12th Jun2015

‘LEGO Worlds’ Review (PC)

by Paul Metcalf

lego-worlds

LEGO seems to be something that is universally loved, unless we stand on a piece of it then we end up swearing at it of course!  When Minecraft was created we were given a huge world created by blocks, and you could either try to fight for survival or just be creative and build whatever you want.  You could argue that the inspiration for the game was LEGO, and it seems that the makers of LEGO have finally cottoned onto this, and LEGO Worlds has appeared to do some catching up, if it even needs to.

The most important thing to realise about LEGO Worlds is that it is Early Access and very much a work-in-progress game.  TT Games have allowed gamers to enter this world though to provide feedback and let them see what is to come.  I think the key words there have to be “what is to come” because now it definitely feels like it is not all there.

What we are able to play with now though hints on the magic of what LEGO should be, and that is construction and exploration of a world full of LEGO.  When you load up the game you can select a procedurally created world and skydive down onto it (or free fall depending on how you view it).  Through exploration you build up a toy box of not only LEGO bricks but also buildings, flowers, vehicles and characters that you can use and for the most part this keeps you playing for a while and keeps the exploration fun, though this can’t last forever.

The beauty of exploration is that unlike Minecraft which based itself more on a world based on natural environments, LEGO Worlds is more fantastical.  You can be walking through a green forest area one minute only to find yourself suddenly in an area of mountains and volcanos where dragons and wizards are ready to interact with.  Walk further and you are in a candy land, snowy area, spooky forest and whatever else you find next.  I’ve noticed every day there is something new added to the game, or just something I’ve not seen before and this is where the fun of the game is created.  This is very evident with the characters that you see in the game, which are all available for you to be.  You can also edit the character to be something randomly created out of your creativity.

lego-worlds-werewolf

As you build up vehicles that you can use, pre-made buildings, and characters that you can become this is where your imagination takes control.  I found for example that I was able to become a werewolf, who then hopped onto a dragon, took to the skies and using a pre-made castle created a little sky castle from which he could look over the world.  There wasn’t much to do in there other than dream of what could be, but that is where the game can and we can assume will be improved.  Right now in terms of combat, when night falls you’ll be fighting off skeletons but that’s about it, yet another area to be improved but again this shows the promise of what will be in the future.

What TT Games have created though is something that makes very good use of Early Access on Steam.  We have the world, we can experience it, now we want to see the game developed upon it that shows what LEGO truly can do.  LEGO Worlds is very Early Access and if anything feels like a proof of concept, but if this is a proof of concept then I can’t wait to see what the final product is going to be.

LEGO Worlds is available on Steam Early Access on the PC now.

Review originally posted on PissedOffGeek
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