Lego Dimensions features the same style of gameplay as the previousLego video games developed byTraveller's Tales, in which up to two players controlLego minifigures based on various represented franchises. Players progress through linear levels, using their characters' abilities to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, collect collectibles such as Minikits, Characters in Peril, Gold Bricks, and attempt to reach the level's end. Collecting in-game currency known as Studs will fill a gauge called the Rule Breaker Gauge, and completely filling the gauge will unlock a Gold Brick. Characters are entered into the game by placing their respective minifigures onto a USB toy pad, with each character possessing unique abilities that can be used to solve puzzles or reach hidden areas. Using a character from a certain franchise will also unlock that franchise's Adventure World, an open-world area for players to explore and complete in-game objectives. Some sections of the game require players to move their characters to different spots on the Toy Pad.
The Starter Pack includes the toy pad and the game's fourteen-level main story campaign, which revolves aroundBatman,Gandalf andWyldstyle, while additional levels are made available by purchasing Level Packs and Story Packs. In addition to theminifigures, players can also build models of vehicles, such as theBatmobile,TARDIS,Mystery Machine orDeLorean, and put them into the game for characters to drive. Completing objectives in the levels and adventure worlds will reward players with gold bricks, which can be used to upgrade vehicles and give them new abilities. Each adventure world also contains a red brick for players to retrieve; these will unlock special bonuses, such as visual modifiers for characters or extra assistance at finding collectible items. Unlike series such asSkylanders,Disney Infinity andAmiibo, the minifigures, vehicles and the USB toy pad are all made from realLego pieces and can be freely built and customized.
All minifigures and vehicles can be used in any available level, though specific figures must be present to initially enter those levels or worlds. An additional feature called "Hire a Hero" was added shortly after the game's launch; this feature allows players to spend the Studs they've earned in a level to temporarily summon characters they do not own to complete an otherwise-inaccessible puzzle. However, this doesn't count for vehicles or objects, such as the TARDIS, and the Studs paid act as a penalty towards the player's Rule Breaker gauge. The game's second year of content also introduced competitive multiplayer in the form of the Battle Arenas, allowing up to four players to compete in modes such asCapture the Flag. Gold bricks can be used to purchase new power-ups for the Battle Arenas. Certain packs also include exclusive features; for example, theMidway Arcade level pack unlocks playable emulations of over twentyMidway arcade titles, while theTeen Titans Go! packs unlock an exclusive Lego-themed episode of the series that can be viewed in-game.[7][8]
In addition to the game's starter pack,Lego Dimensions has a wide range of packs available, split into four categories: Level Packs, Team Packs, Fun Packs, and Story Packs. Packs from the game's second year (September 2016–17) also unlock Adventure World Battle Arenas, competitive four-person multiplayer areas themed after each figure's respective franchise.[9]
Level Packs typically include a new character and two items, referred to as Vehicles and Gadgets depending on their type, as well as an exclusive level themed around the property the character originates from. Team Packs include two characters and items, while Fun Packs include a single character and item. Story Packs add six new levels to the game based on the represented franchise; these levels retell the story of their respective film, with characters from other franchises making occasional appearances. The packs also include one or two characters, a vehicle or gadget and a new gateway design for the Toy Pad.
The game also features character and setting cameos from other franchises, includingHAL 9000 from theSpace Odyssey series,S.T.A.R. Labs fromThe CW'sThe Flash, Bedrock fromThe Flintstones, the family room fromThe Jetsons and the DNA ship fromRed Dwarf.[11] Unlike other toys-to-life series such asSkylanders andDisney Infinity,Lego Dimensions allows all figures to be compatible with the existing title, rather than releasing a sequel.[12][13]
Arriving on Foundation Prime, a shapeshifting planet located in the center of the Lego multiverse, Lord Vortech, a being who has the power to shapeshift and travel through dimensions, and hisrobotic servant X-PO seek the twelve Foundation Elements, the cornerstones of time and space itself, in a bid to merge all the dimensions into one under Vortech's control. These elements, such as theruby slippers, theOne Ring, the flux capacitor, thePalantír, the P.K.E. meter andKryptonite, were scattered across the multiverse long ago, but gathered together at Foundation Prime's palace can release the Foundation of All Dimensions, a force that bestows upon the user total control over the multiverse. When X-PO voices his doubts about Vortech's plot, Vortech decides that he no longer needs him and banishes him to the dimensional void Vorton, disregarding the risk in harnessing the elements. However, Vortech's body cannot handle too many more dimensional jumps, forcing him to open rifts to the multiverse's dimensions and recruits their villains to his cause while taking its heroes pulled through them captive. These actions damage the boundaries between the multiverse, causing some of its aspects and inhabitants to be displaced.
WhenRobin,Frodo Baggins and MetalBeard are abducted, each unknowingly in possession of three of the elements,Batman,Gandalf the Grey and Wyldstyle are quick to be in pursuit. The trio get pulled into Vorton, where the rift generator they came out of explodes, prompting them to rebuild it. Aided by X-PO, the heroes use the generator to travel through the dimensions and search for the Foundation Elements and the five missing Keystones that power the generator (Shift, Chroma, Elemental Phase, Scale and Locate) hoping to find their missing friends and foil Vortech's plot. Along their journey, aided by "Keystone Devices" that allow them to use the Keystones' power, they meet and assist the various heroes of the dimensions they visit, such asDorothy Gale,Homer Simpson,Emmett Brown,Wheatley and Mystery Inc.. However, they are also pitted against numerous villains, including theWicked Witch of the West, Lord Business,The Joker, Master Chen,Saruman the White,Lex Luthor, theDaleks andCybermen,Two-Face,Sauron, the Overlord,Brainiac,The Riddler,General Zod, as well as a pair of confrontations with Vortech himself, who eventually realizes that X-PO is helping them. The heroes travel to Foundation Prime to find their friends and fight Vortech, but it turns out to be a diversion that allows his henchmen to infiltrate Vorton in their absence and retrieve the rest of the Foundation Elements they had collected. With all of the elements gathered, the Foundation of All Dimensions, a green Lego baseplate, is released and is imbued with near-unlimited power. He then merges the heroes' friends and a piece of himself into a giant mutant known as the Tri and sends it to wreak havoc on the trio's origin dimensions. Fearing that another failure could lead to a transformation into a similar mutant, Vortech's henchmen leave.
The heroes free their friends from the Tri and destroy the Vortech piece, causing it to implode. Afterwards, Batman realizes that they will need all the help they can get to defeat Vortech, leading them to recruitThe Doctor, Mystery Inc., theGhostbusters, the spaceshipDefender andGLaDOS to their cause. While the Doctor, GLaDOS and X-PO work on a plan to seal Vortech away in a rift loop, inspired by a time when he attempted to dispose of the heroes earlier, they head to Foundation Prime, fighting him along the way. With their allies' help, they are able to neutralize the Foundation of All Dimensions, which causes Foundation Prime's palace to collapse, infuriating Vortech. He grows to an enormous size and attacks the trio, but the Doctor is able to manipulate the portal technology and sucks all of them into the rift loop. Using special devices he, GLADOS and X-PO designed, the heroes are able to permanently incarcerate Vortech in an endless rift prison, saving the multiverse.
In apost-credits scene, an unknown figure finds a piece of Vortech's body, the same one that had survived the Tri's vanquishment, in the remains of Foundation Prime's palace. He picks it up and becomes corrupted, yelling in pain as it transfigures him. Vortech's laughter is then heard, implying that the figure has become adoppelgänger of him.
Additional levels typically retell plots such as that ofBack to the Future,Ghostbusters,an episode ofThe Simpsons and more. However, there are also some original storylines, which often tie back to the originalLego Dimensions story in some way. ThePortal Level Pack featuresChell and Wheatley being returned to Aperture Science following the events ofPortal 2 and ultimately finding another rift generator that GLaDOS had recreated. In the Midway Games Level Pack, a character known as the Gamer Kid discovers that the doppelgänger of Vortech has tampered with an abandonedamusement arcade's games, causing their protagonists to enter the real world. TheSonic the Hedgehog Level Pack followsSonic as he searches for his friends and the Chaos Emeralds, all scattered across the multiverse after an incident involving a Keystone Device thatDoctor Eggman attempts to use for his latest scheme. TheDoctor Who Level Pack is disconnected from the original story and focuses on the Doctor as he attempts to stop the Daleks' plot of converting Earth's population into more of their kind.
Lego Dimensions received "generally favorable reviews", according toreview aggregatorMetacritic.[14][15][16]IGN awarded it a score of 7.7 out of 10, saying "Lego Dimensions' great characters and fun references consistently left me with a big dumb grin on my face."[26]GameSpot awarded it a score of 8.0, saying "In any game within the toys-to-life genre, there's sometimes an unspoken question: is this also a great toy or just a great game? InLego Dimensions' case, the answer is easy: it's both." They also praised the open world sections of the game, stating that "While they don't feature the same level of intricacy the main game provides, they do add several more hours each to the overall experience."[19]Polygon awarded it 8 out of 10, saying "Where the game's innovative designs push forward what it means to blend toys and games into a single experience, the writing and both companies' willingness to dig deep into their vaults, pull the whole game together."[27]Good Game: Spawn Point Hosts Bajo and Hex both awarded the game 3 out of 5. Praise was given to the puzzles and mechanics, commenting that it may be their favourite Lego game. However, they gave harsh criticism to the pricing model. Their summation was that it was "poor value", stating that the last few Lego games were "pretty much as good as this one, but players can play as their extensive character rosters without having to buy expensive expansions."[28]
In the UK and Ireland,Lego Dimensions landed at number 2 on the sales charts in its first week. Sales had surpassed in comparison to first week sales of other 2015 toys-to-life game competitorsSkylanders: Superchargers andDisney Infinity 3.0.[29]
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