I have to be honest with you. For the longest time, I didn’t understand the appeal of LEGO® games. Watching others play, watching YouTube videos or Twitch streams the only thing I was thinking was “Why play Lego® Lord of the Rings™ if I can play Shadow of Mordor with way better graphics and more immersion?”. I think it was the silliness of graphic style that threw me off. To be fair, it’s the same for me with Minecraft – I just don’t get it.
Let’s first address the elephant in the room – why is a guy with no understanding of LEGO® games writing about them? Why not give it to someone who gets it? And the answer is very simple – my lack of understanding was strictly from a viewer’s perspective. I have never played any LEGO® games before. But as we’re introducing a bunch of them into the Game Preservation Program, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try it out and see why those titles are so beloved. I also used the knowledge of the best specialist in LEGO® games I know – my 10-year-old stepson. We actually spent a lot of time playing together and he was answering my questions about different LEGO® games to expand my understanding.
So yes, this will be a different type of article than usual, but I think it’s for the better. This will not be a “how it came to be” or “development trivia” article. This will be a journey of a person pushing 40 and playing those games for the first time. And let’s be fair – you don’t need another fan pushing LEGO® games. But the perspective of someone who got converted? Now that should be a more interesting read.
My LEGO® journey
Ok, so there is one more element to share before we dive into the games: my relation with LEGO® itself. I was born when the Iron Curtain was still a thing. Food was still sold for stamps, Pewex was the place to go for exclusive Western products and those included LEGO® sets. The issue was – they were scarce. It was far better to have a family either from or regularly visiting Germany (split then into East and West Germany) and bring back some LEGO® sets. Fortunately, my father was visiting there quite often and from time to time he managed to bring me back some LEGO® sets.
This was the reality for a lot of people in Poland, and this made LEGO® have a special place in our hearts – it was not a normal toy, it was an exclusive commodity, a status symbol, a thing that a lot of kids wanted, but not a lot of them had. It was special. On the other hand, at least not a lot of parents managed to step on a brick while moving through the flat at night.
What I knew
I was always very aware of the LEGO® games. They were everywhere I looked around. Didn’t pay much attention to them, but I knew they had games adapting popular media like comics and movies into the format. I already mentioned LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™, but I knew there also was a LEGO® Batman™ game, a LEGO® Indiana Jones™ and even LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean™ and many many more. I think the first time I saw a LEGO® game was when I saw someone playing LEGO® Harry Potter™. Of course, I knew there were many more titles both licensed and original in the series, with LEGO® Island being considered the first. Of course that is only because the true first game LEGO® Fun to Build was developed only for a very niche system called SEGA Pico, but it was published 2 years prior to LEGO® Island.
And we have to talk about LEGO® City Undercover™ as it’s not only one of the most popular titles from the non-licensed versions, but even the development of it was straying from the others. Most of the LEGO® games are developed by TT Games for multiple platforms. LEGO® City Undercover™ was special, as it was Nintendo that approached TT Games with an idea to develop a game for Wii U. Therefore, LEGO® City Undercover is the only titles in the series that was published by Nintendo as a Wii U exclusive. Of course in the following years, the game was reworked, ported and made available for other platforms under the publishing of Warner Bros. And now it has come to GOG to be preserved.
From my perspective, it wasn’t until the licensed games that I even took notice of those titles. But as I mentioned – taking notice wasn’t the same as playing or understanding the appeal. Thinking about it now, it might have been the purist in me. As a massive Star Wars and Lord of the Rings fan, I perhaps couldn’t bear to see beloved titles turned to bricks. But like with the immersion therapy for phobias, I decided to plunge head first into LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean™ and find out what the hype is all about.
First LEGO® experience
I wanted to start small and with a game based on a movie series that I enjoy very much, but wouldn’t call myself a diehard fan. But I decided to take what I could and I certainly gave nothing back. And from the perspective of my timeline that was a good idea. I could relate to what was happening in the game, while also being able to interview my helper about the games. Especially the last part was possible thanks to LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean™ not having voice acting, just music. This allowed for the interview to go smoothly and resulted in a 2.5-hour session of playing, laughing, and fun.
LEGO® through the eyes of a 10-year-old
During the interview, I was asking my step-son why HE liked the games. He was pointing out fun platforming elements, funny faces that the characters made, riding on a pig, and the thrill of gathering the different colored currencies to buy upgrades, characters, and more. He also mentioned free play where you can replay the game with a different character and even showed me a few places where another character was needed due to special skill or special interaction with the map that they had.
But during that, I found out I was having fun as well. Not just by talking. I was having fun watching how he played the game. But the biggest difference was that this time I was REALLY watching, not just having the game in the corner of the eye. This time I started to feel immersed and found myself laughing a lot watching the antics happening on the screen. It was the first moment when this clicked for me – LEGO® is so universal, that it can connect generations and allow for having fun together.
I must go alone, Sam
After just watching another person playing, I decided to dip my toes in myself. But I wanted to experience the game from the start without spoilers. I decided to try a title based on one of my favorite franchises and visit Middle Earth.
Instantly I was surprised, as the intro greeted me with the voice of Cate Blanchett. Obviously, the voiceover was taken straight from the movies, but I noticed something else. The scenes from the intro were matched to the movie so well, I could overlay them on each other and they would be nearly perfect, minus obviously being made out of LEGO®
When I finally gained control of the characters, I was surprised to find out, I am actually inside the War of the Last Alliance, not just watching it. I was controlling Elrond, Elendil, and Isildur and fighting orcs and even Sauron himself. Afterwards, I was even going to the depths of Orodruin to cast the ring to the fire. But we all know how that ends. I have to admit, I was in! Before I knew it, my partner was looking at me funny as she knew about my indifference about LEGO® games and there I was deep into one for the past few hours. And I was enjoying the game. I also might have burst into laughter when I heard “Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins” and I saw Elrond holding a LEGO® assembly guide when Gandalf was praising his healing prowess.
I think I will remember two moments very fondly for quite a long time – first being the sneaking part hiding from a Nazgûl and the second being just roaming around Hobbiton which was such a blissful, worry-free experience, that I just stayed there as long as I could.
At some moment I noticed, that I was more watching than playing the game, as there were more cutscenes than playtime. The good thing was that I was essentially watching a cut-down version of Lord of the Rings, just made with LEGO®. And the cut-down part ties into the Nazgûl sneaking. I was sad that there was a lot of the intro cut from the game compared to the movies, but when I saw the sneaking part, suddenly it was all ok. I maybe didn’t get the whole story I knew, but the game added those elements that were not in the movie but expanded the experience. This was the part where I could actually feel like Frodo, Sam, Merry, or Pippin. Same with Weathertop bonfires – the need to switch between Frodo and Sam to collaborate was a very nice experience, especially when seeing the character I am not playing in a small circle in the corner, with a live view of what’s happening to them. This was also the moment I decided to try one more thing the next day.
Holy cooperation, Batman!
There was one more thing I heard during either my interview or my own playtime that I didn’t have a chance to experience: cooperative mode. So I made a deal with my trusty 10-year-old sidekick – 4 math lessons for 1 karat…. No, wait, wrong franchise. The deal was that if all his chores were done before a certain hour during the school week, we would play LEGO® Batman™: The Videogame together. And so we did, and we took two gamepads in our hands. As a rugged, old, and cynical person, I obviously called dibs on being Batman, and the dynamic duo was born and on to kick some Clayface ass. And you know what? The last time I had so much fun while playing a coop game was back when I was trying to destroy my girlfriend in the most over-the-top way in Magicka. I mean, she had better weapon, so obviously. And here, we kind of did the same with Robin, just not to get the weapons. We were cooperating to cross giant chasms, to defeat Clayface, to defeat Catwoman. But did we also throw some punches at each other? Perhaps. Did I put explosives under his feet because he had more money? I sure did. And he returned the favor. And you know what? At some point, the story itself became a tiny bit less important. The most important thing at that moment was spending time together with my step-son and cooperating to reach the goal. At that moment I finally understood it all.
LEGO® is a cross-generational fun
During this whole process, I learned what the appeal of LEGO® games is, and it’s a combination of a few things. We obviously have the fun aspect, and this can be delivered by many elements depending on the person. For me, it was the comedy – Elrond with a manual, faces made by LEGO® characters, even a surprised pig left behind by the Hobbits on Farmer Maggot’s field. For others, it will be the platforming elements or the riddles, or even just trying to smash everything there is to gather as much money as you can and fill the bar at the top to 100% a level.
The platforming elements and riddles are the second element of appeal. They are perfectly balanced (as all things should be) so they are not too difficult for any age group, while also not being trivial and making them no fun.
I was actually having a chat with someone recently and they said that they are coming back to gaming after raising a child and they love Crash Bandicoot as it’s a perfect difficulty that both parent and child can enjoy it. And LEGO® games are exactly the same – they are made to bridge the gap between generations and connect people providing fun. And I know many of you know that, but this was never supposed to be an article about obscure facts, but a journal from the journey of a non-believer. Kind of like those “My friend watches [x movie] for the first time” where we see a person that never enjoyed comic books or watched a Marvel movie suddenly shout “Yibambe” during the Portals scene in Endgame”. In this story, this guy is me, but instead of shouting for Wakanda, I am going to be playing my butt off and trying even more LEGO® games, starting with every game that just joined the GOG Preservation Program.
And I have to say – after this whole journey I understand the need to preserve LEGO® games even more. This is the kind of fun, enjoyable experience and a connection with others, that we can’t let them die and fade into obscurity. So if you only take away one thing from this article, let it be this – join me in the fight to ensure the preservation of LEGO® videogames by not only playing them, but also by voting on them in our Dreamlist. Let’s build video game preservation brick by brick! (I was itching to use that pun for the whole time I was writing).
And there’s just one more thing that I don’t understand (but I don’t have a problem with it) –
WHAT’S UP WITH ALL THE CARROTS?
