figures, Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle as well as Chell from the Portal Pack. We also looked at the vehicles that come with some of the packs and tried to get our head around the confusing variety of bundles that are being released over the next year. there are 14 Licensed entertainment brands coming to the system, with a variety of LEGO own brands, as well as cartoon, comic, video game and film characters that are linked to Warner Bros' vast entertainment empire.
The LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack includes the videogame, bricks to build the LEGO Gateway, three LEGO Minifigures, Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle, plus the LEGO Batmobile, and the LEGO Toy Pad, which allows players to transport special LEGO minifigures and models into the game, as well as direct in-game action all with the movement of the physical toys. This is what we found particularly interesting.
LEGO have thought more about how their product will interact with the game world. At it’s heart, LEGO is a physical object, with tactility and great potential for the imagination. The game actively encourages you to put the controller down and play with their toys. There are a variety of different packs, which give you different combinations of levels you can play, characters to play with and vehicles to drive. The vehicles are made with authentic lego, and can be built in the three different ways, which contain a special chip that then allows the various vehicle builds match those in the game. It’s going to be great as a child to see your new creation in-game. More interesting though is the gameplay.
We were shown by the LEGO rep on the stand how to play though the initial tutorial level, with four characters in various positions on the lego pad. At certain points of the game we could only progress by moving the various LEGO mini-figures around on the pad, indicated by flashing lights on the pad that matched the colour of prompts on the screen. It was a bit like playing 3D chess and was quite bewildering to get the hang of. One wonders how easy it will be to pick up by children. Nevertheless it added an extra, ahem, dimension to gameplay and was very welcome. We felt like the physical objects mattered more and it meant we were still playing with LEGO. Better still unlike their competitors, there will be no limits on which character can play in which game, allowing for some crazy franchise mash-ups. I’ve always wondered how Scooby-Doo and Shaggy would deal with Glados. Probably abject disappointment that the Scooby Snacks are a lie.
It is highly likely that LEGO Dimensions will be a huge success and on many people’s Christmas wish list this year. You can get hold of the starter pack right now, with additional packs being released in waves though November 2015, to January, March and May in 2016.
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