Last year, LEGO Dimensions debuted and like the Wicked Witch of the West, brought the house down on the toys-to-life game genre. The game took the charm and fun of LEGO titles and combined it with the physically interactive style of play and combined the likes of DC Comics with Lord of the Rings, Ghostbusters and much more. This year, instead of rolling out a whole new game, Warner Bros. interactive is simply making LEGO Dimensions even bigger.
16 new IPs will be added to the game including the likes of The A-Team, Gremlins, Harry Potter, and a personal favorite of mine, Adventure Time. One way that LEGO Dimensions is expanding is by adding the Battle Arenas mode. In the arena, up to four players can compete in a variety of games together, including capture the flag and another where your objective is constantly changing.
There are maps for each of the IPs and, in keeping with the rest of the game, they retain the style of that IP while blending it with the visuals of the LEGO world. The Adventure Time map, for instance, retains a cartoon-like feel while the Harry Potter Quidditch Pitch map looks more in keeping with the Wizarding World. Players can have a free for all in the game or work together in teams, and you haven’t lived until you’ve teamed up Gizmo and Harry Potter against Jake the Dog and Mission: Impossible’s Ethan Hunt.
The new wave of LEGO Dimensions content will also add Story Packs to the list of things players can buy. Unlike level packs, Story Packs add on an additional six new missions into the game along with a new mini-fig and even a new design for the game’s portal. The story pack I played was based on the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot, and featured a new reality-bending keystone that transported us to the same level but in an alternate universe, and each new IP will have a new keystone for players to take down.
LEGO Dimensions is playing it smart by not making the players buy a whole new game – just making what they have bigger. I guarantee there’s something you’ll want to play as too, because the character types range from ’80s favorites to modern heroes. Plus the Battle Arena is going to be your new favorite party game.
