LEGO Dimensions Reviews
A game in which Batman rubs shoulders with the Stay Puft marshmallow man, where Gandalf solves puzzles at Aperture Sciences and Wyldstyle punches orcs, LEGO Dimensions is a smile-inducing mash-up that revels in everything that makes LEGO such a joy.
An enjoyable LEGO game, with a mean pay wall
There are already plenty of add-on sets due for release in the coming months, including packs featuring Aquaman, Doc Brown, and Bart Simpson; and with LEGO's brand presence and ability to attract franchises, there is no limit to what might be around the corner. So if your wallet is equally limitless, there is a lot of good old fashioned family fun to be had here.
LEGO Dimensions moves the toys-to-life genre in a new direction by introducing the need to build (and rebuild) your toys, and manipulate them during the game. This combined with the brilliant mash-up of different properties makes for a LEGO game fans of the series won't want to miss.
It's nice to know that Travelers' Tales has built on the extremely popular toys-to-life formula, and put their own spin on it, rather than simply copying their competition.
Lego Dimensions is more satisfying for being a game my daughter and I can play together than anything the game itself does. She neither knows nor cares about half of the featured worlds, and that's just fine. You don't need to know the mythology behind Scooby-Doo to enjoy running through a level designed after the series.
While I think LEGO Dimensions is a good game, it's certainly not a must-play. The crossover potential feels extremely weak when it comes to beloved franchises, and not having any more than three characters to play as -- unless I'm seriously missing something that doesn't cost more money -- makes the title feel pretty darn lacking. That being said, if you're willing to eat the cost, you won't find yourself having too bad a time. I know I didn't.
Despite spending a bite more than I planned to (and more to come), I feel mostly satisfied with the experience, and if Lego's three year plan works out, I like the idea that by the time it's done, my son will be almost five years old - perfect age to inherit a bunch of his man-child father's toys and play the game if he wants. If that happens, the game will be worth every penny.
LEGO Dimensions is the best LEGO game to date. It is just simply a joy to play and with the big franchises behind it, there is certainly a huge amount of longevity within, but only if you are willing to pay the price of admission. The move to the toys to life genre is a smart one for LEGO and with some of the available packs including Dr Who, Portal, Jurassic World, The Simpsons and with more on the way, it'll make any LEGO collector foam at the mouth and dive in, even if it's just for the toys. Still, with just the starter pack alone, you'll be in for a huge dimension jumping tale that is just a blast.
LEGO Dimensions can be repetitious and expensive, but mingles clever, nostalgic crossovers with imaginative puzzles and opportunities to create. This is a game about fun both on and off-screen.
I'm planning on doing reviews for the game's level expansions, so watch out for those soon!
'LEGO Dimensions' pulls from a lot of fantastic licenses and even gets the player to use actual LEGOs. At the same time, the game strays too far from the proven LEGO formulae for a series veteran, pulling out the meat of the game design without providing enough balance or sense of progression. There are bright things in the future for 'LEGO Dimensions' I'm sure, but the growing pains of early adoption are too harsh for me.
This is one of the best Lego games in years and the toy-to-life interactions are fantastically handled via inventive uses for the docking station and the three characters. Not being able to tick off all the usual in-game collectibles without paying a fortune for extra characters is a poorly judged slap in the face for fans of the series though.
For someone with infinite money, LEGO Dimensions is one of the best LEGO games on the market and is a great example of how to make figurine-based games fun both in and out of the game. It's funny, it's creative, it plays well, and it's everything a LEGO game should be. The only mark against it is the fact that it focuses on real-world toys and expansion packs instead of in-game content, which drives up the price and lessens the core game content.
LEGO Dimensions is filled with promise, but the paywalls and the requirement to regularly interact in-game massively impact upon the final product. Thankfully, this is only the first step of a very long-term plan - there's still plenty of time for the team to balance the paywall and the amount of content per level pack. The team at TT Games has always been fantastic with its fans, happy to take on-board any criticism or suggestion. There would be nothing stopping it from patching more content in for level packs at a later date, either. The core is a solid LEGO title through and through, but it could have been so much more. Cubed3 will cover some of the key level packs very soon.
Lego Dimensions is easily the best Lego game so far. The interaction between the physical Lego toy and the game beyond the portal really sets Dimensions apart from other toys-to-life games and each build, level and vehicle seems to have been carefully thought out.
LEGO Dimensions is a great first start for TT Games with the toys-to-life genre, but since their game is the most expensive of all of them, it makes it a hard recommendation, especially for parents. Once they find a nice balance between promoting other packs and their paywall to unlock other areas, it will be the best of the toys-to-life game out there.
Overall, I'm placing Lego Dimensions on my great games list. I've adored Lego ever since despite being just fairly new to the collecting part of it and I'm also fond of the humor that Traveller's Tales placed into their Lego games even way back when the characters didn't have full voice acting. So if you liked the previous Lego games, you would also like Lego Dimensions.
Overall I had a great time playing Lego Dimensions, though there are a couple of gripes.
Finally, Warner Bros. and TT Games have jumped on the Toy to Life bandwagon, but the wait is more than worth it. Lego Dimensions is every bit as fun as you hoped it would be, find out why in our review.