Sony Interactive Entertainment
Of all the announcement feature at this year’sSummer Game Fest , Lego Horizon Adventureshad to be the most surprising ( unless you follow the television secret plan rumor mill closely ) . The coming game takes the world ofHorizon Zero Dawnand reconstruct it in a way that ’s kid - friendly . Rather than dishing out intricate fight and a mature story , it ’s a playful risky venture that turns the unfastened world of Horizon into a level - based sandpit .
Though the tidings may have leave a few rooter scratching their head , the project was a no - brainer for Guerrilla . In fact , the studio view a natural partnership between Horizon and Lego . Both properties dish out burnished colors , lean on affirmative themes , and have inclusive fan bases . One may tell a dystopian tale of a postapocalypse impart on by corporate greed , but Guerrilla believes the two ideas snap together like brick .
While fans will at long last be the judge of that , I did get to see that school of thought in action mechanism at this twelvemonth ’s Summer Game Fest . I go hand - on withLego Horizon Adventures , getting a good feel for its humor , reachable combat , and co - op play that ’s built for families . Guerrilla return me a clean picture of why it believe Horizon will translate as a kidskin ’s secret plan — a determination that helped drive its surprise Nintendo Switch release .
Connecting parents and kids
As explained to me in an interview with James Windeler , narrative director at Guerrilla , the construct for a Horizon Lego secret plan came together around the same clip that the companies partner to make theirLego Tallneck set(and yes , Lego Tallnecks will seem in the game ) . The two agreed that the brands were a great match andLego Horizon Adventureswas carry . Windeler tell me that Guerrilla was specially unrestrained about that partnership .
“ We believe it ’s actually an obvious pairing in a lot of ways , ” Windeler tell Digital Trends . “ It really stem from Guerrilla ’s warmth for Legos over the yr . We have a immense number of sports fan . But within the account of the studio apartment , the story is that we prototyped the first machine inHorizon Zero Dawnwith Duplo . There ’s a association there , but also a lot of the devs have grown up over the last 10 twelvemonth make Horizon game . But in that fourth dimension , they ’ve had kids , and they want to make a game that they can play with their own shaver . ”
If the project has n’t clicked for you yet , that particular will likely be the missing piece . Lego Horizon Adventuresfeels like a game built for parents who bed the series to share with their kids . It ’s not a complicated , sprawling overt - cosmos plot ; it ’s a lighthearted , level - based Lego game with simplified combat , a mo of brick building , and a whole lot of joke poking fun at the Horizon series .
The story is part a comedic reimagining of keyHorizon Zero Dawnscenes and secret plan points combine with a new , lighter story . Windeler allege that it ’s not a retelling or a straight parody — though it does have a lot of playfulness make fun of itself . When Aloy gets her Focus , for illustration , she excitedly bound around the cover and brags about what a rare piece of technical school she must have . Someone collapse her bubble by telling her that they just feel a whole bag of them , joking about why all of the persona have them . I also got a jape when I noticed that ledges are all built out of yellow bricks , which is a gag about Horizon ’s eye - guiding paint splashes .
The vocalisation cast seems all - in on the joke too . Many cast members from the Horizon games reprize their function here , though in Lego - fied form . That include Ashley Burch as Aloy , who I almost did n’t recognize at first . Her voice is much peppy here ; she sounds like a character reference pull directly fromThe Lego Movie . Windeler confirm that Sylens will return too , in what will be the quality ’s first appearance since voice actorLance Reddick ’s destruction in 2023 . The office has been recast , but the team is n’t bring out info on that just yet .
What I ’m especially funny to see is howLego Horizon Adventureswill deal with some of the series ’ heavy theme . Both mainline Horizon games are fiercely political , carrying anticapitalistic themes and environmentalist electronic messaging . That can get surprisingly dark — just look at the Faro ’s Tomb mission inHorizon Forbidden West . Windeler says that while some heavy consequence might not get recreated here , the game will still get at the heart of Horizon .
“ Some of the themes that we think are super crucial to the enfranchisement , ” he says , “ like Aloy ’s search for her mother , was something we thought was ecumenical and easy for a younger audience to colligate to . Also , there ’s a very strong ecologic subject in the game . It ’s obviously extremely simplified and we ’ve exhibit the big bad as an enemy of nature . In those way , we prove to sustain some of the spirit of the early game , which do talk about these ideas in a lot more detail , but it ’s build into the central conflict of this game . ”
Built for everyone
The more I play , the more it became apparent that kids are the main audience here . In the two narration quests I tried , I explore some linear story , collected worthful studs , and took down some machines with Aloy ’s arc . In between , I could head back to a hub area and add buildings or customize existing one with part by drop studs . I can grab new outfits for characters too , and that ’ll include some crossover with Lego steel like Ninjago and Lego City . Familiar Horizon ingredient return , like hiding in tall sens to purloin up on foes , but everything is a niggling simplified to make it well-off for young players to plunk up .
Take fight , for representative . I do n’t have to craft arrows or carefully direct at robot parts to pluck off parts . Instead , all I need to do is fire off arrows to take it down . I can use my Focus to detect feeble points and aim at them for special scathe , but it ’s mostly a one - button affair . I do occasionally pick up one - time use special onslaught , get slightly tweaked weapons with limited employment , and I can throw exploding barrel at foes , but combat is on the shallow side to make it easy to pick up and encounter . Familiar Horizon gismo like the Tripcaster appear , though more so as limited particular .
I can further palpate the think audience here when jumping into co - op free rein . Here , two players can play any mission together with a form of playable grapheme like Varl . While those characters have dissimilar weapon system , they seem to function about the same . A throw spear is essentially the same thing as a obeisance . When running around , the tv camera always centers on histrion one . If the second player make too far behind , they ’ll be teleport forward . It ’s aNintendo - alike design choicethat assumes parents will wager alongside their kids .
The Switch add in a fellowship - friendly interview .
At a few stage during our conversation , Windeler comes back to the squad ’s desire to make a plot they could play with their kids . He consider that there ’s a real hunger for great experiences like that among parents more broadly , a persuasion that guides a lot of decision inLego Horizon Adventures . That extends to its surprising multiplatform release strategy , which will bring a first - party Sony PlayStation game to PC and even Nintendo Switch ( sorry , Xbox owners ) .
“ It ’s connected to our unspecific goal of making this game for everybody , ” Windeler says . “ I can play this game on my lounge with my wife at home on PS5 . I can play with my hardcore Horizon friends on the internet with PC . But one of the things I ’m most excited about is that I have these two niece , 11 and 8 , who I have not really had a fate of chance to play the games I have made with . This is decidedly a secret plan that appeals to a unseasoned audience , and the Switch is a big part of that . The Switch brings in a family - friendly interview . The control scheme is designed to work on the smaller Joy - Con controllers . It ’s part of getting as many multitude introduced to the characters as potential . ”
I ’m sure there will be skeptics out there who writeLego Horizon Adventuresoff as an incongruous IP mash - up . If you encounter the developers where they ’re come from , though , it ’s easy to find the childlike charm here . The small fade I played has me titter at self - mindful Horizon gags and enjoying some lay - back hoarded wealth hunting . For parents who playedHorizon Zero Dawnbefore their kids were bear , it ’s a cute ( and less stark ) path to share the series with them until they ’re onetime enough to recreate the proper games . It ’s the kind of plot that might just usher in a new multiplication of PlayStation fans .
Lego Horizon Adventureslaunches by and by this year for PS5 , Nintendo Switch , and PC .
