You might think that after 16 games, the LEGO video game formula might be getting a little tired. But as long as TT Games keeps making them this much fun, we'll keep playing them.
LEGO Jurassic World has the virtue of being set in a place unlike anywhere the franchise has been before. The lush tropical environment provides a gorgeous pop of color that breathes new life into what could have been a routine LEGO outing. But what a place it is.
Drawing content from all four Jurassic Park movies, LEGO Jurassic World gives five levels to each film, as well as a bonus level or two. The 100+ characters include all of your favorites, of course — Sam Neill's Alan Grant, Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, Chris Pratt's Owen Grady, Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire Dearing, and a whole bunch of those instantly forgettable folks in the two middle flicks — and in true LEGO fashion, each character has unique abilities.
Alan Grant, for example, can dig, assemble LEGO bones, and cut through dense foliage with that raptor claw he carries around. Ellie Sattler can grow plants, jump high, and do a swan dive into big piles of LEGO dinosaur poop, which isn't as gross as it sounds since it's all plastic bricks. ("Poopdiving" is now a frequently used term at my house.) Nick Van Owen, Vince Vaughn's character from The Lost World, can cut through heavy chains with his bolt cutters, and take photos, while Eric Kirby, the kid from Jurassic Park III, can camouflage himself and fling T-Rex pee to scare smaller dinos away. There are many, many more abilities that you'll constantly be shifting characters to activate.
But that doesn't even cover the dinosaurs. Ah, those glorious dinos. Scattered around the islands are large blue kiosks where you can order up the dinosaur of your choice (after unlocking them in the game levels). But instead of riding the beasts, you become them, and from there you can go virtually anywhere you want and destroy with abandon. Most of the dinosaurs have abilities as unique as the characters', too. The T-Rex's roar can shatter amber deposits, the Velociraptors (yes, plural) have multiple talents including the ability to build with LEGO bricks, and the Triceratops can charge and break through certain objects. And just like the characters you can customize, you can mix-and-match dinosaur parts and make your own hybrid species. (Take that, Indominus Rex.)
The game levels feature the usual mixture of puzzles, exploration and combat, but it's the free-roam hub worlds where LEGO Jurassic World really shines. Both islands from the movies — Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna, each with two different versions (for the two movies set on them both) — are wide open with loads of stuff to do. Like the incredibly vast New York City hub in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, these four environments are packed with nooks and crannies to explore and tasks to carry out for various rewards.
A map of the islands is always available when you're exploring the hub world, though it's hampered by some needless limitations. The zoom function is limited, and you can't rotate the map or adjust its anglel. The camera is stuck permanently in something resembling a 45-degree angle, looking down at the map. A legend for the numerous color-coded icons would have been helpful, too. On a positive note, the map will let you instantly teleport to multiple locations, even from one island or movie to another.
Dozens of minigames are waiting to be discovered on the islands, most of which will reward you with gold bricks. In addition to the dinosaur kiosks, there are vehicle panels as well, allowing you to conjure any vehicle you want, from the tour vehicles of the first movie to the gyrospheres of Jurassic World. You'll need the dinos and vehicles for the many races littering the islands. The coveted Red Bricks are also scattered about, waiting to unlock "Extras" like point multipliers and "Fast Build."
My new favorite Red Brick cheat/mod is "Destroy on Contact," which is exactly what it sounds like: instead of punching or shooting LEGO objects, you just run into them and they burst into studs. Even after all these years, there's still something gratifying about breaking LEGO objects and collecting little studs. This Red Brick saves an enormous amount of time, and more important, it's fun. Combine it with the "Attract Studs" Red Brick, which draws studs toward you like a magnet, and you've got a crazy powerful combination that makes breaking-and-gathering more enjoyable than ever.
As always, TT Games uses this game to iterate on its time-tested formula, refining and improving the weakest aspects of its games. Many of these tweaks are changes that longtime players will find welcome. Perfect example: jumping games have been a source of frustration in the past, since camera perspectives can make it difficult to hit just the right spot. In Jurassic World, when you get near a jump spot, an "X" (or an "A" on Xbox) floats over your character's head. Hit the corresponding button, and your character auto-jumps from where they are to the exact spot they need to get to. No more missing (and dying).
The levels will have you fast-forwarding through moments from the films, stopping at the most iconic and memorable bits, such as the T-Rex paddock scene from the first movie. Characters speak with a combination of dialogue taken from the films and new audio tracks recorded just for the game. You'll also find that the movies' most frightening scenes are a lot less terrifying in plastic brick form.
The game hits all of the best parts of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, but I was wary about the second and third movies, since the years have not been as kind to them. The Lost World benefits the most from the game, reminding you that there were some really good scenes in that movie. Jurassic Park III is by far the weakest in the series, producing barely any memorable moments aside from perhaps the Pteranodon aviary scene. TT Games makes the most of even this movie, though, proving that LEGO can make something fun out of just about anything.
Video games are complex, sprawling pieces of software that make absolute perfection impossible, so you will encounter a handful of glitches. Characters get stuck in place at times, while there are some spots where the camera angle zooms in too close. A few too many times, co-op play leaves one character with nothing to do while waiting on the other to perform multistep tasks. And there are several running or driving sequences in the levels where you're racing toward the camera, making it impossible to see things that you should aim for ahead. But none of this ruins the game.
If you love Lego games, then LEGO Jurassic World is destined to be one of your favorites. The ability to play as dinosaurs is enough to set it apart from other entries and and fun enough to justify the price of entry. If you're a Jurassic movie fan looking for something to scratch that itch, this big, bright, beautiful recreation should get the job done.
LEGO Jurassic World is another winner for TT Games and Warner Bros. It's got more replay value than the standard Lego game as well, since running around as dinosaurs just never gets old. This is spectacular fun for the whole family.
The game is out now for every console and platform known to man, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Prices range from $30 for handheld games up to $60 for high-end console versions.
T-Lounge Score:
★★★★★
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
