Movies on kids toys and series are being churned out by the film industry left right and centre. Monster High, Postman Pat, Tarzan (and possibly Minecraft) are on the horizon to appear in a cinema near you and no doubt the majority of these will be badly written, unfunny, and will be a disappointment for kids and parents alike. The Lego movie is happily none of these.
The creation of this movie took years and the writing clearly was equally carefully thought out. The film follows the story of Emmet and regular Lego character who is taken out of his comfort zone of following instructions and plunged into the real eclectic world of Lego. Adventuring to different lands with different Lego themes.
Parents, this movie is a joy for both your kids and yourself. On several occasions in the movie theatre I only heard adults laughing. The movie was full of film references, cameos from celebrities, and references to previous Lego sets.
1980-something space guy
Celebrity voices include: Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks, Channing Tatum, Nick Offerman, Will Ferrell and Chris Pratt. The movie features millions of Lego bricks and Lego sets which parents and kids will remember fondly from playing with in their bedroom.
The movie has surprising twists and turns and addresses the balance between some adults treasuring Lego for different reasons than kids.
This is definitely a movie I and many other kids and parents will be playing, starting and selecting again when it comes out of DVD and Blu-ray.
Join the city’s finest to save people in need, catch criminals and race around the city. This new app game from Lego brings the world of Lego city to mobile and gives a taste of what can be found in full pc and console Lego City games. Having played other great Lego games in the past like Alpha Team and the Lego Batman games I had high hopes for a mobile game. A couple of years ago I installed Lego Creating game on android and was pleased with its simple and easy gameplay. Happily this game is easy to play too but in some cases leaves the player wanting more, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Acquisition – The game was quick to download and it immediately puts the player into the city without a tutorial or explanation of that to do. Without this it makes the game slightly harder to understand in terms of what buttons do what and what the aim of the game is. However once the player learns how to open one mini game the game is easily understood, thus making the entry barrier low. The player’s presented with an overview of the city with each of the 7 mini games based in different areas of the map.
Level system
What is it? – This game is series of mini games each based around one of the city departments: Police, Fire department, coast guard, postal service, roadside recovery. And just for fun they’ve added in a racing circuit too. The game is well suited for its target market of kids and bright and colourful graphics. The mini games have 3 levels and reaching the next level requires repeat play of the game of several different levels (see image right) Each mini game starts with a mini movie to put the player into a little story where they have to catch the robber, put out the fire or rescue the people in boats.
These mini movies are comedic, fun and have excellent graphics. It would have been nice to see a different storyline each time the player levels up on a mini game as the mini movies just repeated which can get boring after seeing it 9 times. The level ends with a fanfare which helps give a form of reward to the player for their play and encourages them to try again.
Level system – The level system gives the game some longevity and each new level is increasingly difficult, therefore this game requires some concentration but quick burst gameplay. This quick burst gameplay means that this game is easily picked up and put down.
Gameplay – The controls are simple to understand and involved either a touch or tilt control system which can be
altered on pausing a level. Pausing the level also gives shot pictographic explanations of the controls. These simple controls also help give the game a low entry barrier making it perfect for kids. With levels getting increasingly difficult it makes the player have to use some skill to traverse the road or catch the robber before time runs out or the fire gets out of control. The controls are very sensitive so precision and careful movements are vital to completing the harder levels.
Issues – Some levels did not work on my mobile phone and did not render some of the graphics which will hopefully be fixed soon or may be just an issue with my device.
Monetisation – Happily this game has no micro-transactions and no consumables meaning that the player can play
the mini games to their hearts content. Playing levels does earn Lego studs (coins) but after playing the game and searching online there seems to be no function to these apart from being a reward for gameplay. This game also doesn’t have any social media aspect to it which again is appropriate for the age group.
Progression – The player does receive a sense of progression in going up star levels and gaining more coins but it doesn’t seem fully developed. Further developments to the story would help with players sense of progression and would help improve retention as currently there is not much drawing the player back to the app apart from the games
This game has a lot of potential, but not all of this has been realised yet. This app is just mini games and playing one over and over can get a bit tedious after a while. But for kids I’m sure this will be a hit, and with this being an app it may just be a vehicle to get them interested in other Lego City game. As a kind of demo for these other games it works perfectly. Additions we would like to see are more mini games which could be easily added to the map and some way that the player can build. What you expect from a mobile app game based around a construction toy is the ability to build.
The Verdict
This is a fun, bright and well made app, perfectly suited for children and parents seem to love this app too. It has potential for expansion in many way but as a starter game for kids looking to expand into other Lego games it is perfect. It suits this role of taster for other Lego titles perfectly and does it in a great way. Although it doesn’t have this gamer returning, but I’m sure it has many children continually press play, start, select on this great app.
Reaching for the skies above the Gotham of LEGO Batman, this game allows an expansion into the world of DC comics and the Justice League. It should be called LEGO DC Universe.
This game picks up on the successes of LEGO Batman and runs with it and to great effect. We still have the construction mechanics familiar in any LEGO game and at times this can be repetitive and an annoyance to the flow of the game. But these being interspersed with a gripping storyline and the ability to switch between a multitude of DC’s best and boldest reduces the drag some game element may have.
It’s no way another Arkham City but that’s not a bad thing
The wide range of characters available in this game and the ability to play as some of the best known Justice League members like Superman, Wonderwoman, and Green Lantern, as well as many you will be meeting for the first time allows for gameplay to be more varied than arguably any other LEGO game and the open world elements allows surpasses the heights of Arkham City in terms of freedom.
The storyline is surprisingly gripping, plunging the player into a Gotham not just under the threat from Batman’s old adversaries but a plethora of DC villains who bring new super-sized threats from all angles leaving the player to deftly swap characters just at the right moment to save the public from the clutches of doom.
The dual character element of the game which begins at level one where the caped crusader and the boy wonder and once again are locked in a battle with the Joker and his thugs. Dual wielding of characters when playing single player does help mix things up a bit just as it has with previous LEGO game titles, but does have it’s limitations. When playing as one character the second bot follows you around the world with good accuracy but sometimes will get stuck trying to get around a wall. One incident I encountered was when the game required me to switch to Robin but as the bot had just fallen off an edge trying to stay close it meant I had to watch helpless as the bot repeatedly jumped off the edge the second he respawned in a desperate attempt to take the shortest route to keep up. Try as I may pressing pause and restart level was the only option.
The graphics in the game are as chunky as the LEGO the scenes are made from but any purchaser of this game will know the graphics aren’t going to be at the heights of Arkham City and any purchaser who complains about the graphics clearly hasn’t looked at the back of the box or seen LEGO before.
Collecting of LEGO blocks, characters, weapons, vehicl
Off to the sequel?
es, and much more gives the game the longevity it needs as completing it can only take a few hours as you would expect from a game designed for the children’s market. But these extras has kept this 22 year old captivated and racking up the number of hours played.
Overall the game followed the formula of much of its LEGO predecessors but added crucial elements to allow it to stand above the heights of not only Gotham but its elders and rivals. This is clearly a social game to be played with family or friends especially with the dual character element but even playing single player allows for many happy hours of playing, starting, and selecting. But what do you think?
majority of these will be badly written, unfunny, and will be a disappointment for kids and parents alike. The Lego movie is happily none of these.
Play, Start, Select 