First Impressions: The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game

With excitement building around the upcoming feature film, Brick Fanatics get hands-on with The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game

When The LEGO NINJAGO Movie is released later this year, it will be accompanied by a full game from Warner Bros. Rather than just a Story Pack like The LEGO Batman Movie, this release will be getting the full TT Games treatment.

At BRICKLIVE ExCeL 2017, Warner Bros. Games shared an early opportunity for fans to get their hands on a Playstation 4 controller and find out what The LEGO NINJAGO Video Game has to offer. Brick Fanatics was on hand to provide a taste of what the game has in store for those who could not make the event.

290717_tlnmfirstlook1The demo level opens during Lord Garmadon’s aquatic themed attack on NINJAGO City, with a whole manner of flying enemies to do battle with in the air as dropships deploy enemy minifigures at ground level. The players begin as Lloyd in his Green Dragon and Jay in his Lightning Jet flying through NINJAGO City and blasting enemy ships.

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It has many hallmarks of LEGO video game flying missions, with circles of studs to fly through that offer the best rewards, random objects to blast for extra studs and a rough targeting system to blow up enemy crafts. The flight path is predefined, but the flying mechs can be moved up and down to avoid falling debris as Garmadon’s gang wreaks havoc on the city.

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Once the aerial element is complete, the action switches to the typical minifigure mode, with players taking on the roles of Kai and Cole. The pair are trying to reach their mechs, but have a treacherous path littered with enemies dressed in ridiculous costumes based on sharks and jellyfish.

The fight moves introduced in this demo level are limited, but are more sophisticated than any LEGO video game so far. As well as the usual square bashing and a bit of R2 flicking, combo moves are explained on-screen before the player gets a chance to try out the fancy new ninja attack. Another improvement is that the enemy being targeted is outlined, so gamers know which bad guy they are about to take down and can plan the follow-up – important when earning score multipliers.

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Adding to the ninja feel is the ability to run up select walls, by hitting the cross button at the right time – the characters leap to a wall, run vertically up or along it, before returning to solid ground. It certainly emphasises that this is specifically a NINJAGO video game.

The level of detail is superb, with little touches such as swarms of enemy vehicles flying high above the characters, only visible with a look upwards. The bustling, colourful NINJAGO City serving as a backdrop to Garmadon’s invasion gives a real feeling of chaos to the scene and it will take a few play-throughs to spot all of the background detail.

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If this first snippet of The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game is indicative of what fans can expect, then it promises to be an absolute treat. TT Games seem to have injected enough of a NINJAGO vibe into the successful and well-established formula, so fans should enjoy a few surprises this time instead of just going through the motions.

The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game is scheduled for release on October 6 and available to pre-order from Amazon. The LEGO NINJAGO Movie is due for release on September 22 in the USA and October 13 in the UK.

The images in this article are from this IGN video showing game play from The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game:

Author Profile

Graham
Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education.

Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

Graham

Graham was the BrickFanatics.com Editor up until November 2020. He has plenty of experience working on LEGO related projects. He has contributed to various websites and publications on topics including niche hobbies, the toy industry and education. Follw Graham on Twitter @grahamh100.

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