Lego Dimensions Overview

Lego Dimensions

Prelude: Compared to the other games Lego sponsored, there is one that ultimately stands out as both ambitious and creative. Between 2011 and 2014, there were a series of companies trying to capitalize on a "toys-to-life" video game saga. I remember a time walking down the video game portion of Toys R Us and seeing shelves filled with Skylanders, Disney Infinity, and Nintendo's Amiibos. Then in September 2015, there was something new to the bunch - Lego Dimensions. It is true that Traveller's Tales included all the standard features we've seen in the rest of the games. Why not take the idea of the Lego Movie that was released in 2014 and squeeze as many different genres as you can into the game? However, there were two big problems: It did not come to PC and it required buying the physical items for the game to function.

Cost: The biggest hurdle to overcome was how expensive the product was. The starter set cost $100. The main game included the portal, three minifigures, a mini-vehicle, and the game itself. Unfortunately, that didn't include the "whole" game. They broke the game into several different packages. Expansion packs cost $30 and included a character, a gadget, a vehicle, and playable story levels. To access one of the many Adventure Worlds, you'd need at least one character dedicated to that dimension. Some can be earned from a Fun Pack for $15 that includes a character and device or double that in a Team Pack for $25. Technically, the prices are pretty fair when you consider that you get a physical product and a virtual one. There are also loads of things to unlock. They helped smooth things over by later adding the Hire A Hero option when it comes to collecting items that need specific characters.

Details: One major departure from the rest of the games you'll encounter is there are no unlockable characters in the game. You can use characters you buy from any of the packs, but the game will only take into consideration the three characters included with the starter bundle in cutscenes and puzzles. Although the dynamic split-screen is for Story mode only and causes some problems in Adventure Worlds, the room to add multiple characters onto the platform and solving a puzzle can be quite fun when there are two players. The most interesting addition to the series is how you use the portal to interact with the game. They have a new system called Keystones that allow you to paint (and even mix colors), grow or shrink characters, create rifts that port you to other areas of the map, elemental spheres, and summon rifts to call for assistance from other dimensions. Although the main game only lasts 6 hours, you'll find an exorbitant number of fun-filled levels that take you through Wizard of Oz, Simpsons, Portal, Season 4 of Ninjago, Back to the Future, Scooby-Doo, and Lord of the Rings. The Joker brings back the giant robot from Lego Batman 2. The characters display different items that represent their vitals in the top-left corner. Let's not forget that you can change the device you obtain from packs into two other objects. You'd have to go through the entire list of levels, characters, objects, vehicles, and worlds to see what sort of other hidden gems they added into the game.

Level Packs: When you take a look at the number of Adventure Worlds available, I have no idea how many hours it would take to go through the whole game. But then you have to consider how the 10 level packs differ from one another. For example, the initial three packs were rather short. The ones released afterwards were all pretty interesting in their own respects. Doctor Who allowed you to switch between all the different versions of the main character throughout the television series. Midway Arcade allowed you to replay a bunch of old arcade games. Sonic The Hedgehog brings out trinkets of all the other games - including the annoying tutorial pal. It also includes a red brick option to turn all the studs into rings. The Goonies only show the story from the perspective of Chunk and Sloth.

Story Packs: It isn't surprising that they added three new products that included full-blown story levels, a product overlay that uses the platform from the base game set, a minifigure, and a vehicle. These cost you $50 each. The first one is the Ghostbusters set that includes the new "RIP" keystone that lets you enter alternate worlds and replicates the 2016 upside-down movie version of the original. The game kind of makes the movie more enjoyable once all the actresses and ghosts are replaced with minifigures. Fantastic Beasts is perhaps the least interesting with the "Creation" keystone and dives into the first movie of the series in 2016. The last - and perhaps the most enjoyable - is Lego Batman that not only replicates the events in the movie in a clever fashion but also has the Phase Keystone. The game includes Robyn wiggling through the vents, Batman shooting merchandise at enemies, a subtitle explaining how Batman is sighing like a moody teenager wanting to clean his room, and various detective modes (infrared, audio, and scan).

 

3-11-2023