LEGO Dimensions!
LEGO Dimensions is a retired toys-to-life crossover LEGO video-game. Including such franchises as
As you can tell, that's a lot of properties and it's kind of surreal to see them interact under one LEGO umbrella. That factor is one of the major selling points of the game.
I love this game. Though the remarkable fact of its existence must be recognized as extremely unlikely. Nobody could have predicted that LEGO would have been so impulsive to have made a game like this. It's fascinating to look at LEGO Dimensions as a game in itself, but also as a study in realising ambitious ideas, and the popularity of crossovers.
The way it's set up is that first, the consumer buys the starter pack, which comes with three characters (access to three worlds), one vehicle, and the main storyline. Bonus packs increase the characters and vehicles you can play as, and provides access to more worlds and levels. You put the characters and vehicles on the pad and they show up in the game.
Every franchise has its own hub world, in addition to the general hub. To access a certain franchise world, you need to have a character from that world. For example, to access the Powerpuff Girls, you need to have Bubbles, Blossom, or Buttercup on the pad. Each world has their own puzzles to solve and quests to go on and gold bricks (collectibles) to find. The player can also use their characters and just explore the world. You can have E.T. searching at Hogwarts, fly up to Octan tower as the Wicked Witch, have Gollum ride the DeLorean past Springfield Elementary, fight Dinosaurs as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Love that! Additionally, it is toys-to-life, but the information is all in the toy tags; the LEGO that is included is normal LEGO. The physical LEGO sets come with many useful parts, and some of the figures are exclusive. There are many figures that have never before been made in LEGO officially, physically or otherwise. If you're a collector, buying Dimensions products is the only way to get characters like; E.T., Sonic, Beetlejuice, Finn the Human, Chell, etc, other than a second-hand purchase.
These are the types of additional packs
In terms of gameplay, the game is like every other modern LEGO game. It's easy, but still enjoyable, charming, and fun. The character animations are pretty fun, each one having a distinctive movement to them. For example, the LEGO Movie character animations are more jerky and stop-motion esque than the cartoony animation of the Adventure Time animations. They also have pretty humorous dialogue, interacting with both the environment and other characters, popping up every now and then. Each character also has two special fighting moves, prompting by pressing the O button. Certain characters can transform, like Bane and Unikitty. Also, certain characters can change into other characters; The Twelfth Doctor can be switched into any prior incarnation, Peter Venkman can turn into the other Ghostbusters, etc.
The game has forty-two levels. The Adventure Worlds, one for each franchise, are well-designed, with many references. (For example, the Doctor Who world references the episodes Dark Water/Death in Heaven, The Waters of Mars, Into the Dalek, The Time of the Doctor, Tomb of the Cybermen, The Snowmen, The Girl in the Fireplace, and more, not mentioning additional references outside the Adventure World.) The worlds are made with love. There are many things to do: quests, races, restorations, exploration, free roam, dances, gold bricks to unlock, and more. (Although it's worth noting a fair number of features are mechanics carried on from earlier LEGO games.) There's also a setting to play in certain themed maps, where you can play games with up to four players, like Capture the Flag for example.
Although, speaking of negatives, the game's ambitiousness resulted in many players reporting glitches, whether that be things missing from the level or the game freezing, or otherwise.
Each character comes with their own vehicle (except for two of the characters that come in the starter pack). Though this unfortunately results in too many vehicles. Do characters like Superman really need a spaceship? This problem is strengthened by how some of the physical vehicles are different in the game. This goes against the fundamental premise. Every vehicle has two alternate designs. The player is supposed to rebuild their physical vehicle to match the game's rebuild. When you unlock all alternate designs, you can switch through them. You can customize colours, but only to an extent. There are limitations. Also, a disappointing element was that outside of the level, there can only be one Ghostbuster/A-Team member in your party. Additionally, a couple of the worlds/levels are more barebones, including the Simpsons World and the Back to the Future Level.
Overall, it was a failure. Still a success in typical terms, but LEGO put more into this project hoping for a really big success, and meeting only a success in the general terms means that there's no point expending extra effort if the result is the same. It was cancelled before it was finished. The game was originally planned to go on for three years, but instead went on for only two, so the conclusion to the game wasn't wrapped up. There were more ideas, and a planned scanner that could scan any 5x5 LEGO model and put it into the game. An intriguing idea that unfortunately never came to pass.
The voice acting is generally really good. They tried to be as authentic as possible, with a lot of official voice actors, like Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, and Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox as Doc Brown and Marty McFly. The cast for the game is truly extraordinary, including actors J.K. Simmons, John DiMaggio, Tom Kenny, Gary Oldman, most of the cast from the LEGO Movie, and more.
Peter Capaldi especially, seems to be having a blast recording his many, many lines. A couple of them don't work though. Abby Yates from Ghostbusters 2016 isn't voiced by Melissa McCarthy and sounds nothing like her. The Wizard of Oz cast sounds off too. Speaking of characters, there are a couple of glaring omissions for certain franchises. Like no Ron in Harry Potter world, no Lisa Simpson in the Simpsons world, and no Frodo from the Lord of the Rings world (although Frodo does fortunately show up in the main storyline). It makes sense that some stuff would be left out of the game, given the sheer scope, but it's nonetheless a shame.
There's a fair use of archival audio for certain characters (Harry Potter, Voldemort, Homer, Ethan Hunt, etc.) and it's alright. Though Bart Simpson and the other A-Team members have no dialogue whatsoever, and it's somewhat jarring. In regards to voices relating to characterization, the DC characters (Superman, Batman, Joker, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.) are more caricatures of themselves than renditions. But that's understandable; part of the general LEGO humor.
LEGO Dimensions is unfortunately a casualty of the death of the toys-to-life genre. Following games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity (both toys-to-life too; this concept of placing a figure/toy on the pad, and having it show in the game. A bridge between the physical and virtual worlds.), it seems that audiences are just tired of the 'gimmick' as well as being drawn away by the higher price compared to a typical game. Despite that, it is still a very fun experience, incorporating both physical building and having large video game worlds to explore.
Speaking about LEGO generally, they've been successful at adapting to the digital age, with their Mindstorms (LEGO Robotics) line for example. Despite LEGO Dimensions not being as successful as they wanted, their video games are overall very well-received and fondly remembered. LEGO has recently released an app to complement their new horror-themed Hidden Side wave of sets. It is augmented reality. You build the physical set and then you use the app to scan it, which then means you can digitally interact with the model. They also have certain products where you can build droids from Star Wars or the Batmobile, and control it from a free app on your device. LEGO has now come out with LEGO Mario, a successful theme so far. The products involve building a physical course for a LEGO Mario figure. This LEGO Mario figure is larger than a typical minifigure and is electronic. This LEGO Mario figure can scan certain parts and colors to make it seem as if the builder is playing through an actual video game level. LEGO Mario can connect to the official LEGO Mario app on people’s phones via Bluetooth.
Update: The Hidden Side line of LEGO products was not successful. They also released the LEGO Vidiyo sets, which were similarly based on augmented reality. They were particularly unsuccessful.
- DC Comics
- Scooby-Doo
- Lord of the Rings
- Doctor Who
- Harry Potter
- Wizard of Oz
- Goonies
- BTTF
- ET
- Beetlejuice
- Powerpuff Girls
- Adventure Time
- Sonic
- Portal
- and even more
LEGO Dimensions is a decent game, one that's acquired a following from LEGO fans and fans of these franchises, having also gained mild interest from the public
I love this game. Though the remarkable fact of its existence must be recognized as extremely unlikely. Nobody could have predicted that LEGO would have been so impulsive to have made a game like this. It's fascinating to look at LEGO Dimensions as a game in itself, but also as a study in realising ambitious ideas, and the popularity of crossovers.
The way it's set up is that first, the consumer buys the starter pack, which comes with three characters (access to three worlds), one vehicle, and the main storyline. Bonus packs increase the characters and vehicles you can play as, and provides access to more worlds and levels. You put the characters and vehicles on the pad and they show up in the game.
Every franchise has its own hub world, in addition to the general hub. To access a certain franchise world, you need to have a character from that world. For example, to access the Powerpuff Girls, you need to have Bubbles, Blossom, or Buttercup on the pad. Each world has their own puzzles to solve and quests to go on and gold bricks (collectibles) to find. The player can also use their characters and just explore the world. You can have E.T. searching at Hogwarts, fly up to Octan tower as the Wicked Witch, have Gollum ride the DeLorean past Springfield Elementary, fight Dinosaurs as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Love that! Additionally, it is toys-to-life, but the information is all in the toy tags; the LEGO that is included is normal LEGO. The physical LEGO sets come with many useful parts, and some of the figures are exclusive. There are many figures that have never before been made in LEGO officially, physically or otherwise. If you're a collector, buying Dimensions products is the only way to get characters like; E.T., Sonic, Beetlejuice, Finn the Human, Chell, etc, other than a second-hand purchase.
These are the types of additional packs
- Movie Packs (6 levels, 1 character, 1 vehicle/gadget) (50 CAD)
- Level Packs (1 level, 1 character, 2 vehicles/gadgets) (30 CAD)
- Team Packs (2 characters, 2 vehicles/gadgets) (25 CAD)
- Fun Packs (1 character, 1 vehicles/gadgets) (15 CAD)
In terms of gameplay, the game is like every other modern LEGO game. It's easy, but still enjoyable, charming, and fun. The character animations are pretty fun, each one having a distinctive movement to them. For example, the LEGO Movie character animations are more jerky and stop-motion esque than the cartoony animation of the Adventure Time animations. They also have pretty humorous dialogue, interacting with both the environment and other characters, popping up every now and then. Each character also has two special fighting moves, prompting by pressing the O button. Certain characters can transform, like Bane and Unikitty. Also, certain characters can change into other characters; The Twelfth Doctor can be switched into any prior incarnation, Peter Venkman can turn into the other Ghostbusters, etc.
The game has forty-two levels. The Adventure Worlds, one for each franchise, are well-designed, with many references. (For example, the Doctor Who world references the episodes Dark Water/Death in Heaven, The Waters of Mars, Into the Dalek, The Time of the Doctor, Tomb of the Cybermen, The Snowmen, The Girl in the Fireplace, and more, not mentioning additional references outside the Adventure World.) The worlds are made with love. There are many things to do: quests, races, restorations, exploration, free roam, dances, gold bricks to unlock, and more. (Although it's worth noting a fair number of features are mechanics carried on from earlier LEGO games.) There's also a setting to play in certain themed maps, where you can play games with up to four players, like Capture the Flag for example.
Although, speaking of negatives, the game's ambitiousness resulted in many players reporting glitches, whether that be things missing from the level or the game freezing, or otherwise.
Each character comes with their own vehicle (except for two of the characters that come in the starter pack). Though this unfortunately results in too many vehicles. Do characters like Superman really need a spaceship? This problem is strengthened by how some of the physical vehicles are different in the game. This goes against the fundamental premise. Every vehicle has two alternate designs. The player is supposed to rebuild their physical vehicle to match the game's rebuild. When you unlock all alternate designs, you can switch through them. You can customize colours, but only to an extent. There are limitations. Also, a disappointing element was that outside of the level, there can only be one Ghostbuster/A-Team member in your party. Additionally, a couple of the worlds/levels are more barebones, including the Simpsons World and the Back to the Future Level.
The voice acting is generally really good. They tried to be as authentic as possible, with a lot of official voice actors, like Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, and Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox as Doc Brown and Marty McFly. The cast for the game is truly extraordinary, including actors J.K. Simmons, John DiMaggio, Tom Kenny, Gary Oldman, most of the cast from the LEGO Movie, and more.
Peter Capaldi especially, seems to be having a blast recording his many, many lines. A couple of them don't work though. Abby Yates from Ghostbusters 2016 isn't voiced by Melissa McCarthy and sounds nothing like her. The Wizard of Oz cast sounds off too. Speaking of characters, there are a couple of glaring omissions for certain franchises. Like no Ron in Harry Potter world, no Lisa Simpson in the Simpsons world, and no Frodo from the Lord of the Rings world (although Frodo does fortunately show up in the main storyline). It makes sense that some stuff would be left out of the game, given the sheer scope, but it's nonetheless a shame.
There's a fair use of archival audio for certain characters (Harry Potter, Voldemort, Homer, Ethan Hunt, etc.) and it's alright. Though Bart Simpson and the other A-Team members have no dialogue whatsoever, and it's somewhat jarring. In regards to voices relating to characterization, the DC characters (Superman, Batman, Joker, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.) are more caricatures of themselves than renditions. But that's understandable; part of the general LEGO humor.
LEGO Dimensions is unfortunately a casualty of the death of the toys-to-life genre. Following games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity (both toys-to-life too; this concept of placing a figure/toy on the pad, and having it show in the game. A bridge between the physical and virtual worlds.), it seems that audiences are just tired of the 'gimmick' as well as being drawn away by the higher price compared to a typical game. Despite that, it is still a very fun experience, incorporating both physical building and having large video game worlds to explore.
Speaking about LEGO generally, they've been successful at adapting to the digital age, with their Mindstorms (LEGO Robotics) line for example. Despite LEGO Dimensions not being as successful as they wanted, their video games are overall very well-received and fondly remembered. LEGO has recently released an app to complement their new horror-themed Hidden Side wave of sets. It is augmented reality. You build the physical set and then you use the app to scan it, which then means you can digitally interact with the model. They also have certain products where you can build droids from Star Wars or the Batmobile, and control it from a free app on your device. LEGO has now come out with LEGO Mario, a successful theme so far. The products involve building a physical course for a LEGO Mario figure. This LEGO Mario figure is larger than a typical minifigure and is electronic. This LEGO Mario figure can scan certain parts and colors to make it seem as if the builder is playing through an actual video game level. LEGO Mario can connect to the official LEGO Mario app on people’s phones via Bluetooth.
Update: The Hidden Side line of LEGO products was not successful. They also released the LEGO Vidiyo sets, which were similarly based on augmented reality. They were particularly unsuccessful.
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