Lego Horizon Adventures - Review

This Lego world is theirs...

Console: PlayStation 5

Horizon, which let's be real could've used a more distinctive name, is tied with God of War for my PlayStation series. What gives it an edge over Kratos and all that juicy mythology is its Dutch origins (I am Dutch) and fun stuff like this: a Lego game. An unexpected but welcoming development. 

I’m a Lego enjoyer and the Tallneck, Shell-Walker & Sawtooth sets stand proudly on my shelves as the only recent purchases. The success of the former and the lively Lego Horizon community (have you seen some of the stuff fans have built?) is clearly why this game exists. That and Sony trying to bring in more people. 

As you can guess, though, I did not play this title when it came out. Brutally simple: I found it too expensive. I was excited for the game, but not hyped. When reviews hit, it became quite clear that it fell squarely into the 'it's fine' zone. I decided to wait for the price to go down before taking the plunge, which finally came recently when I stumbled on a copy for a steal. 

Without further ado, let's talk about Lego Horizon Adventures. Dive into the Lego-fied world of Horizon myself and just see how this charming but odd spin-off treats me. 

Aloy is a young woman from the Nora Tribe eager to finally visit her tribe's main settlement: Mother's Heart. You see, Aloy was found abandoned as a baby, and now that she is old enough, she wants to learn more and hopefully find out who her mother is. Instead of these answers, she finds a destiny. Just as she arrives, Mother's Heart is attacked. A cult of sun worshippers kidnaps many Nora in the name of their mysterious 'master'. Together with her adoptive father Rost, and later with some new friends, Aloy sets out to save her people and get the answers she seeks. 

The story of Lego Horizon Adventure is a very simplified and more kid-friendly retelling of the plot of Horizon Zero Dawn. Where that narrative played it straight and serious, this one right here is an upbeat and family-friendly narrative filled with lots of jokes and visual gags. 

The entire post-apocalyptic angle is downplayed as much as you can considering the core premise of Horizon - a post-apocalyptic world overrun with animalistic machines - while putting the focus on friends, family and its environmental messaging. It even has a 4th wall-breaking narrator, which worked surprisingly well.

This narrative is less complex and interesting to an older player like me, but it fulfils its purpose to be an approachable, goofy story for younger players. Pretty sure that is the whole reason this game came to Nintendo Switch. In that it succeeds, and what we have here is a very pleasant narrative. A bit on the nose, yes, but it makes sure to give our most important characters an arc and to give each of our characters a memorable personality. A bit cringeworthy as I might find it, being so used to the calculating Sylens of Lance Reddick, for the target audience, the ‘DJ’ Lego Sylens will no doubt stick with them much more. 

One thing this game does is add in unique machine variants such as these ice-themed Scrappers. 

Speaking of Sylens, with Lance Reddick's passing, he is the only main character not to be voiced by their usual actor. All the others, Aloy, Rost, Varl and Erend, are all voiced by Ashley Burch and the gang. Unexpected but welcome. Ashley and J.B. Blanc, in particular, give some very different but great performances here. 

The narrative is probably the most fleshed-out area of the game. You see, this title simplifies not only the gameplay of Zero Dawn but also makes the normal Lego gameplay it adopts even simpler than it already is. Most of the Lego video game formula is here, but not everything. 

We have linear level design, action, studs as currency, a hub world and collectables as always. We only have a playable cast of four, but we have a very robust system of costumes, so I think you can count that as ‘plenty of characters’. Couch co-op is here, but only with a friend. Since I don't have a second controller, I can't play co-op even if I tried. There is no computer to control a 2nd character when you play alone, which is a real miss. Switching between two vastly different characters has always been part of the fun with Lego games. 

Puzzle-solving and one-off gimmick levels that change the gameplay are completely gone. The best you get is having to think for a second about how to set fire to some bushes. This 'toning down' is my problem with the gameplay. 

Simple isn’t inherently bad—after all, the core combat loop here is smooth and satisfying—but the gameplay is too simple overall, leaving precious little to do outside of combat. You run into a battle, walk a bit collecting studs until you arrive at the next combat area. Rinse and repeat. Without any puzzles or sizeable alternate routes to fill these sections, you truly do nothing more than just walk. 

The levels themselves don't fare much better either, sadly. The bulk of each world consists of levels that are 90% the same. You might go a bit deeper into the level one time or zipline in from the right side of the screen instead of the left, but that is about it. The most you get in terms of variety is a tallneck 'catch up with it' sequence and cauldron levels. I like those very much, but you can count them on one hand. 

More sizable is the hubworld. Mother’s Heart isn’t just a settlement to rest your plastic feet in between levels. You can customise it to your heart’s content. Build new buildings, renovate gardens, change the seasons and more. The deeper in the game you get, the more options you unlock. From Tallneck-inspired roofs to even non-Horizon builds, such as space ships and dragons. As long as you have connected enough gold bricks and studs, you can do it all. Combined with the costumes, this is likely where kids will spend most of their time. I think this ‘creative silliness’ will be right up their alley. 

Me being me, I mostly stuck with Horizon and Tribal builds in Mother's Heart.

What was right up my alley, to circle back to it, is Lego Horizon’s combat. It's not only smooth and seamless but also feels good when you get on a roll. Some combat scenarios even gave me some trouble, and those weren’t even the Apex Machine hunts. That might’ve been because the title seems to be balanced around co-op, not singleplayer, but hey: a good challenge is a good challenge. I also had a blast with the boss fights, which, while standard in formula, were very satisfying to play through.

The way Guerrilla integrated Aloy’s focus into the Lego formula is very neat as well. It highlights weak spots that you have to target for extra damage and tearing parts of the machines. An aspect of Zero Dawn that actually gives the combat more depth than your standard Lego game. Well, from what I remember at least. The one thing the other Lego games could learn from this title. 

The best feature of these sequences is the environment and the music. Starting with the latter, the soundtrack is not varied, but I enjoy this 'upbeat' reinterpretation of Joris de Man's score. It's an upbeat remix of a soundtrack I adore. Plus: hearing those classic Lego sounds again was quite nostalgic. 

On to the graphics: this game looks really good. Everything, aside from some effects, is made entirely out of Lego. Animations, too, have been given a lot of thought. Guerilla went for a 'stop-motion' feel, which they pulled off with flying colours. Not as easy to spot as the Lego Bricks, but I can appreciate it. Stop motion and Lego have gone hand in hand ever since the dawn of YouTube, after all. Couple this with HD graphics, good lighting and good animation, and you get a spin-off that keeps the high visual fidelity pedigree of the main series. If only they had included a model figure so you can look at these wonderful Horizon builds in full detail and perhaps even build them yourself...

Conclusion

Lego Horizon Adventures is a painfully average game. It’s clear that I’m not the target audience, and it’s designed primarily for co-op play, but that doesn’t excuse how barebones it feels. While its combat adds a welcome layer of depth and it looks beautiful, the game strips away too much of what makes Lego games fun, like puzzles and meaningful variety. This leaves you with a repetitive loop of walking and fighting. There is fun to be had, certainly, and it’s a charming introduction to Horizon for younger players, but unless you’re playing with someone, it won’t hold your attention for long.

Still, as fan of both Horizon and Lego, I’m glad it exists. It’s just not an adventure I’ll be revisiting anytime soon.