The Lego Movie Videogame arrived in 2014 as a tie-in that did the obvious thing: it rebuilt the film’s plot out of plastic bricks and handed it to TT Fusion, the studio that had spent a decade turning licensed properties into Lego games. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment published it alongside the movie for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One and Nintendo 3DS, with a Mac version from Feral Interactive following on 16 October 2014.
It is a competent Lego game. It is not much more than that.
Trailer, via Warner Bros. Games.
Emmet Is Mistaken for the Key to Saving the World
The setup follows the film. Emmet is an ordinary, rules-following citizen who gets mistaken for the most extraordinary person alive and the key to saving the world. Players guide him into a fellowship of strangers on a quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey the game’s own summary calls one for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.
The Film’s Cast, Frozen in Footage You Have Already Seen
The cast is the film’s cast, sort of. Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman are credited for their archival film voices, because the cutscenes are lifted straight from the movie. Todd Hansen is the only actor who actually reprises his role, as Gandalf.
That’s the trade-off at the heart of this thing. You get the film’s real performances, and you get them frozen in footage you have already seen.
Batman, Superman and More Than 90 Playable Characters
The roster is the selling point: more than 90 playable characters, including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Green Ninja, Gandalf, Shakespeare and Cleopatra. The game runs on the established TT Games loop — open levels, Lego pieces, third-person puzzle and adventure work, single player, multiplayer and co-op.
Regular Builders and Master Builders
Two new character types carry the mechanical load. Regular Builders can’t construct from loose piles of bricks; they need instruction pages scattered through each level, and the construction workers follow those instructions piece by piece, like building a real Lego set. Master Builders skip the paperwork and pull bricks from the environment to make something new.
It’s a clean idea. It’s also the only idea here that feels native to Lego rather than borrowed from a film.
Every Environment Is Made Entirely of Lego Pieces
The ability list is long and familiar: switches for Lord Business, machinery repair, computer hacking, lasers for gold bricks, rockets or dynamite for silver bricks, starting fires, putting them out. For the first time in the series, every environment except the bonus area is built entirely from Lego pieces.
That last detail matters more than the roster. It’s the one place The Lego Movie Videogame looks like itself instead of like a movie with studs on it.
A Tie-In That Knows Its Ceiling
The Lego Movie Videogame works. It’s funny in the right places, the co-op is easy to hand to a kid, and the Master Builder mechanic gives the series a small, real idea. But the cutscenes are the film’s, the plot is the film’s, and the best jokes are the ones you already laughed at in a theater.
It’s a tie-in that knows exactly what it is and never tries to be more. That’s not a failure. It’s just a ceiling.
The Hard Numbers
- Release: 2014, alongside the film; Mac version 16 October 2014
- Developer: TT Fusion
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PC, Wii U, PlayStation Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Nintendo 3DS, Mac
- Playable characters: over 90
- Critic aggregate: 6.3/10 (10 outlets)
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