LEGO makes it official, joins the toys-to-life genre with LEGO Dimensions

Ready to jump into a LEGO universe? Get your building hat on.

*Joel McHale not included.

Chances are, that if you’ve played a lot of LEGO titles in the past, then you’ve got a little LEGO fatigue in there somewhere. Personally, I loved LEGO Marvel Superheroes and LEGO Batman 3, but outside of those two, I can’t really get into any other  LEGO titles as of late.

One of the biggest reasons for that, is that there’s really nothing too different about them and they all pretty much stick to the same basic formula, game in and game out. Well, if that sounds like you too, then you might be the perfect audience for LEGO Dimensions.

The newest title to be announced in Traveller’s Tales’ long running series, Dimensions goes the toys-to-life route and tasks players with building LEGOs in the real world, and then using those construction projects in game. As you can see in the trailer, and in the gallery below there are a ton of potential worlds that Warner Bros has access to that can be used here, seemingly all of which will factor into the title in some way or another.

“When kids play with LEGO bricks, they build beyond the singular brands, intermixing all of their favourite characters and universes, and we have come up with a way for players to experience that in games,” said Jon Burton, Founder and Creative Director, TT Games. “Now for the first time in a videogame, LEGO fans can play in the virtual world and in the real world – combining everything without restrictions. Imagine putting LEGO Gollum from The Lord of the Rings behind the wheel of the LEGO Delorean in New Ninjago City – the creative play is endless.”

As for the mechanics of the game itself, you can expect to see the three heroes from the trailer included in the box as a starter kit, and then multiple other sets becoming available at retail so you can add to the experience. These new packs will be broken down into three categories: Level Packs, Team Packs and Fun Packs.

The Level Packs will build entirely new levels to play in and so far include a Back to the Future stage that will include Marty McFly. On the other side of that, the Team Packs will come packed with multiple minifigures, like Kai and Cole from Ninjago. There’s also a few Ninjago Fun Packs planned, which will include one minifigure each. Other than Ninjago, there are DC Comics Fun Packs heading to retail (which’ll include characters like Wonder Woman and Cyborg), as well as Lord of the Rings Packs which will bring Gollum, Gimli, and Legolas into the fray.

Fans of the LEGO Movie won’t be left out here either as UniKitty, Emmet, Bad Cop, and Benny will join Wyldstyle in the game, and that’ll even be a Wizard of Oz pack with the Wicked Witch of the West. And that’s not even the extent of what’s on the way for this year, as there’s more to be announced in the next few months, and still more planned for 2016. Needless to say at this point in the article- this is a huge initiative from LEGO and Warner Bros… and an even bigger drain on your wallet if you’re of the ‘gotta buy ’em all’ mentality.

In that way, I guess it’s a bit of gambit as well for the companies. Sure LEGO has risen up to be one of the most popular brands on Earth, but this seems to be a massive investment from a perspective gamer/LEGO fan who wants to play around what the game can really offer.

If the pricing on the packs doesn’t differ too much from the Skylanders/Disney Infinity model, then it’s a slam-dunk. LEGO sets tend to be a little on the expensive side though, and if they’re priced too much higher than the aforementioned lines (even by a few bucks), then I have to wonder about the lasting appeal, not to mention the attach rate for additional sets to that starter kit.

What is nice is that all sets released this year, next year, and into the foreseeable future will be compatible with the base game. So you won’t run into a situation, like in Skylanders, where you can’t use your Giants figure in the original release because its not coded to be compatible. So that might help long-term sales, especially if Traveller’s Tales is able to patch in support for future sets that might see release along with a LEGO Dimensions 2.

As things stand now though, because that talk is just a wee bit future-obsessive, LEGO Dimensions is set to hit retail this Fall for the Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, Xbox 360, and PS3. Warner Bros promises there’s lots more to come on the game between now and then too, so stay tuned.