LEGO Horizon Adventures

As a huge fan of the Horizon franchise, I must admit that I was a bit leery when I heard they were making a LEGO version of my favorite series. While I can appreciate the LEGO games we've seen with other franchises, I was very concerned that the magic and allure that I found in Horizon was going to be lost in the transition. We’re talking about a game with a massive world, filled with rich and deep lore; how do you boil all of that down into a simple and comedic presentation? Surely any attempts to do so would result in something that couldn’t possibly do service to the originating saga. Boy was I wrong!

How do you take a game or franchise that is incredibly rich in story and usually a vast, wide-open adventure and shrink it down to a simplified and accessible package? Better yet, how do you do that without losing all the things that made the original great? Well, let’s look at things bit by bit and see why the transition ended up so successful.

Let’s talk about the approach to the story and lore. This is a LEGO game after all, so you know that things are going to be presented in a comedic manner. To do this right, the game has to be willing to make fun of itself, and LEGO Horizon Adventures has no problem doing that. The simplification of the story and lore is handled by directly addressing a lot of the criticisms that fans have had about the franchise. Quite frankly, the game fully embraces how ridiculous some of the aspects of this story have come across.

Whether it is townsfolk in Mother's heart giving you exaggerated compliments on your battle skills or the way the cultists worship the sun for no other reason than to eliminate shade, everything is fair game. It can be just as ridiculous as it sounds, but it's funny in the end because they pull no punches on presenting these ideas. I couldn't help but laugh when Aloy finally receives the love from her mother that she has waited her entire life for, but it is coming from a hologram that reminds her of her curfew. It’s absurd without apologies.

On the gameplay side of things, the series is known for giving you a wide variety of weapons and focusing on traversing delicate set pieces and a meticulous battle system that has you systematically dismantling your enemies (literally). The traversal aspect takes the biggest hit in terms of simplification. There is a hint of it, but it is nowhere near what can be found in the main series. You do get some ledges to grab onto and climb across as well as some challenging jumping sequences when you are exploring one of the vaults in the wild, but aside from that, the game completely lacks the verticality that exists in the core series.

That also diminishes the open exploration feeling that the franchise is known for. You can’t go anywhere and everywhere. Instead, you get short courses with branching paths through familiar territories. The game is broken up into four regions, each representing a different biome that exists in the game: forest, jungle, snowy mountain, and the desert. These areas aren’t connected and are each accessed through different exits from Mother’s Heart, which serves as your hub for the game.

Each time you set out a run through one of the environments, you are given a new procedurally generated version of the area. This helps give you a feeling that you are exploring new and fresh areas every time you go out on a run. During each of these runs you will come across branching paths that may take you to different goals. One may lead you to a vault to explore while another. may point you in the direction of a wandering tall neck. The choice is totally up to the players in terms of which path they will follow.

The combat on the other hand may be scaled down but it becomes just as exciting and versatile as it is in the real game. First off, players get multiple characters to choose from this time around, which is something Horizon players have been asking for since the first game considering the broad supporting cast. There are four playable characters here, and each serve as its own “class" of sorts.

Of course you have Aloy, who is the all-rounder. She’s strong, with great range thanks to her trusty bow. You also get Erand, Varl, and Teersa; that’s right… you can play as grandmother-figure Teersa, and she is a BEAST who brings as much pain as she does comedy to the adventure. Erand is the super strong melee type, wielding his trusty hammer, while Varl has a spear he can both stab and throw at enemies. Teersa, my personal MVP, is a master of explosives, and throws bombs of various shapes and sizes at enemies. Just wait until you hear Teersa, with the original voice actor from the series, yelling “FRAG OUT” during battle! That wasn’t something I was prepared for and something that literally made me laugh out loud.

Each class has strengths and weaknesses. Aloy makes it easy to pinpoint parts of your enemies and pick them apart. She is also good at taking advantage of environmental hazards such as explosives and collapsible objects from a safe distance. You lose that safety however when you get in close with Erand or Varl. This leads to varying approaches to battle depending on the enemies you’re facing. The more that you play them, the stronger they get too as you level both the characters and general perks of the characters, increasing their health, damage, and range, among other aspects to give you the advantage in battle.

In usual Horizon fashion, the name of the game here is picking apart your machine-based enemies. You still can identify and target special parts on the mechanical beasts for increased damage and efficiency in battle. However, depending on which character or tool you are using, it can be easier in some cases than others. The aim is more about maintaining a solid line of sight on an enemy now rather than focusing on a specific area. You can move your targeting reticule onto an enemy and release it for a general shot that hit for standard damage, or you can hold that reticule on them for longer which narrows down your aim to specific parts. It simplifies the process and makes it much more accessible for younger gamers while still maintaining the Horizon-experience.

The gadgets are a new aspect and a chance to bring that LEGO flair to the game. Some of your gadgets are standard tools you may have seen in other games such as tripcasters and drones, but they can also include things like an actual LEGO brick separator. They provide a good variety of melee and ranged options and go a long way to add some variety that can balance out your selected characters attack style.

The voice work in the game is top notch, particularly for returning fans. Nearly all the original voice actors are back for this experience, sans Lance Reddick for obvious reasons, which really makes it a treat for those that have played the main games. Granted, their portrayals are on the comedic side this time around. Hearing Erand talk about his constant craving for donuts or Varl rant as if he is a battle-hardened warrior will easily put a smile on your face. Unfortunately, the new voice for Silens doesn’t sound anything like Lance Reddick, which is a bit disappointing. He has such an iconic tone and cadence that his absence is sorely missed due to the actor’s passing.

All these things combine for an enjoyable, yet simple, gameplay experience. This is certainly the type of game that a player of any age can pick up and jump into with absolutely no learning curve. That is exactly how the LEGO-fication of a franchise should be handled. You need to maintain everything that makes the source material great, while presenting it in a manner that broadens its accessibility. That is the recipe for success and something that I feel most other recent LEGO games have been missing. This feels and plays like a Horizon game… it just looks like everything is built from LEGOs.

As with other LEGO games, the big name of the game here is collecting and unlocking things. The usual LEGO staples are back in the form of golden bricks that grant you access to more new and varied things to tweak your world. As you collect these prized bricks as well as tons and tons of studs, you’ll be spending them on countless costumes and customization options to tweak the look and feel of your hub-world, Mother’s Heart. You can add buildings, as well as interactive set pieces throughout your world and truly make it your own.

It may sound like I have nothing but praise for the experience, but the game isn’t without some faults. My biggest frustration with the entire experience is the lack of camera controls. The camera perspective is locked at every point of the game. While this works most of the time, there are numerous instances where it just doesn't work that well, particularly when you are exploring the vaults. With their heavy emphasis on finding switches and platform jumping sequences, I found myself frequently desiring to shift or adjust the camera in one direction or another. The default camera perspective isn't always optimum in most cases, so even just the ability to shift it left or right a little bit would have made a world of difference. 

The game also missed an opportunity to put some gameplay emphasis on the Focus, which is a key tool in the franchise. You have one and you can scan the environment at any time with it, but it is only used to show enemy health bars and highlight their vulnerable machine parts. However, you can accomplish the same thing by simply aiming at an enemy with your weapon. As a result, I never used my Focus, which seems like a crime in the world of Horizon. 

Lastly, while I can enjoy the simplification of the story as a fan, I do think a lot of it will be lost on those who aren’t familiar with the original releases. You really can’t appreciate a lot of the jokes without knowing the background behind them, or the stories that they’re based on. This is likely to throw off a lot of new players, at least in terms of older ones. Younger players aren’t likely to get caught up in that aspect of the situation, but as an older gamer, I know that I would be bothered.

In the end, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a game that is way better than it has any right being. While I expected to be moderately entertained for an evening or two with it, I never expected to find myself hooked to the loop of exploring and customizing my own version of Mother’s Heart. It has made me laugh endlessly while providing action-packed and enjoyable battles, which is a combination that makes me a happy gamer. If you’re a fan of the Horizon franchise, you will definitely enjoy visiting the world again with this light-hearted perspective; you’ll enjoy it even more if you have kids who watched you play the main games and can join you on the ride.