Everything is NOT Awesome- The Lego Movie Videogame review.

Good morning gamers! Now that everyone’s got rid of their massive hangovers, recovered from their mild food poisonings, and the buzz of Christmas is fading away, it’s time to get back to work. For context, I find myself now having to parent with my better half to a kid that absolutely adores the Lego game franchise, and this review is part-request, part-earning-Dad-Points. On with the review…

The plot

In The Lego Movie Videogame, you play as Emmet as he finds “The Piece Of Resistance” and finds himself surrounded by licensed characters from various franchises and escaping from President/Lord Business and his robot minions. As you complete all the minigames in the main world missions, you’ll unlock red bricks, which help you get through the completion process much faster.

Pro tip from the offing: Get these unlocked, paid for and used as fast as physically possible. You’ll thank me later. If you don’t, like this numpty reviewing the game, then like me, this game will take about three days to complete.

After a while of escaping the robot minions, including seeing a world called “cloud cuckoo land” go a bit Alderaan from Star Wars, Emmet decides to make a full-on assault on Lord Business to stop… well… Lord/President business gluing everything together. Editor, is it too late to point out the irony of the anti-consumerist message in a videogame adaptation of a giant Lego advertisement? [Editor- No. Everyone’s pointed this out].

The Gameplay

I could rant to the end of this word count about how bad some of the gameplay in this franchise of videogames is, but let’s focus on the positives for a moment. There’s an awesome tribute to Pac-Man in a minigame involving one character’s special ability, but one of the best parts of gameplay involve the penultimate level.

For near the entirety of the game’s play through, you find yourself blocked from accessing some parts of the game by special bricks. This gets really infuriating at points, and finally, you get some characters with laser vision, capable of cutting through the gold bricks.

When the stepson and I unlocked Superman, there was an audible cheer coming from both of us, as getting any of the characters required to fully complete a level was proving way too fucking difficult. This is definitely one of the harder games in the franchise, and dear lord, it’s infuriating at times.

The soundtrack

Do you remember when the film came out, and all you heard from kids who’d seen that film was the song? Well get ready to have that song tattooed in your head again in at least 3 different versions. All the diegetic music from the first film is in this game as you’d expect as well.

So far, the soundtrack isn’t getting any nods from me. However, whether they’ve got voice actors in specifically for this game or merely just got them to record additional lines when they were making the film, the voices of Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Chris Pratt and the other cast members can be heard throughout this game. And speaking of the cast…

The characters

Like all the games in the LEGO franchise, there are a plethora of characters in this game to unlock. Some (like Superman and Green Lantern) unlock naturally, and you’ll have to buy the others. This game is unique (well, until the second movie’s LEGO game) in the fact that you get characters from different franchises in the same game. Want Shaquille O’Neal to work with Batman and Gandalf? You’ve got it. To be honest, other than the exorbitant stud costs for some of the characters, this aspect is the strongest in the game.

The graphics

It’s a LEGO game. Need I say more? [Editor-Yes, you lazy twat] Fine. Well, all the worlds have been meticulously constructed and to be fair, if I had the money, I’d be making Bricksburg in my living room. Bricksburg, Octan Tower, The Old West and Cloud Cuckoo Land have been visual feasts, with lots of Easter Eggs for different characters.

You know how Batman fits “The Man With No Name” character archetype? In The Old West world, this gets rather literal, as you need Batman to get a pesky bank robber caught and put behind behind bars. Honestly, whilst the graphics aren’t anything to shout about, they’re guaranteed to keep the kids happy.

Any bugs/glitches?

There are a few of these sadly. From characters getting stuck in certain spots in the game, to one infuriating point in the game where you need a bit of a level demolished and it takes forever, it’s fair to say I got a few grey hairs getting this game done due to the amount of glitches both on the PS4 and the Xbox One versions of this game. Honestly, this is where TT Fusion don’t cover themselves in glory. The absolute worst though is getting small, unskippable cutscenes while watching hard-earned studs fade away. This aspect really can get in the sea.

Overall Conclusion

If you haven’t seen the film, you don’t need to if you own the game. You’ll watch the film as you transition through the levels in the game. It’s a fun game to play, and not particularly expensive to buy on sale or in you local game store, but don’t buy this game full price. It’s honestly not worth the hassle (like when I took your dad on a date). Instead, wait for this game to come on a sale.

It’s a good game, but damn it’s infuriating at times. Also, if I never hear that bloody song from the game again, it will be far too soon. Play through it if you like the LEGO game franchise, stay for the voice work. If you’re not a fan of the LEGO game franchise, avoid this game like crowded places to keep away from COVID-19.

This game gets a very generous 7/10 joysticks from me.

Keep safe during this difficult time, stay at home when possible, and have a lovely 2021.

Yours,

Davey.