Lego Dimensions is a video game that works with different consoles and was released in 2015. It was created by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is available for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Wii U. It combines Lego with more than thirty different movie, TV show, and game characters. Players can use a special USB device to play levels from the game. A Starter Pack, which includes the game, the USB device, three small figures, and a toy vehicle, was released in September 2015. Additional levels and characters were added in the two years following the game's release.
Gameplay
Lego Dimensions uses the same type of gameplay as earlier Lego video games made by Traveller's Tales. Up to two players can control Lego minifigures from different franchises. Players move through levels in a set order, using their characters' abilities to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and collect items like Minikits, Characters in Peril, and Gold Bricks. Collecting in-game currency called Studs fills a gauge called the Rule Breaker Gauge. When the gauge is full, a Gold Brick is unlocked. To enter the game, players place their minifigures on a USB toy pad. Each character has special abilities that help solve puzzles or find hidden areas. Using a character from a specific franchise unlocks that franchise's Adventure World, an open area where players can complete tasks. Some parts of the game require players to move their characters to different spots on the Toy Pad.
The Starter Pack includes the USB toy pad and a 14-level main story campaign featuring Batman, Gandalf, and Wyldstyle. Additional levels are added by buying Level Packs and Story Packs. Players can build models of vehicles, such as the Batmobile, TARDIS, Mystery Machine, or DeLorean, and place them in the game for characters to drive. Completing objectives in levels and Adventure Worlds rewards players with Gold Bricks, which can upgrade vehicles and give them new abilities. Each Adventure World also has a red brick that unlocks special bonuses, like visual changes for characters or help finding collectibles. Unlike other games like Skylanders or Disney Infinity, the minifigures, vehicles, and USB toy pad are real Lego pieces that can be built and customized.
All minifigures and vehicles can be used in any level, but specific figures are needed to enter certain levels or worlds. A feature called "Hire a Hero" lets players spend Studs to temporarily summon characters they don’t own to solve puzzles. This feature does not apply to vehicles or objects like the TARDIS, and the Studs used count toward the Rule Breaker Gauge. The game’s second year added competitive multiplayer in Battle Arenas, where up to four players can compete in modes like Capture the Flag. Gold Bricks can buy new power-ups for these areas. Some packs include special features, such as the Midway Games Level Pack, which unlocks playable versions of over 20 arcade games, or the Teen Titans Go! packs, which include an exclusive Lego-themed episode of the series.
Lego Dimensions has many packs divided into four categories: Level Packs, Team Packs, Fun Packs, and Story Packs. Packs from the game’s second year (September 2016–2017) also unlock Adventure World Battle Arenas, which are themed after each figure’s franchise. Level Packs include a new character, two items (Vehicles or Gadgets), and a level based on the character’s origin. Team Packs include two characters and items, while Fun Packs include one character and item. Story Packs add six levels based on a franchise’s story, with characters from other franchises appearing occasionally. These packs also include characters, a vehicle or gadget, and a new Toy Pad design.
The game includes characters and worlds from 30 different franchises. It also features appearances from other franchises, such as HAL 9000 from the Space Odyssey series, S.T.A.R. Labs from The Flash, Bedrock from The Flintstones, the family room from The Jetsons, and the DNA ship from Red Dwarf. Unlike other toys-to-life series, Lego Dimensions allows all figures to work with the existing game, instead of creating a sequel.
Plot
Arriving on Foundation Prime, a planet that can change its shape and is located in the center of the Lego multiverse, Lord Vortech, a being who can change shape and move between different worlds, and his robotic servant X-PO search for the twelve Foundation Elements. These elements, such as the ruby slippers, the One Ring, the flux capacitor, the Palantír, the P.K.E. meter, and Kryptonite, were scattered across the multiverse long ago. When gathered at Foundation Prime's palace, they can release the Foundation of All Dimensions, a force that gives the user complete control over the multiverse. When X-PO expresses concerns about Vortech's plan, Vortech decides he no longer needs him and sends him to a place called Vorton, ignoring the dangers of using the elements. However, Vortech's body cannot handle many more jumps between worlds, so he opens rifts to other dimensions, recruits villains, and captures heroes from those worlds. These actions harm the boundaries between the multiverse, causing some parts and people to move to different places.
When Robin, Frodo Baggins, and MetalBeard are captured, each unknowingly holding three of the elements, Batman, Gandalf the Grey, and Wyldstyle quickly follow them. The trio is pulled into Vorton, where the machine they used to enter explodes, forcing them to rebuild it. With help from X-PO, the heroes use the machine to travel through dimensions and search for the Foundation Elements and five missing Keystones that power the machine (Shift, Chroma, Elemental Phase, Scale, and Locate). They hope to rescue their friends and stop Vortech. Along the way, they use special tools called "Keystone Devices" to access the Keystones' power. They meet and help heroes from other worlds, such as Dorothy Gale, Homer Simpson, Emmett Brown, Wheatley, and Mystery Inc. However, they also face villains like the Wicked Witch of the West, Lord Business, the Joker, Master Chen, Saruman the White, Lex Luthor, the Daleks, Cybermen, Two-Face, Sauron, the Overlord, Brainiac, the Riddler, and General Zod. They also fight Vortech twice, who later learns about X-PO's role. The heroes travel to Foundation Prime to rescue their friends and stop Vortech, but it is a trick that allows Vortech's followers to steal the remaining elements. With all elements collected, the Foundation of All Dimensions, a green Lego baseplate, is activated, giving Vortech nearly unlimited power. He merges the captured heroes and a piece of himself into a giant creature called the Tri, sending it to destroy the heroes' home worlds. Fearing they might become mutants like the Tri, Vortech's followers leave.
The heroes free their friends from the Tri and destroy the piece of Vortech, causing the creature to collapse. Batman realizes they need more help to stop Vortech, so they recruit The Doctor, Mystery Inc., the Ghostbusters, the spaceship Defender, and GLaDOS. While The Doctor, GLaDOS, and X-PO plan to trap Vortech in an endless rift, the heroes fight their way to Foundation Prime. With their allies' help, they stop the Foundation, causing the palace to collapse and angering Vortech. He confronts the trio one last time, but The Doctor uses rift technology to trap everyone in the endless rift. Using tools designed by The Doctor, GLaDOS, and X-PO, the heroes permanently imprison Vortech, saving the multiverse.
In a post-credits scene, an unknown person finds a piece of Vortech left behind after the Tri's defeat in the ruins of Foundation Prime's palace. He touches it, becomes corrupted, and screams in pain as it changes him. Vortech's laughter is then heard, suggesting the person has become a copy of him.
Additional levels often retell stories from movies and shows, such as Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and The Simpsons. Some levels also have new stories connected to the original Lego Dimensions plot. The Portal Level Pack shows Chell and Wheatley returning to Aperture Science after Portal 2 and discovering a new rift generator created by GLaDOS. In the Midway Games Level Pack, a character named the Gamer Kid finds that a copy of Vortech has tampered with games in an old amusement arcade, pulling its heroes into the real world. The Sonic the Hedgehog Level Pack follows Sonic searching for his friends and the Chaos Emeralds after a Keystone Device is used in a plan by Doctor Eggman. The Doctor Who Level Pack is separate from the main story and focuses on The Doctor stopping the Daleks from turning Earth's people into more Daleks.
Reception
Lego Dimensions received mostly positive reviews, according to the review site Metacritic. IGN gave it a score of 7.7 out of 10, noting that the game’s characters and fun references made playing enjoyable. GameSpot awarded it 8.0 out of 10, stating that the game is both a good toy and a good game. They also praised the open world sections, which added more hours of gameplay, even though they were not as detailed as the main game. Polygon gave it 8 out of 10, highlighting the game’s creative designs that combine toys and games into one experience.
Good Game: Spawn Point Hosts Bajo and Hex gave the game 3 out of 5. They praised the puzzles and gameplay mechanics, calling it their favorite Lego game. However, they criticized the pricing model, saying it was not a good deal. They noted that other Lego games offered similar quality without requiring expensive expansions.
In the UK and Ireland, Lego Dimensions was the second best-selling game in its first week. Its sales outperformed the first-week sales of other 2015 toys-to-life games, such as Skylanders: Superchargers and Disney Infinity 3.0.