Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

LEGO Universe Review for PC

LEGO Universe Review for PC

Leggo’ of My LEGO

Sometimes you find inspiration where you would never think to look for it. In this case, LEGO Universe inspires me to be kid again. This is a game that I would probably never consider playing. It’s obviously aimed at a young audience (E 10+), but it’s designed to be enjoyed by all. I did have fun, much more than expected. How much enjoyment you extract will be determined by your ability to not pre-determine the gameplay. Just experience it for what it is. It’s not the greatest game, and there are some technical glitches that are certain to confuse, confound, and anger, but the overall experience is quite satisfying.

LEGO Universe screenshot

Who doesn’t like building things? Kids build sandcastles and adults build additions on their home, or at the very least play a part in the design. In LEGO Universe you’ll get to satisfy all aspects of constructive creativity from meticulously placing thousands of individual virtual blocks to having a design created for you instantly. There are lots of things to build, lots of things to build them with, and lots of ways to build them. The next thing you’ll probably want to know is why do you want to build anything in the first place? First of all, it’s fun, and secondly, you have to follow an interactive story with a variety of objects to complete if you want to unlock all of the goodies. And let me add, you don’t have to pick up all the LEGOs off the floor and put them away in a pail when you’re done for the day.

LEGO Universe is a MMO: it’s played online with other people. There is a ten-dollar per month fee, and at this time it’s possible to complete most of the challenges within an intense weekend. As with traditional MMOs, you can expect more content in the future. Personally, I think a few weekends is enough.

LEGO Universe screenshot

The gameplay is an amalgam of platforming, puzzle-solving, action-adventure, combat, and RPG. There is a lot of freedom in the game to explore, experiment, and build. Some may think it lacks structure. But as a MMO it doesn’t follow a linear, single-player format. There are different ways to enhance your character which will be determined by what you accomplish, what you collect, and what you choose to purchase. You can chat with other online players, perform some trading, and compete in a few mini-games. There are some instances where you’ll band together to defeat monsters or construct a monolith, but the majority of the time you’re on your own.

Missions include plenty of fetch quests, combat, puzzle-solving, racing, mini-games, and LEGO construction. Your LEGO world has been shattered into pieces by an evil force created by Imagination. This Imagination is a powerful force used throughout the game to help you construct various buildings, vehicles, and other items. Think of it as your currency. As you explore the fragments of your shattered world, you will encounter various quests as well as enemies. Armed with a shield, health, weapons, and Imagination, you will complete quests and destroy enemies that will shatter into collectable blocks.

LEGO Universe screenshot

There isn’t a complex leveling as in traditional RPGs, but you will acquire upgraded weapons, shields, and accessories that will distinguish your character from newbies. Collect coins to purchase upgrades and weapons from NPCs. You will also need to keep your health up. If it’s drained, then you’ll need to be rebuilt. This is going to cost you in Imagination.

Some of the weapons include spears, daggers, javelins, axes, scythes, tridents, flintlocks, pistols, and the Maelstrom Hammer for smashing blocks. A Pirate Hook will help you construct weapons of mass destruction, such as items and buildings that can fall on enemies. You will be attacked by an assortment of creatures and characters including apes, floating horsemen, pirates, and various spiderlings. Selecting the appropriate weapon from your inventory is the most frustrating aspect of combat. But once you have the right weapon it’s satisfying to smash the enemy into smithereens, otherwise known as LEGO blocks.

LEGO Universe screenshot

Everything in this game is made out of LEGO. The environments look amazing with mountains, valleys, and lush forests. It’s only until you zoom in on, say, a single tree that you can see the individual LEGO blocks. There are plenty of different environments from scientific labs to strange planets. With more than a thousand different block styles, and numerous multiples of each kind, it’s possible to build virtually anything you can imagine. The longer you play, the more blocks you collect, and the more things you can do with them. There are blocks to build a spaceship to travel to other planets and cars so you can race other players. You can even live every man’s dream and turn your home into a castle complete with turrets and a drawbridge.

With so many blocks there is a sorting system, of sorts. It categorizes blocks in really vague ways such as basic, tiles, and space. It doesn’t sort by size or shape, which causes a lot of random searching. Also on the negative side, things disappear literally right off the screen. Items from my inventory went missing, in addition to blocks and platforms, and the targeting system went AWOL. Some of these missing items caused me to skip certain quests and explorable areas. It’s possible these glitches may be patched in the future.

Musically LEGO Universe is a treat for the ears. The tunes are catchy and lengthy. They don’t loop immediately. There are different soundtracks for each environment. The sound effects are also well-produced as are the voiceovers, which are limited but succinct.

LEGO Universe is addicting, and I can see adults enjoying it enough to open it at the office during coffee breaks. Overall LEGO Universe is a good game, but the technical issues keep it from being a great game.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 4.7 Graphics
Great looking game made entirely out of LEGO blocks. Shows great imagination. 4.0 Control
Managing inventory is non-intuitive. Some items disappear making some quests impossible to complete. 4.8 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Great soundtrack, not merely looped. Good quality sound effects and voiceovers. 3.0 Play Value
The novelty wore off, but younger players may want to continue monthly as new content is added. 4.2 Overall Rating – Fair
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Join the battle to save Imagination! Become a custom LEGO Minifigure to help push back the dark and destructive Maelstrom!
  • Court adventure among endless creative worlds, completing challenging missions with your friends!
  • Expand your arsenal of gameplay skills to earn a lavish supply of LEGO bricks!
  • Bring your bricks back to your own LEGO Universe world, where you can build anything you can imagine, then bring your models to life!
  • Share certain creations only with your friends, or build a living LEGO world that will wow any player!

  • To top