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Lego Dimensions

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Lego Dimensions
PlayStation 4 Starter Pack box art
Developer(s)Traveller's Tales
Publisher(s)Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Director(s)
Producer(s)
  • Anna Bailey
  • Toby Jennings
Designer(s)
  • Jon Burton
  • Dewi Roberts
Programmer(s)
  • Steve Harding
  • Chris Stanforth
  • Alistair Crowe
  • Ben Klages
Artist(s)
  • Jeremy Pardon
  • Leon Warren
  • Paul Munro
Writer(s)
  • Jon Burton
  • Graham Goring
  • James McLoughlin
Composer(s)
SeriesLego
Platform(s)
Release
  • NA: 27 September 2015[1]
  • AU: 28 September 2015
  • EU: 29 September 2015
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Lego Dimensions is a Lego-themed action-adventure platform crossover video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Wii U. It follows the toys-to-life format, in that the player has Lego figures and a toy pad that can be played within the game itself where it features characters and environments from over 30 different franchises.[3][4] The Starter Pack, containing the game, the USB toy pad, and three minifigures, was released in September 2015, while additional level packs and characters were released over the following two years.[5][6]

Gameplay

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Lego Dimensions features the same style of gameplay as the previous Lego video games developed by Traveller's Tales, in which up to two players control Lego 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 around Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle, while additional levels are made available by purchasing Level Packs and Story Packs. In addition to the minifigures, players can also build models of vehicles, such as the Batmobile, TARDIS, Mystery Machine or DeLorean, 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 as Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Amiibo, the minifigures, vehicles and the USB toy pad are all made from real Lego 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 as Capture the Flag. Gold bricks can be used to purchase new power-ups for the Battle Arenas. Certain packs also include exclusive features; for example, the Midway Arcade level pack unlocks playable emulations of over twenty Midway arcade titles, while the Teen Titans Go! packs unlock an exclusive Lego-themed episode of the series that can be viewed in-game.[7][8]

Packs

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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.

Franchises

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The game features characters and worlds from thirty different franchises, consisting of:[10]

Year 1

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Year 2

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The game also features character and setting cameos from other franchises, including HAL 9000 from the Space Odyssey series, S.T.A.R. Labs from The CW's The Flash, Bedrock from The Flintstones, the family room from The Jetsons and the DNA ship from Red Dwarf.[11] Unlike other toys-to-life series such as Skylanders and Disney Infinity, Lego Dimensions allows all figures to be compatible with the existing title, rather than releasing a sequel.[12][13]

Plot

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Lord Vortech (Gary Oldman), a being who has the power to shapeshift and travel through dimensions, and his robot minion X-PO (Joel McHale) arrive on Foundation Prime, a shapeshifting planet located in the center of the Lego multiverse, as Vortech seeks the twelve Foundation Elements, the cornerstones of time and space itself, in a bid to merge all the dimensions into one under his control, allowing him to then reform reality into his image. These elements, such as the ruby slippers, the One Ring, the flux capacitor, the Palantír, the P.K.E. meter, and a shard of kryptonite, were scattered across the dimensions a long time ago, but gathered together at Foundation Prime's palace can unlock the Foundation of All Dimensions, an artifact that grants the user the power to control all of the dimensions. 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, ignoring X-PO's warning of the risk in harnessing the elements. Unfortunately for Vortech, his own body is unable to handle too many more dimensional jumps, forcing him to open vortexes to the different dimensions and recruits their villains to help him search for the elements while imprisoning the heroes pulled through them. These actions damage the boundaries between the dimensions, causing them to merge and characters to be displaced.

When Robin (Scott Menville), Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood), and MetalBeard (Nick Offerman) are pulled into the vortexes, each unknowingly in possession of one of the elements, Batman (Troy Baker), Gandalf the Grey (Tom Kane), and Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) all jump in after them. The three get pulled into the same vortex and appear on Vorton, where the vortex generator they came out of explodes, prompting them to rebuild it. Aided by X-PO under the guise of "The Gateway Keeper" for a good chunk of the game, the three 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 thwart 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 as Dorothy Gale (Laura Bailey), Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd), Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), the ninjas Kai (Charlie Schlatter), Jay (Mick Wingert), Cole (Roger Craig Smith), Zane (Yuri Lowenthal), Lloyd Garmadon (Karen Strassman), and Sensei Wu (William Salyers), Wheatley (Stephen Merchant), Dr. Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Shaggy Rogers (Matthew Lillard), and Scooby-Doo (Frank Welker). However, they're also pitted against numerous villains, including the Wicked Witch of the West (Courtenay Taylor), Lord Business (Nolan North), The Joker (Christopher Corey Smith), Master Chen (Salyers), Griffin Turner (Wingert), Gravis (unvoiced), Karlof (North), Saruman the White (Roger L. Jackson), Lex Luthor (Travis Willingham), the Daleks and Cybermen (Nicholas Briggs), Two-Face (Baker), Sauron (Steve Blum), the Digital Overlord (Baker), Brainiac (Dee Bradley Baker), The Riddler (Craig Smith), General Zod (North), the Thief from Gauntlet (unknown), Bane (Blum), as well as Vortech himself twice. Vortech 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, allowing his lackeys to infiltrate Vorton and retrieve the trio's Foundation Elements in their absence. With all of the elements collected, Vortech unlocks the Foundation of All Dimensions (which is a green Lego baseplate) and is imbued with near-unlimited power. He merges Robin, Frodo, and MetalBeard with a piece of himself, turning them into a giant mutant known as the Tri, (Menville, Wood, and Offerman) and sends it to wreak havoc on the trio's home dimensions. Fearing that their next failure failure could lead to a transformation into a similar mutant, Vortech's lackeys bail out on him.

The heroes free their friends from inside the Tri and destroy the Vortech piece, causing it to implode. After the Tri's defeat, Batman realizes that they will need all the help they can get to defeat Vortech, leading them to recruit the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi), Mystery Inc., the Ghostbusters, the space ship from Defender, and GLaDOS (Ellen McLain) to their cause. While the Doctor, GLaDOS, and X-PO work on a plan to seal Vortech in a rift loop, the heroes 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 a rift loop. Using special devices he, GLaDOS, and X-PO designed, Vortech is sealed in an endless rift prison for all eternity, saving the multiverse as the heroes celebrate.

In a post-credits scene, an unknown figure finds a piece of Vortech's body, the same one that had miraculously 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, suggesting that the figure has become another version of Vortech.

There are also additional levels, typically being comedic re-tellings of plots such as those of Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Mission Impossible, an episode of The Simpsons, and two episodes of Adventure Time. However, there are also a few original storylines that tie back to the original Lego Dimensions story in some way. For example, the Portal 2 level, Aperture Science, features Chell (unvoiced) returning to Aperture Science and, with Wheatley's help, solving the facility's challenges before ultimately find a rift generator created by GLaDOS and The Space Core (North). In the Midway Arcade level, Retro Wreckage, a character called The Gamer Kid (Josh Keaton) visits his favorite arcade only to discover that some of Vortech's remaining energy has infected the machines there, causing the characters to enter the real world, which he has to fix. The Sonic the Hedgehog level, Sonic Dimensions, follows Sonic (Craig Smith) as he searches for his friends and the Chaos Emeralds, all scattered across the multiverse following a battle with his archnemesis Doctor Eggman (Mike Pollock) involving a Keystone Device. The Doctor Who level, The Dalek Extermination of Earth, is disconnected from the original story, and focuses on the Twelfth Doctor as he goes forward in time to 2025 to try and stop a plot by the Daleks to convert Earth's population into Daleks themselves.

Development

[edit]

Lego Dimensions was announced by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment and Traveller's Tales on April 9th, 2015, with a release date set for November of that year. According to the game's co-director and TT Games managing director Jon Burton, The Lego Movie, on which he served as an executive producer, helped up the door to the game, saying "We've found that everyone from the intellectual properties we've partnered with were hugely open to this idea. It's lent itself to creating this world where hopefully it's only bounded by the imagination of the kids playing it". Baker, Kane, Banks, Oldman, and McHale were also confirmed to be voicing Batman, Gandalf the Grey, Wyldstyle, Lord Vortech, and X-Po alongside other characters such as Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Marty McFly, The Wicked Witch of the West, Legolas, Gimli, and Emmet Brickowski.[14]

Voice acting

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The game's voice work was directed by Liam O'Brien, who also voiced Gollum, Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, and The Lego Batman Movie version of Lord Voldermort, and JB Blanc. Not counting 2016's Lego Marvel's Avengers, this marks the final Lego game until Lego DC Super-Villains to have original voice acting utilized by actors who are affiliated with the Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) prior to the 2016–17 video game voice actor strike.

A selling point of the game is its cast, which consists of various characters being voiced by either their original or current actors, either through direct reprisal or through archival audio recordings. Notable additions to the voice cast include Chris Pratt, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, and Will Arnett reprising their roles as Emmet Brickowski and Owen Grady, Princess Unikitty, Benny, and The Lego Movie version of Batman respectively, Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd reprising their respective roles as Marty McFly and Doc Brown, J.K. Simmons reprising his role as Cave Johnson, Bryce Dallas Howard and Irrfan Khan respectively returning as Claire Dearing and Simon Mesrani, Capaldi, Michelle Gomez, and Jenna Coleman respectively reprising their roles as the Twelfth Doctor, Missy, and Clara Oswald, and Willingham, Laura Bailey, Bumper Robinson, Tara Strong, Brian Bloom, Tara Strong, and Robin Atkin Downes respectively reprising their roles as Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, Aquaman (in addition to voicing Perry White), and Alfred Pennyworth (in addition to playing the ACU Trooper) as well as most of the cast of Scooby-Doo, Lord of the Rings and Ghostbusters. However, the voice cast for Ninjago did not return, like what happened with Lego Ninjago: Nindroids and Lego Ninjago: Shadow of Ronin, due to the show being recorded in Vancouver and the games being recorded in Los Angeles. According to Vincent Tong and Brent Miller, whose roles as Kai and Zane were assumed by Charlie Schlatter and Yuri Lowenthal respectively, they and the rest of the regular cast of the Ninjago TV series were not asked to reprise their respective roles here, in Nindroids, or in Shadow of Ronin. The same also applied to the voice cast of Legends of Chima for the same reasons.

Some actors that returned via archival recordings include Orlando Bloom as Legolas, John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, and Harold Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore, and Egon Spengler respectively, Sigourney Weaver as Dana Barrett, William Atherton as Walter Peck, Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Grampa Simpson, Mayor Quimby, Hans Moleman, Groundskeeper Willie, and Santa's Little Helper, Johnny Cash as The Space Coyote, Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt, Jon Voight as Jim Phelps, and all of the first 11 versions of The Doctor (as well as The War Doctor played by John Hurt) prior to Capaldi.[15][16][17][18]

Reception

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Lego Dimensions received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.[19][20][21] 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."[31] 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? In Lego 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."[24] 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."[32] 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."[33]

Sales

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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 competitors Skylanders: Superchargers and Disney Infinity 3.0.[34]

Awards

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List of awards and nominations
Award Category Result
The Game Awards 2015 Best Family Game Nominated[35]
19th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Family Game of the Year Nominated[36]
British Academy Children's Awards Game Won[37]

References

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  1. ^ Lancaster, Luke. "Lego Dimensions review: Lego Dimensions keeps the real bricks front and centre". CNET. Retrieved 27 November 2023.
  2. ^ "Music/Showreels | Rob Westwood – Online Portfolio". Archived from the original on 14 August 2021. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  3. ^ Narcisse, Evan (9 April 2015). "Lego Dimensions Announced, Uses Actual Lego Toys". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 10 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  4. ^ Lego Group (9 April 2015). "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and the LEGO Group announce LEGO Dimensions". Lego.com. Lego. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  5. ^ LEGO Dimensions [@LEGODimensions] (23 October 2017). "From building and rebuilding to the most bricktacular mash-ups, the Multiverse would be nothing without our amazing community. Thank you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ Phillips, Tom (23 October 2017). "The sad, slow death of Lego Dimensions". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 30 May 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  7. ^ Crecente, Brian (24 March 2016). "Lego Dimensions delivers a playable video game museum with Midway Arcade". Polygon. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  8. ^ Osborn, Alex (31 May 2017). "Teen Titans Go!, The Powerpuff Girls and Beetlejuice Packs Coming to LEGO Dimensions". Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  9. ^ Copeland, Wesley (9 April 2015). "Warner Bros. Announces Lego Dimensions". IGN. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  10. ^ Karmali, Luke (2 June 2015). "LEGO Dimensions: Simpsons, Ghostbusters and More Confirmed". IGN. Archived from the original on 23 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  11. ^ Phillips, Tom (16 November 2016). "Smegging hell, Lego Dimensions has added a Red Dwarf area". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  12. ^ "Lego Dimensions PAX Prime Live Demo Walkthrough". Gamerevolution.com. 31 August 2015. Archived from the original on 8 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, TT Games and The LEGO Group Announce the Expansion of LEGO DIMENSIONS". BusinessWire. 9 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  14. ^ Lang, Derrick (9 April 2015). "Awesome! 'Lego Dimensions' combining bricks and franchises". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  15. ^ Hayward, Andrew. "Lego Dimensions' incredible voice cast includes loads of original actors". Stuff. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  16. ^ Ingraham, Nathan. "'Lego Dimensions' reunites the original 'Back to the Future' cast". Engadget. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  17. ^ "Every Doctor Who is Playable in Lego Dimensions, but Only One Will Have a Voice Actor". GameSpot. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  18. ^ Melrose, Kevin. "'Lego Dimensions' reveals impressive voice cast". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  19. ^ a b "LEGO Dimensions for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  20. ^ a b "LEGO Dimensions for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  21. ^ a b "LEGO Dimensions for Wii U Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  22. ^ Carter, Chris (1 October 2015). "Review: LEGO Dimensions". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  23. ^ Reiner, Andrew (27 September 2015). "Lego Dimensions – When Brick Worlds Collide". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  24. ^ a b Ramsay, Randolph (25 September 2015). "LEGO Dimensions Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  25. ^ Sliva, Marty (29 September 2015). "LEGO Dimensions Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  26. ^ Crecente, Brian (2 September 2021). "Lego Dimensions review". Polygon. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  27. ^ "Lego Dimensions review: the best Lego game yet – just beware of costly add-ons | Aces high". The Guardian. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  28. ^ "LEGO Dimensions Review (Wii U) | Aces high". Nintendo Life. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  29. ^ "Lego Dimensions review | Aces high". GamesRadar. 2 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  30. ^ Parish, Jeremy (2 September 2021). "LEGO Dimensions Wii U Review: Everything is Awesome (Except the Actual Game)". USgamer. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  31. ^ "LEGO Dimensions Review – IGN". Uk.ign.com. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  32. ^ Crecente, Brian (28 September 2015). "Lego Dimensions review". Polygon. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  33. ^ "LEGO: Dimensions review". Good Game Spawn Point. 25 October 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  34. ^ Robertson, Andy (5 October 2015). "'LEGO Dimensions' Outsells 'Skylanders Superchargers' and 'Disney Infinity 3.0' In Launch Week". Forbes. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  35. ^ "Nominees | The Game Awards 2015". The Game Awards. Ola Balola. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  36. ^ "2016 Awards Category Details Family Game of the Year". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  37. ^ "Horrible Histories, TrueTube lead BAFTA Children's noms". Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
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