The Lego Movie Videogame
Released: February 7, 2014
Game Length: 18 Hours
Grade: B-
Marketing
Representation: One thing that stood out to me about this particular project was how Tt Fusion worked on this game. Unlike a lot of Lego games, this is the team that worked on Lego City: Undercover. It had a completely different feel compared to all the other ones that were developed under Tt Games. However, they were no longer building a fully creative landscape or adapting a franchise into brick-form. They had to pull directly from a Lego source. This meant that the game had to be immersed fully with Lego bricks. Since the only person they could get a hold of to say their lines was Todd Hansen (voice of Gandalf), many new voice actors came in to try and imitate the ones from the film. Although they do come close enough to fool some people, the differences were pretty noticeable to me. Cutscenes are pulled directly from the movie, but some things didn't make it into the game. They trimmed out quite a bit of speeches, touching moments, anything that had to do with the real life segments, and some things they didn't have the rights for. Any licensed character not from Warner Brothers (other than Dumbledore) had to be excluded from the game. In one scene with all the master builders gathered, Millhouse had to be blurred out.
Bonus Characters: Although there are 105 playable characters, quite a few of them are the same person equipped with different outfits. Emmet alone has 14 different forms, half of them are from the brief five seconds at the beginning of the movie when he is getting dressed (including a shower version). It isn't that I'm grateful to have a wide-range of characters all pulled from the source (Lego: Batman only had 46 playable) but I was hoping there would be a little more diversity in gameplay. Each character may come with one or two abilities, half of them with absolutely no special abilities to speak off. There are very little idle animations outside maybe Uni-kitty sitting down, robots spinning their digits, and cowboys bouncing their gun between their hands. I guess I should be happy that they didn't cram all their characters into a single slot and cycled between them all as in Lego: Harry Potter. The interesting thing is that 4 characters (and 4 pants) are locked behind codes that are found in their associated Lego sets - Angry Kitty, Johnny Thunder, Blacktron Fan, and a Robot Pilot. Young Vitruvius is a 5th character unlocked using a code from a different source. There are also 4 characters are available (and 4 pants) - Old Ollie, Wild Will, Sudds Backwash, and Rootbeer Belle - if you bought the "Wild West" DLC package. You also obtained a special real life mini-figure if you pre-ordered the game: Emmet (western) from EB Games & Gamestop, Emmet (pyjamas) from Best Buy, or Radio DJ Robot from Walmart.
Weird Quirks
Design Choices: I found myself a little bit polarized at some of the things the developers decided to incorporate into this game. One thing that immediately stood out was how some options are only available while playing the game. You can adjust your volume, add subtitles, or change the controls from the introductory menu, but changing things like the resolution or split-screen mechanics cannot be done until you entered the game world first. There are also two different places to input codes. Those that can be obtained from the play-sets can be inputted into the interface over by the floating box in the corner of Bricksburg and standard codes that unlock features in the game can be accessed inside the Extras menu using the "Enter Code" at the very top.
Gameplay: Because the game is based upon a single movie, things are going to feel drastically different. There are world hubs to explore similar to what's shown on the big screen, but they aren't as big as I was expecting. The characters' facial expressions and movements are going to be a little more rigid (almost stop-motion style) than what we have grown accustomed to in other games. They will be hopping around on the edge of their feet like in the film. Every character can fight with the vast majority holding an object that sometimes can be thrown at things or smash the ground. Sadly, there is no B-button maneuver or even a cool way to grab and throw mini-figures. They divided up the people so that only the master builders can combine objects while only construction workers can build using instructions. Using Emmet (outside his master build "outfit") will cause him to place down a few objects and then stare at you with a confused look. When you use the instructions, something will slowly be put together in a new Build Mode. Every once in awhile, it will ask you to match the right piece blinking on the screen out of a selection of other pieces with the help of your analog stick. This can be done with two players as well. You can use explosions on silver bricks and lasers on gold bricks. You can extinguish flames with the help of various objects like snowballs from the Yeti, ice cream from the parlors, or a water hose from the firefighter. Although do make a note you will need to replenish your water supply. Save points are disguised as clear white bricks with the "Piece of Resistance" stuck in the middle like when it's first found at the beginning of the movie. There are also a couple of interesting Lego: Rock Band sequences where you press the right buttons as you dance. There's even parts reminiscent of Lego Batman 2 where you shoot at things as you travel down a predestined path. Other mechanics include 20 Power bricks that are found in each of the world hubs and 5 gold packages that act as mini-kits in each of the levels you can build for fun in the bonus room.
Levels: Another thing that bothered me was how they arranged Free Play. There is no chapter select option. You have to physically find each rainbow portal in order to start the levels. Almost all the features of Story Mode is removed. You will not be shown a cutscene or hear most of the dialogue from the characters telling you what to do. The decent music and ambience sound effects can only hold your attention for so long while tooltips flash on the bottom of the screen. It is hard to skip ahead by flying or choosing a character from your roster with the special ability needed. It is as if the level is designed specifically for you to complete each objective as you come to them. If you find a hidden area and accidentally leave it mid-way, your progress will reset. Whenever there is a moving section, the main characters will be forced upon you no matter what characters you choose beforehand (they will be presented after the sequence completes). If you are playing with two characters, one will be forced to be Emmet inside the mech suit with no option to switch out. The other player will be the only one who can swap characters and is incapable of swapping with their friend (outside switching controllers). Once you find a magic portal, you can teleport to any of the world hubs, including a bonus room that reveals a real life bedroom after you complete the game.
Mechanics
Abilities: Although many characters have unique abilities, there is generally a common theme among them. All construction workers have a drill, can use a blue wrench to repair broken blue machinery, and can read instructions. All females, along with a few personalities that would also carry some agility, are able to jump higher, occasionally swing, or climb across colored bricks. All robots and astronauts (including those in space uniforms), can hack terminals. Those who can carry a staff can also toss it into holes similar to acrobatic Robyn from Lego: Batman 2 - Gandalf, Vitruvius, and Panda Guy. Warning: the staff is removed if you swap out the character. Characters that can use explosives against silver bricks include Metalbeard, Demolition Guy, and Wiley Fusebot. Only Batman and Wonder Woman can pull hooks. A few robots, bad cop, and superman can use their laser to take out gold bricks. The superheroes like Wonder Woman, Superman, Green Lantern along with Vitruvius (ghost form) can fly. Some of these characters cannot die - a couple superheroes, Vitruvius (ghost form) as he is already dead, and the Test Dummy.
Unique: There are some characters that are uniquely qualified for certain puzzles. Vitruvius is the only person who can use the Blind Courage ability to walk across thin blue ledges and the Secret Knock (which is more than a single tap from the film) in order to access secret passageways. Uni-kitty has exclusive rights to rainbow bricks, both destroying them and reconstructing them. She not only has a special move set in jumping, bashing, shooting rockets out of horn, and growing flowers when she smashes the ground, but she can also "enrage" herself as a giant, fire-breathing kitty. The one thing I am surprised not to see reprise from Lego City: Undercover is that Benny is incapable of using his tank to hover in the air. President Business is also pretty special (as we found out in the end of the film) in which he can activate special platforms to gain his giant shoes tall enough for him to reach the large red switches up above. You cannot swap characters in this mode and will need to use the platform again to remove the shoes (and revert back to President Business regardless if you were originally Lord Business at the start). Although very rare, there are a few moments Green Lantern will be needed to construct something out of green bricks to advance.
Miscellaneous: So does the game pan out as an extension of the movie? Hard to say. I only managed to get 78.8% completion, 19/20 gold bricks (because I couldn't find that stupid cat), 43/75 gold packages (with only 3 completions), 9/15 pants, 50/70 gold bricks. The bonus room was nice to explore as it had a bunch of fun Easter Eggs like Lego City Wallpaper on the computer screen, Lego Ninjago cup, and the only Lego set I bought from the movie. I liked the fact that you could access the soundtrack from the game using the boom box on the shelf, but I didn't like how no music plays at the start or you have to cycle the songs from the beginning each time you enter the room. You can try on different pants for new abilities that stay on the selected character even if you decide to swap. I found it difficult finding all the collective features like the Custom Character at "The Dog" in Cuckoo Land or The Theater in the Wild West that allows you to play all the cutscenes. As much as I appreciated playing through the levels, I would have liked to have a flight sequence (flying Benny's spaceship would have been a perfect opportunity) instead of an underwater sequence. They did a great job extending the relic room, but I would have liked to see more of the pause-perfect moments in the film like the 5 Rules of the Sea. I did like the inclusion of some of the vehicles, including the option to "drive" the flower pot used to deliver the "antidote" at the end of the film.
Summary
Review: Because of the game's source material, the developers had to make a bunch of concessions to make their vision work. It is as if they spent all their focus making sure to properly build a world completely out of Lego, capturing all the right moments that are shown in the film, and assembling workarounds for the various gameplay elements. Unfortunately, this made the game very confusing to navigate with codes to unlock features located in a couple areas, places to access features stretched across each of the worlds, the need to physically visit the site of each of the levels, settings only available after you start the game, and a sparse amount of abilities stretched across a limiting pool of characters. The problems only extend when replaying the levels or working through specific sections with a friend. Thankfully, they did a great enough job recreating most of the worlds and introduced a couple of cool new concepts like Build Mode. I would not recommend this game unless you are wanting to see a little more of the film universe.
3-7-2023