Released on 14 November for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC, Lego Horizon Adventures is a surprising new entry in the LEGO video game series. Surprising because you’ll probably find yourself asking who exactly it’s for, given that this action adventure is an upbeat, family-friendly take on the universe of Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West.

To clarify, Guerrilla Games’ Horizon franchise isn’t graphic or gratuitous, but it certainly leans to the mature in its story and themes. Here, though, Guerrilla, in partnership with Studio Gobo, have gone a more light-hearted route, completely excising grim topics like environmental collapse, and putting a chipper spin on characters like machine hunting protagonist Aloy, and companions Varl and Erend – with the assistance of returning original voice actors Ashly Burch, John Macmillan and John Hopkins.

The LEGO and Horizon collaboration isn’t unprecedented, as a Tallneck LEGO set was released in 2022. However, it still feels like a strange pivot when previous licensed LEGO video games have included the likes of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and DC Super Heroes, which are more kid-orientated by default.

Regardless of the behind-the-scenes motivations, with the school holidays and festive season break on the, erm, horizon, you might be in the market for a game that is suitable for players of all ages, and, even better, can be enjoyed together. Apart from sporting the trusted LEGO name, LEGO Horizon Adventures will likely be on your radar due to the fact it can be played solo, or in two-player co-op mode, either together on the couch, or online (with the latter requiring a PS Plus subscription).

Is the game worth its premium R1,299 price tag though? We turned to a Horizon veteran, and franchise newbie with LEGO game experience, to weigh in.

Tracy

I am a huge fan of the original Horizon series, so I was both excited and a little trepidatious to dive into the LEGO version and see how everything translates. Will LEGO Horizon Adventures do the main series justice? Will we get the same sense of awe and power? And will I be able to handle a bubbly, over-enthusiastic Aloy?

After the release of the aforementioned Tallneck LEGO set, which included the Aloy Minifig, a little Watcher, and a mini diorama, it was easy to imagine the world of Horizon Zero Dawn in this setting. And it’s definitely a treat to see everything, particularly the machines, so intricately reimagined in LEGO form. If they used the game as a basis to release a bunch more Horizon LEGO sets in real life, including a Cauldron scene, they’d have day one sales from me.

Unfortunately, besides for admiring the literal world-building, there isn’t much to do outside the four story chapters. Once you finish the campaign, it’s grindy as you’re limited to Apex machine hunts as the sole way to earn experience and tick off challenges with their gold brick rewards. The story is very light on details, glossing over most of the lore of Horizon and condensing Aloy’s story into a few fetch quests. While it’s true to the core of the original with some amusing changes, anyone that hasn’t played Horizon Zero Dawn still won’t have answers to some of the big plot questions.

LEGO Horizon Adventures is far more fun in co-op combat than as a single player adventure. Each character brings their own strengths to a battle situation and, though it can get chaotic, it’s genuinely enjoyable as, true to the original game, you identify and remove key parts of each machine to defeat them. That being said, because the gameplay is not split screen, if you stray too far away from your companion, the second player is teleported back to the main. This makes for frustrating moments when you’re about to get the health you desperately need and suddenly find yourself on the other side of the battlefield, slap-bang in the middle of an explosion. And, unless you’re mixing up your playable choices for each mission chapter, it’s hard to level up characters as the ones you don’t take lag behind in XP very quickly.

Noelle

I came to LEGO Horizon Adventures with only a basic knowledge of the original 2017 game and its sequel. That said, I still feel like I recognised a lot of the game’s in-jokes, like a tongue-in-cheek reference to merchants who hang around in the middle of nowhere, and the rewriting of Sylens as a DJ. DJ Sylens, get it? Even if I didn’t have a foundational familiarity, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a lot of fun, and consistently funny, with the fourth wall-breaking Narrator commentary an especial highlight.

That said, for all the goodwill the game generates, it quickly becomes apparent how one dimensional it is. You can choose your character – each has a different combat style – and equip different special weapons, gadgets and costumes. And back at your home base of Mother’s Heart you can customise it with LEGO City, Ninjago and Amusement Park structures and colour schemes. However, it all feels a bit one note. Even the skill point table is extremely simplistic.

Basically, your LEGO Horizon Adventures experience boils down to: head out into the wilds to fight machines and cultists, come home to level up and dress yourself as a chicken if you want, and repeat this process for the next 7 to 9 hours of play time.

Community board challenges mix things up a little, and with the right difficulty setting (which you can always adjust on the fly), you’ll find some real challenge in the boss fights. That said, LEGO Horizon Adventures comes across as pretty stripped down even for a LEGO game. Compare it to The Skywalker Saga, for example, and you realise the environments aren’t as smashable and you never get to do anything with the LEGO buildings you assemble. The occasional bit of puzzle platforming makes it obvious how little gameplay diversity there is in the rest of the title.

Though it’s single player as opposed to co-op, if you’re picking one family-friendly game for the holidays, you’re probably better off investing in Game of the Year contender Astro Bot.


LEGO Horizon Adventures review

It’s gorgeous to look at, cute and stuffed full of enjoyable silliness, but LEGO Horizon Adventures is underwhelming on the gameplay front. Not short on challenge if you pick the right difficulty level, nonetheless there’s no escaping how samey it feels. Best enjoyed in co-op mode.

 7
LEGO Horizon Adventures was reviewed on PS5