The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame Review

"Everything is Not Awesome."

Campaign

February 27, 2019 at 9:09pm

When it comes to the LEGO games franchise; especially titles from Traveller's Tales, we've come to expect a certain standard. Sure, not every title is amazing, though they are consistently enjoyable. I was looking forward to that warm feeling with this title, especially with how much I had enjoyed their previous take on the LEGO Movie. I really was hoping for something that expanded upon the film, instead we get a really casual walk through for some of it.

It's honestly a complete disappointment in comparison to the first and anything else in the franchise. Instead of what we're used to, we've been given what feels like an ultra low budget game and a generally lazy package. They've stripped away every element of the series that I've enjoyed since the first LEGO Star Wars in 2005. It's been given a weird take on LEGO Worlds setup, and it doesn't work for this type of game. Not to say I didn't like LEGO Worlds, it was a neat different type of experience.

I'd discuss a narrative, but there really isn't one here. You walk on a completely guided path doing meaningless tasks with minor bits of discussion thrown over top of it. The "levels" are just small sandbox areas with minor side missions that you pass as you go around hitting the gold arrows. There aren't really collectibles, just mystical bricks for completing the boring side missions. You don't try to get any stud counters on levels, or collect minikits so replayability is thrown out the window.

Gameplay

It's the style of play you're familiar with, from LEGO Worlds. You walk around with a generic character that's not special. They need to gain certain objects to have abilities and it's boring. The visuals are largely bland, there's awful pop-in present and an ugly haze that covers the horizon. There was screen tearing as well, though for the most part it does run stable enough performance wise.

Local coop is still present, thankfully. There are no extras however, no hubs in the traditional sense and no PVP areas that have been staples recently. Tasks are not complex, they come across as insulting to any age. In one mini part of a mission I walked for three seconds, and then rode a Raptor for three seconds to then jump off once it was in a cage. I then had a few extra seconds to ride the next one and repeated the rest of those steps, that was an actual mission.

Being like LEGO Worlds you move through medium size areas that are linear in design. If you slightly walk off the path you'll find a chest with loot box relics, or a mystical brick. When you break objects you collect bricks, these are used for building items. You'll build the same items dozens of times to solve simplistic problems. I built what felt like thirty or forty generators throughout the game.

The Conclusion

Everything is not awesome in this disappointing entry in what's been a well run series since 2005. I hated this, passionately so. It goes against everything they've been building towards the entire time they've made these games. It's limited on content and no fun, I ran through it in a few hours with little desire to do anything else. If I really wanted to finish everything, it would probably take a few hours more doing boring side missions. I should also mention there's a loot crate type setup, not with real currency however.

You're constantly collecting relics, or buying them with studs which give you a random chance at getting items. This includes things such as blocks, minifigs or builds. That's mostly how you unlock things, it sucks. The missions aren't fun here, the game was painful to sit through and I'm not sure why I did. The replay wealth this series is known for has been thrown out the window, the worlds you explore have horrible pop-in and it's just a bland experience.

I wouldn't even task my potential future children with grinding this one out for Achievements. I sound harsh, because this really is just sorrowing. It's not good, I expect more from Traveller's Tales and I've loved their games over the years. The games might have had minor issues in the past, but they've always been fun. If they make another entry like this I'm done with the LEGO titles. To quote the movie this ties into; "Everything's not awesome... Everything's not cool"

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The LEGO Movie 2 Videogame Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by MSL Group

Rating Overall: 3.8