“LEGO Horizon Adventures”: charming, funny, and good-looking

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In Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games delivers a thrilling open-world experience for adults. In a LEGO spin-off, the Amsterdam studio now tells the story of the warrior Aloy in a new way, with humorous action for every age.

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Dinosaurs continue to fascinate us to this day. Even cooler than these giant prehistoric creatures are their mechanical successors who populate the world of Guerrilla Games' action hit Horizon: Zero Dawn. There were further improvements in the spin-off LEGO Horizon Adventures. Because the entire world here, including the T-Rex-like thunderjaws, majestic Longnecks, and all the other giants, is made entirely out of LEGO bricks. There's also family-friendly humor and fast-paced action, which is especially fun in co-op mode.

LEGO Horizon Adventures tells the story of Horizon Zero Dawn in a new way, but in a more condensed way and, most importantly, full of humor.Image: Sony PlayStation

Stylish and fun

Although LEGO Horizon Adventures has no connection to the LEGO franchise from Warner Bros. and TT Games, it does have some similarities to games like LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. This mainly applies to colorful presentations where everything is made of Lego bricks. But the protagonist Aloy, the Dinobots, every building, every tree, even the roaring waterfall are nothing new to us. At least as strong is the wonderfully self-deprecating humor, which in no way makes the original ridiculous, but to an appropriate degree without taking it entirely seriously.

Humor is rarely subtle. But as we know from The Lego Movie , the focus on slapstick is igniting. Those familiar with Zero Dawn can also expect plenty of reference material. The story has been heavily condensed, eliminating the sometimes narrative length of the original. Although the styles are completely different, the 2017 action blockbusters are still highly recognizable. This is mainly due to the speakers used. The English and German versions of Aloy designed by Ashly Burch and Julia Casper use the same speakers.

The fighting is one of the highlights of the game. To ignite the Fire Arrow, you must shoot Aloy's bow into the bonfire.Image: Sony PlayStation

Linear fast combat

In terms of gameplay, LEGO Horizon Adventure is very different from TT Games' LEGO games. So here you only play the role of the warrior Aloy, and only as a joining player in co-op mode (local or online), you can choose to control the companion NPCs Rost, Varl, Erend and Teersa. In comparison, the adventure is more linear and focused on combat. Combat, which is often arena-like, is essentially like a twin-stick shooter where you shoot arrows with Aloy's bow. To use other types of arrows, you can use the environment by firing projectiles through campfires, for example, creating rockets.

The beauty of the enjoyable, fast-paced combat is that the developers transferred the original's weak points mechanics to the LEGO spin-off. Therefore, it pays to fire at the container on the back of the herbivore or directly at the guard's sensitive eyes.

Dinosaur Hunting Gadgets

In addition to Aloy's bow or Vaal's spear (which do exactly the same thing for co-op players), there are a limited number of other gadgets. This includes, for example, hot dog carts that can be placed on the battlefield and automatically distribute explosive bombs to surrounding opponents. Dispersion Arc also helps against more enemies, and you can use it to fire multiple projectiles in a circle at the same time. The Thrust Boots, in turn, allow for a double jump while creating a trail of fire that can be used to ignite obstacles or ignite enemies. Thanks to five selectable difficulty levels, from easy to demanding, there's a game for every type of player.

The game is very linear. But you can still find similar little secrets and reward boxes everywhere.Image: Sony PlayStation

Purchase mode vs. stand-alone mode

Aside from the solo-only tutorial, we've played LEGO Horizon Adventures' co-op mode on Sony so far, which offers great advantages simply because playing partners have the option to resurrect. As with almost all co-op games, the experience is likely to be better in other ways when shared with friends. Because whether it's a success or a silly mistake, you'll be happier together. Sadly, for the first time Sony is releasing its own game on three platforms at the same time as LEGO Horizon Adventures, but online co-op is only available on one platform. It's no more likely that Switch and PlayStation will come together than it is between PC and PlayStation.

Whether playing alone or cooperatively, the surprisingly extensive, two-part character system provides extra motivation. Rewards can also be unlocked to make changes and designs to the buildings in the hub level (Mutterherz's Nora Village), for example in the style of “LEGO City Undercover”. It remains to be seen whether LEGO Horizon Adventures is as fun to play alone as it is to play together. The solo section can be sorely lacking in relevant chaos.

In co-op mode, your partner is only with you. If you play alone, you'll always be as lonely as Aloy.Image: Sony PlayStation

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