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LEGO Horizon Adventures just dropped into this month's PlayStation Plus lineup, and since it's one of LEGO's newest releases, now's the ideal time to check it out. If you're a fan of the Horizons series consider this your sign to press download… maybe.
LEGO Horizon makes a strong first impression: Very polished LEGO versions of the machines, hectic combat, and a fun selection of weapons and power-ups. Unfortunately, once you dig in, the experience falls short of the charm and polish that define the LEGO games fans have grown up loving.
LEGO Horizon Adventures One Paragrah Review
The main story wraps up in a little under six hours, giving you a quick, bite-sized take on Aloy's story and the Horizon universe. Combat is fun early on, but the formula becomes obvious pretty quickly: walk through a forest or desert or snowy mountain pass (which all kind of feel the same), drop into an encounter, clear out enemies and move forward. Rinse and repeat until you hit the final boss. It works at first, but the repetition sets in fast.
Pros
- Couch Co-op
- Movie quality cut scenes
- Lego's quirky charm and humor when it comes to story telling
Cons
- Repetitive game play
- Little to no puzzle solving or building
- World feels very small
LEGO Horizon Adventures Reunite with Aloy
LEGO Horizon Adventures gives Horizon Zero Dawn a bit of a sunny makeover. The apocalypse is conveniently downplayed (turns out the end of the world is less stressful in LEGO form), letting the focus shift to Aloy's personal journey and the characters closest to her.
Everything revolves around Mother's Heart, a central hub village. You can customize the village with buildings and decorations, giving it a personal touch that makes it feel uniquely yours.
With four playable characters, each locked to their own set of weapons, there's a lot of experimenting to do, especially if you're trying to figure out which weapon combinations work best in co-op.
Lego Horizon Adventures -How does it stack up to other Lego titles?
The cutscenes are a highlight: movie-level quality packed with classic LEGO humor. The writing and goofy gags even had me laughing out loud a couple of times. But while the cinematics shine, the overall gameplay feels lacking, and the experience never quite reaches the level of polish found in some of the stronger LEGO entries.
- Better Visuals: In terms of visuals, it's easily among the best-looking LEGO games out there.
- Couch Co-op: With couch co-op becoming harder to find, this game stands out. It's simple to pick up and play, and it works well for gamers of all skill levels.
- Quickplay through: If you don't have the time (or energy) for a full 60-hour Horizon Zero Dawn playthrough,this is essentially a quick, condensed retelling of the story.
Lego Horizon Adventures - What we liked most
The highlights for me were the couch co-op and the familiar, silly humor that LEGO games consistently deliver. The length is pleasantly short (sometimes you don't necessarily want a 60 hour epic adventure. And, as far as a "free" game goes (included in my PlayStation membership), I'm glad I got to play it.
Lego Horizon Adventures - What we didn't like
The downside? The gameplay gets repetitive fast. Combat turns into panic shooting more often than anything strategic. There's supposed to be a stealth mechanic, but after your first shot, all bets are off and you're just running. There's an enemy weak-point system too, but it's so basic that it almost doesn't even matter. I really wanted to see machines lose LEGO pieces, break apart, or switch weapons the way their Horizon counterparts do.
The Bottom Line Is Lego Horizon Adventures worth it?
Well...if you have it for free on PlayStation Plus there's no real downside to giving it a whirl. If you don't have PlayStation Plus, I wouldn't say it's a must-buy (or even must-play) but I'll include a link so you can buy it below in case you really want to see if you're missing out on anything.
Lego Horizon Adventures
Lego Horizon Adventures delivers polished LEGO visuals, funny cutscenes, and chaotic combat, but the gameplay is repetitive and shallow. At under six hours, it's a quick, lighthearted retelling of Horizon Zero Dawn. Fun for a short play session, but it falls short of the depth and charm of other LEGO titles.
This feels more like a demo of a bigger, better LEGO game that never arrived. LEGO has pulled off massive worlds before, but here everything feels trimmed down. Light on puzzles, light on building, and even smashing things for studs doesn't hit the usual dopamine button. But hey, if you've already got PS Plus and a free afternoon this Christmas, it's a solid way to kill time with that one weird little cousin every family inevitably has, just make sure he goes easy on the Pepsi. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.
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