E3 2015 Impressions — LEGO Dimensions

LEGO Dimensions

While At E3 I Was Able To See LEGO Dimensions In A More Intimate Setting Than Just The Trailer. Here’s My Take On It

The other toy-to-life games had their huge showings at E3 and now it is time for LEGO Dimensions, the latest one, to try and make its mark on the world. TT Games has a lot to live up to as not only do they have all of their other winning LEGO titles out there to compete with but also all of the other toy-to-life games that have had years of practice before LEGO Dimensions releases on September 27^th for the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and PC. There are only so many games and toys we will all buy so there has to be something that will spark us to choose LEGO Dimensions over the others and thankfully out of E3 and what was shown I think Warner Bros. may have just that answer.

While there were no more worlds or characters announced at E3 we did finally get to see more than just the core three in action during a really cool stage demo for LEGO Dimensions. So there is no digging to be had here for more as I think that will be a well-guarded secret moving forward but we did get to see a bit of the game play. On the outside of things LEGO Dimensions looks to play just as every other LEGO game we have seen come to market; at least in terms of general controls. We are on the hunt for all the cool little pickups we’ve seen before, with most of the same platforming and swapping between characters and their vehicles. Also that at certain times specific vehicles and characters are needed but that is pretty much old hat for these kinds of games.

What is interesting and so far only seen in LEGO Dimensions is that we can have up to seven different characters and vehicles on the portal and in play at one time. This sounds like it may clutter up things but when they had four characters and three different vehicles on the portal it looks like there was not much clutter at all. This could be because the LEGO Dimensions characters and vehicles can be rebuilt and restructured as needed in play but it looks like things are running smooth there. The only real issue I could see with having this many characters on one portal is when we start to mix in some of the newer gameplay that TT Games is introducing to the entire genre with LEGO Dimensions.

This new gameplay I speak of is that the portal itself will also have functionality for LEGO Dimensions outside of bringing in the characters and vehicles you wish to play in game. By this I am talking about specific sections in the game where you can activate in-game gems that will require you to move you pieces around in the real world to use special abilities. One of the examples came in with a puzzle in LEGO Dimensions‘ version of the Aperture Science. The puzzle required characters to be made big and small to solve and this was completed by placing characters on the appropriately lit up parts of the portal. Put Batman on the orange side of things and he gets huge. Put Chel on the blue side and she gets small. This is only one example too in LEGO Dimensions.

This is the kind of innovation we need with these kinds of games and I applaud TT Games for bringing it in with LEGO Dimensions. In fact I am willing to let all of the other standard gameplay that was just left in as it is a LEGO game because this brings a whole new way to interact with the game and the toys that no one else will have until their next iteration. Now we just have to hope they keep pushing forward with LEGO Dimensions and keep figuring out ways to keep it moving without just endlessly cramming more expansion toys and packs down our throats. LEGO Dimensions is going to be an expensive title to be able to have everything for but if we can keep things new and evolving I think it will surpass all of the others who have fallen into this format for their games.

I would have loved to get my hands on LEGO Dimensions directly but that doesn’t change how I feel toward the game and what Warner Bros. has greenlit here. I think TT Games has and will do amazing things with LEGO Dimensions and hope to see much, much more before it releases. Of course we will keep all of that information flowing here so stay tuned for more and all things LEGO Dimensions as we creep closer to release. I am sure there will be a few great things out of San Diego Comic Con for the game and we’ll be sure to have it here on the site just for you. Well you and up to seven of your friends…or vehicles.