In comparison to other franchises, I was surprised at how slow it was for other companies attempted to rival Minecraft. Square Enix released Dragon Quest Builders five years since the game’s launch, and Trove by MMO dev Trion Worlds was nevertheless high profile, but still released in that same timespan. Now the most likely addition has come, LEGO’s own take, titled LEGO Worlds. The game originally launched on PC before coming to consoles, possibly signaling attention to detail that isn’t always seen in every sandbox game. Is this the case, or are those excited being mislead?
Gameplay:
The concept of a sandbox LEGO game is hard to pinpoint when you’ve experienced how linear last entries have been (besides for basic open worlds), but that doesn’t mean that TT Games isn’t trying. The first gameplay element of Worlds that stands out is somewhat similar to what you would see in Minecraft’s creative mode, but ends up making the game much more accessible. While not all will be happy with the familiarity, I didn’t find a problem with it, especially in light w/ the game’s demographic.
LEGO Worlds also includes more typical side/mini quests, but these aren’t added just for the sake of giving the game more content. Not only does it teach you more about the mechanics, but all are varied and diverse from setting to objectives. It’s almost like two games in one.
Story & Design:
Just because LEGO Worlds is a sandbox game doesn’t mean it lacks a story, but the one given here sadly isn’t too substantial, and instead leads into all the tasks you’ll be doing following the game’s introduction. I was a bit disappointed in this move, but I think it helped to give the gameplay and its mechanics more polish.
The essence of LEGO is captured well in Worlds, as there are many ways to navigate through problems that wouldn’t be available in let’s say Minecraft. This completely takes away semblance of the game being a clone, although both games are great in their own right.
Presentation/ Visuals & Audio:
LEGO Worlds contains most of its issues in the presentation, as frame-rate, camera, and progression can be commonly marred. The bulk of this is during the game’s starting sections, so have some patience when just starting off. A couple hours in and there should be less issue.
Conclusion:
I had some skeptical thoughts about LEGO Worlds, but after hours of play, I’m happy to report the closest it comes to being a clone of Minecraft is using it as a slight influence. In fact, this is one of the most creative LEGO games I’ve seen in quite some time, and matches LEGO Batman 2 when voice acting and open world were introduced.
LEGO Worlds gets a 8/10 (Very Good)
We’d like to thank Warner Bros Interactive for giving us a code!
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