Lego Horizon Adventures Preview

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Lego Horizon Adventures' post-apocalyptic robo-whacking is a better fit for blockification than you’d think!  Preview by Oscar Taylor-Kent Video by Hal Dimond

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00:00LEGO Horizon Adventures manages to be exactly what you think it is when you hear those three

00:05words in combination, but still bucks an amount of that expectation. After playing through the

00:09game's opening levels, I'm surprised at how well Studio Gobo and Guerrilla Games have been able to

00:14make the story and tone feel distinct by deftly altering its source material's more mature tone

00:19to be more family-friendly, and also how the studio has been able to carve out its own game

00:24feel that isn't overshadowed by Traveller's Tale's monolithic LEGO game portfolio. Even the idea of

00:30doing a LEGO game adaptation of another game series is surprisingly fresh. It's usually a format used to

00:36gamify different media altogether. In LEGO Horizon Adventures though, you can immediately feel that

00:42closeness. One game feeding into another. It helps that it's co-developed by Horizon creator Guerrilla

00:48Games, and retains talent from those originals. Ashley Birch returns as Aloy, the star of both

00:53mainline Horizon games, but is also able to deliver an immediately more peppy and upbeat take that

00:58manages to feel like she's playing the lead in an animated children's movie while maintaining

01:03Aloy's personality. There are times where this tonal shift can feel a bit odd. An early character

01:08deft that's a big serious moment is now mixed with some slapstick acrobatics, but those familiar with the

01:13usual tone of humour that's become associated with LEGO as a brand won't find it too out of place.

01:19There's a winking tone throughout that's frequently very meta. Early missions focus on Aloy trying to

01:24rescue Nora tribe members who have been kidnapped by Shadow Kaja. One rescued victim claims he allowed

01:30himself to be taken in order to spy on enemy chatter, including finding the info that their leader,

01:35Helis, is so good at handling the sun that he has a tanning bed record. Another cage has some random

01:41LEGO minifigure characters milling around in the back, as if they'd just been abducted from a bank scene.

01:46At a glance, the combination of LEGO and Horizon might seem a little random. Is it only because

01:53the series has a few popular real-life LEGO sets? It might help, but there's more to it. In play,

01:59you quickly realise that Horizon fits the LEGO world much better than expected, finding some design

02:04through lines that make more sense than the, still tremendously charming, astrobotification of

02:10Uncharted and God of War Ragnarok. That's because the core combat loop that defines Horizon,

02:14using your bow and other weapons to strip robots of their armour and components,

02:19naturally works well with removing LEGO pieces off of a model. Here, hitting those pieces with your

02:24bow deals critical damage to the fairly snappy to deplete health bars, and tapping the shoulder

02:29button uses your techwear focus to highlight those weak points. A friendly amount of auto-way magnetism

02:35means that as long as you're attacking near the correct area, you'll get your crits in. Beyond picking

02:39apart foes, Horizon's broader world benefits from the LEGO touch. After all, what better way to convey

02:45a post-post-apocalypse, a new world growing over the ruins of the old, than by actually layering bricks

02:51over the top? As the old ruins of the modern world we know have been left to crumble, having them

02:56actually feel like half-destroyed LEGO kits is a tremendously nice touch. Though blocky LEGO pieces are

03:02lo-fi, they're rendered in glorious detail on PS5, where we were playing. Figures reflecting light and

03:08having tiny scuff details to make them really seem like the real world bricks we know and love.

03:14LEGO Horizon Adventures isn't open world like its source material, though LEGO games have dabbled in

03:19the genre in the past. Linear levels are themselves a way of differentiating this experience from the

03:24original. Starting out in the Nora village, it acts as a customisable hub from which you embark on new

03:29levels. Fairly straightforward, you mostly run and jump around until you get into a combat encounter,

03:34occasionally finding hidden chests or sites to build models along the way. Horizon's stealthier

03:40elements receive a nod as well, Aloy and friends literally turning into grass LEGO pieces when among

03:44the weeds, able to skitter about unseen. In our time playing, it's more of a brief entry into combat,

03:50which embraces chaotic scuffles. With a fairly high up camera, it suits the long-range first design,

03:56holding then releasing the aim button to ping arrows from your bow into enemies without having

04:01to worry about running out and having to craft more. Humans can also be picked up and thrown,

04:06wiggling in your hands before you release them. Power-ups add to the toy box-like appeal of LEGO

04:10Horizon Adventures, from triple shots to double jump blaze boots and even a deployable hot dog cart. Yes,

04:17place that cart down and the hot dog vendor will go hog wild hurling exploding food around the nearby area.

04:23It's a silly approach that may go some way to addressing those that find Horizon's self-serious

04:28nature harder to get into. Elemental effects also come into play, though here they're environmental

04:34based rather than tied to ammo. Release an arrow through a campfire, for instance, and it'll deal

04:39fire damage when it makes contact with enemy plastic on the other side. Light environmental puzzles make

04:44use of this, for instance by having you burn through a wall of thorns. With its simple play, LEGO Horizon

04:49Adventures likely won't end up as compelling and immersive as Aloy's quest proper, but it's not

04:54intended to be. Playing co-op with a PR rep, I'll admit I zoned out for a level or two as we just

05:00caught up on life events. That's what can make a single screen co-op game great, though it supports

05:04online play too. Soaking in fun, clicky, responsive action and doing it alongside a pal. Releasing day one

05:11across not just PS5 and PC, but Nintendo Switch as well, LEGO Horizon Adventures is shaping up to fit that bill

05:18well and provide some chuckles besides. So, will you be playing LEGO Horizon Adventures? What other

05:23games deserve the LEGO treatment? Let us know in the comments and as always stick with Games Radar

05:27for the latest previews, reviews and more.

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