Lego Horizon Adventures isn’t just your average Lego video game. There’s a surprising amount of features and design decisions that help it stand out as a current-gen upgrade over The Skywalker Saga. Different studios are helming the direction for the game too, with Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo taking over from where Traveler’s Tales left off. Here are 15 things you need to know before you buy Lego Horizon Adventures when it launches November 14th.
First PlayStation Exclusive Franchise To Come to a Nintendo Console in 26 Years
Legos don’t just combine together to build toy bridges, apparently, they bridge the ever-elusive console exclusivity gap too. Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series is among Sony’s key faces for the PlayStation brand, having been exclusive to its native hardware until now. But Lego Horizon Adventures isn’t the first PlayStation exclusive IP to join a rival’s ranks; PlayStation’s Wipeout series got a Nintendo 64-exclusive entry with Wipeout 64 back in 1998. Considering Microsoft’s recent multiplatform push with titles like Hi-Fi Rush going on PS5, it’s ironic that Lego Horizon Adventures doesn’t get the Xbox treatment, being tied to the PS5, Switch, and PC as it is.
Most Cinematic and Graphically Rich Lego Game Yet
The devs at Guerrilla and Studio Gobo “wanted to create a playable Lego movie in terms of the visual quality,” according to GameSpot.. A key ingredient in such an endeavor was ensuring that every in-game asset that you see was made of individual Lego bricks, similar to how The Lego Movie was presented. This holistic brick-built approach goes much further than previous Lego games which often left the bricks out of background environments in order to cut down on rendering load. The minifig characters move around with that classic Lego stop-motion animation too, highlighted by realistic scratches and scuffs you might see on a Lego figure. It’s a striking visual package that fools you into thinking you’re playing with a real Lego set. Amplifying the cinematic presentation further is the fully voiced cast, with Ashly Burch returning as Aloy.
A Family-Friendly Re-Imagining of Horizon Zero Dawn
Lego games are built with a younger audience in mind, so much of the darker apocalyptic content from the original Horizon Zero Dawn is absent in Horizon Adventures. As the narrative director at Guerrilla says, “It’s not a faithful retelling, and neither is it a parody,”. Expect the usual slapstick humor and sharp wit that previous Lego games have had, but within the world and time-frame that Horizon Zero Dawn takes place. One of the fun aspects of Lego’s take on popular franchises is how they poke fun and present their visual gags and referential humor, and Lego Horizon Adventures takes that and gleefully runs with it.
Customizable Mother’s Heart Base
One way you can change up the tone of the game yourself is through base customization. The central hub of the game is the iconic Mother’s Heart base from Zero Dawn. The base doesn’t just look authentic and superbly Lego-fied, it can also be re-arranged with different building attachments and props. For example, the real-life Lego 3-in-1 Ferris Wheel can be attached atop various buildings and we’re sure there’s hundreds more referential easter eggs to unlock as well.
No Stud Counter
While there’s still plenty to unlock and collect, the shift to a more cinematic experience has eliminated at least one Lego game staple: the stud counter. Many previews noted the lack of a stud counter in Lego Horizon Adventures, along with the lax attitude regarding the need to break everything into studs to achieve ranks like “true adventurer”. There’s still plenty of side stuff to do besides collecting studs though, speaking of…
Can Customize Minifigs with Unique Outfits
One of the other collectibles in the game are outfit pieces for your minifig characters to wear. We’re shown a variety of outfit combination in trailers, ranging across Lego’s catalogue from Ninjago to Lego City. We’ve also seen costumes from Sony’s own mascots, including Ratchet, Rivet, and Sackboy. This comes as a delight for many fans of the series, since Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga unceremoniously got rid of character customization completely. It’ll be especially fun to share our wacky designs with friends in the co-op mode.
2-Player Online and Couch Co-Op
Thankfully, the seamless drop-in/drop-out co-op mode from past Lego games returns here, but with a caveat. Co-op is limited to two players like Skywalker Saga. We’ve been awaiting the return to four player co-op for a while now, and this isn’t the game to bring that back. But we do get online co-op here, unlike with Skywalker Saga. And of course, everyone’s favorite couch co-op option is alive and well, but this time using a single dynamic screen to share the action in. If you’re particularly fond of the autonomy that split-screen allows, as I am, there is a saving grace that helps accommodate your partner running far off-screen.
Fixed Overhead Camera Angle Like the Classic Lego Games
Another camera change for this game is the shift from over-the-shoulder to an overhead fixed camera angle. Zooming out the camera in this way creates a wide play area to see everything at-a-glance while accommodating the lack of split-screen. Lego games work much better with a fixed camera in my experience, but parents have also noted that the close over-the-shoulder rapidity exemplified in games like The Skywalker Saga and Lego Ninjago can cause nausea and visual confusion to younger players.
Many Characters To Control and Unlock
One of the joys of Lego’s partnership with other properties is experiencing beloved characters in their minifigure format. Fans of Horizon have a lot to look forward to in this regard, with key characters like Rost, Varl, Teersa, and Erend being fully playable and customizable. I’ll be especially curious to see if any of the mechanized dinosaurs are playable.
Simplified Weak-Spot Targeting System
Speaking of ferocious dinos, you’ll still use a weak-spot targeting system to take them down like in Horizon Zero Dawn. Of course, the controls are simplified to accommodate a single Switch joy-con controller. Still, it’s nice to see such a central mechanic translated here, even if it is just holding an aim button on a glowing spot.
Strategic Elements Such as Sneaking in Grass
Sneaking in grass and using the environment to your advantage is still a strategic aspect of gameplay in Lego Horizon Adventures. Tall Lego-fied grass can be lit on fire to distract beasts and solve puzzles. And let’s be real, who won’t sabotage their partner with fire while they’re sneaking around in the tall grass?
Difficulty Slider
The devs have said that the level of strategy and general complexity accelerates as you move up the difficulty slider. In practical terms, raising difficulty probably features free aim instead of auto-aim, as well as more aggressive enemy AI. Still, this is a Lego game at the end of the day, and it’s tailored to be accessible to a young audience, and it’s not trying to match the strategic depth of its Zero Dawn inspiration.
PC Minimum and Recommended Requirements
The PC specs to run Horizon Adventures have been revealed and you’ll need at least an Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600 processor to run it at its lowest settings and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card. The recommended processors are Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600As with the recommended graphics cards being NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 or AMD Radeon RX 6800. Sadly, yes, a PlayStation account is necessary for online play.
File Size
The Switch requires a much smaller file size than PC, with a meager 5.9 GB needed for the Nintendo system. By contrast, the PC requires 30 GB. While PlayStation hasn’t yet revealed their file size requirement, I’d expect it to match the PC at around 30 GB, considering past comparisons.
Story Takes 7 to 8 Hours, According to the Director
Eating up all that data is the meat and potatoes of the game: the story. The creative director has estimated that the story takes around 7 to 8 hours to complete, which is more or less average for a Lego game. But considering the unique graphical complexity regarding full brick-built environments and the like, much of that runtime is spent processing a much more dynamic and high-fidelity experience than past Lego games.
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