Many players (myself included) have a soft spot for the LEGO games. I’m sure plenty of people grew up playing the LEGO Star Wars games in the 2000s, so it’s nice to see a new proper LEGO release that’s not a remaster of a compilation. This latest entry in the franchise is LEGO Horizon Adventures, and it’s based on Guerilla Games’ hit open-world sci-fi series.
This is not the first LEGO and Horizon collab as a Tallneck LEGO back in 2022, though the game is still quite unexpected. After all, most LEGO games are based on popular movies. Thus, it’s interesting the LEGO Group went with a game adaptation of an existing video game.
So, does LEGO Horizon Adventures offer anything new to make it worth playing for Horizon fans? And is it a good introduction to the world of Horizon for younger players? Well, it’s not on the level of the mainline series entries, but it should still offer a cute and fun time.
More LEGO than Horizon
What exactly is LEGO Horizon Adventures about story-wise? Well, this LEGO game takes the story of Horizon Zero Dawn and remixes it quite heavily. Instead of seeing Aloy go on a quest from Mother’s Heart to the Sundom, this LEGO version of events sees Aloy venture out into various biomes, though she returns to Mother’s Heart after every level.
In this game, Mother’s Heart is the main hub, and it features four main areas with different themes to represent the various biomes in Zero Dawn. As players progress through the main story levels, they can get gold bricks which unlock buildings throughout Mother’s Heart that can be used to spruce the place up. Aside from Horizon-themed buildings and design elements, the game also features LEGO City and Ninjago goodies. This also extends to Aloy and her three other companions’ outfits as they’re fully customizable. Thus, you can rock Ninjago outfits as Aloy if you want.
Decoration of Mother’s Heart and the characters are a big part of the game’s appeal. For me though, I was more interested in the game’s main story levels. Instead of being presented in an open-world format, the events of Horizon Adventures take place in standalone levels, each set in one of four biomes. Some of these levels also have big bosses, while others let players explore LEGO-fied Cauldrons (no doubt a highlight for Horizon fans).
The game’s levels look great as the lighting and textures add up for visuals that make it look like you’re playing with real-life LEGO sets. While they look fantastic, their design isn’t anything to write home about. Sure, you get various biomes along with side areas that reward studs, but for the most part, the levels are simply you going from one end to another linearly.
LEGO Horizon Adventures’ level design is probably the weakest aspect of the game for me as many levels felt same-y. Even the Cauldrons felt a bit uninspired later on. While LEGO games aren’t exactly known for level design, it would’ve been nice to see the levels have more variety as the game does have a good number of machines to fight.
Speaking of fight, Horizon Adventures’ combat is interesting. Instead of going with the third-person perspective of something like the LEGO Skywalker Saga, this game opts for a top-down view, making gameplay more reminiscent of the GameBoy Advance version of LEGO Star Wars II (a game that I sunk plenty of hours into as a kid).
In the game, you control Aloy who uses her bow to take down machines and human foes alike. Her bow isn’t upgradeable, though you do get special weapons at certain points in each level, as well as when taking off specific machine parts. Yes, you can activate your Focus and target weak points as you would in Horizon Zero Dawn, but this LEGO version is a bit more simplistic given its top-down view.
Along with special bows (which have limited ammo), players can also come across gadgets like a Tripacaster, a gravity bomb, and more. You can even get a Hotdog Cart which lobs bombs at enemies – useful when you’re surrounded by machines and Eclipse cultists.
Aside from Aloy, players can also take control of Varl, Teersa, or Erend once enough story progression is met. Varl has a throwing spear while Teersa can lob bombs. Out of all the characters though, I think Erend has the strongest kit as he’s the only one with a proper melee attack. Sure, this can be risky, but his powerful hammer can often make quick work of even the toughest machines (at least, in the normal difficulty mode).
Whether you play as Aloy or one of the three other characters, there’s fun to be had in Horizon Adventures, especially if you’re into the LEGO games. As someone who enjoyed the LEGO Star Wars games nearly two decades ago, I did still enjoy the short time playing Horizon Adventures (you can finish the story in around 6 hours, but it’ll take more time to complete everything). I do have to admit that it did get quite repetitive at times.
Because the combat is fairly simple and the levels don’t have the most exciting design, there were times that LEGO Horizon Adventures felt a bit dull. This wasn’t an issue with Star Wars as the LEGO games (especially at the time of their original release) were a way to experience the movie’s story in game form. But with Horizon Adventures, you get a bit of a watered-down version of Horizon Zero Dawn (both in terms of story and gameplay), so there were times that I simply wanted to boot up the original game.
What saved the experience for me was the LEGO aspect which has plenty of appeal. Aside from the humor (yes, it can be hit or miss, but I rather liked it), seeing the various Horizon machines in LEGO form was great. Hopefully, this means we’ll see more LEGO Horizon sets coming soon as a Thunderjaw or Snapmaw would be cool.
Another thing that helped make the gameplay experience great was the couch co-op function. This is where the game truly shines in my opinion.
Co-op is Where It Shines
Local co-op is likely the reason why Guerilla Games and Studio Gobo went with a top-down perspective for this game. That’s because split-screen wouldn’t be as good of a co-op experience here if they had stuck to the more typical third-person view.
After playing some early levels solo, I then played through the rest of the game with a co-op partner. In my opinion, this is the best way to play LEGO Horizon Adventures. Sure, it doesn’t really solve the game’s lackluster level design and simplistic combat, but having another player with you to experience the game makes the experience all the more engaging.
In fact, I can see this being the perfect game to play for couples where one isn’t a big gamer while the other is. This can also work as a great game to play with a kid as the game is simple enough to play for even younger players, but it still offers some depth thanks to the various weapons and gadgets.
Note that playing co-op, especially with a skilled partner, will make the game much easier. I also found that if a pair went with Aloy and Erend as their characters, they’d be able to mow down enemies with ease, especially in the normal difficulty. As such, I’d recommend adjusting the difficulty a bit higher if you’re playing with someone, unless you’re playing with a kid that is.
Still, even at the higher difficulties, the game shouldn’t be too difficult to finish. There are some bonus levels after the story though where players can hunt Apex machines. These should offer more of a challenge, not to mention that players who want to get all the collectibles should complete these.
While I wouldn’t call this the ultimate co-op experience in the vein of something like It Takes Two, LEGO Horizon Adventure is still a fun multiplayer experience overall. This is especially true given that PlayStation Studios doesn’t really have much in the way of local co-op titles. Hopefully, we see more PlayStation titles get co-op experiences, maybe something like LEGO Uncharted or even God of War can work.
LEGO Horizon Adventures Final Verdict – 7.5/10
For Horizon fans, LEGO Horizon Adventures should still offer a good time overall as it’s great to see the world and machines of Horizon be transformed into cool LEGO pieces and sets. The game’s story also has some lighthearted and funny moments, while its combat is satisfying, if a bit simple.
The main knock on the game is that not only is it short, but it also has repetitive levels. Coupled with the fairly simple combat, this game might not offer the most exciting experience.
As a singleplayer title, LEGO Horizon Adventures is okay, but thanks to local co-op, the game becomes good enough to be a solid recommendation, especially for families and couples. As such, this can be a good introduction for newer players to the world of Horizon.
[This review was made via a PS5 game code provided by the publisher.]