Preview: Lego Jurassic World

For the last 10 years, Traveller’s Tales have been creating games which bring cult characters and franchises to new eyes through the unifying medium of Lego.  By bringing a fresh perspective to movies, reinvigorating them with humour allowing a generation of gamers to access films that they may not have considered in the past or may be a little too mature for their viewing pleasure at their present earthly status.

Being graced by several Lego games every year for the past decade, you may assume that people may be starting to tire of the jaundice community we all grew up with but by tying the lovable plastic to existing properties; old fans can find new life in things they already loved and more collectibles to add to their shrines.

Jurassic world is following a similar pattern by bring a beloved franchise to those who may not have experienced the original masterpiece and its lesser siblings and is strengthening that re-introduction with a simultaneous release of its Lego counterpart which not only showcases the new addition but its predecessors.

Lego Jurassic World is the same old Lego game with some new trinkets;  those who love the games will be happy and to those who aren’t sure, I have one thing to say to you – You can play as a DINOSAUR!  Personally, I adore the Lego games; they are a happy distraction in which I can relive fragments of the movies I love with some added silliness and the levels I played at the preview promise just that. Although only levels from the first and fourth film were showcased, I have hope for the scenes included from the other films will be imbued with the expected Lego charm. Utilising the dialogue from the films to a greater comedic effect is one of TT Games strong points but with this new endeavour, they were able to include unique scenes with the cast of the new film to further expand the world.

Playing through the opening scenes of the original film, TT have expanded on the interaction between Dr. Ellie Sattler and the Triceratops; creating a link between her time assisting the injured animal and discovering the fractured frame of Dr. Ian Malcolm; whilst allowing the player to smash around as a Triceratops. During the preview, I was only able to experience control of the one beast but it’s promised there will be several to play with and dinosaur specific modes where you can create your own potential fossil from unlockables discovered throughout the main game.

Character design is pretty similar to other games within the Lego Multi-verse: Aragorn scent skill from Lego Lord of the Rings is used by the Park Ranger plus he can hit targets using his tranquillizer gun in a similar way to Legolas, and the overall character control hasn’t changed much since Lego Star Wars.  However, when playing as a Triceratops; it can feel a bit clunky and difficult to manoeuvre, it is not as smooth as when playing as a normal Lego-ite… Legolian? Lego-person. Perhaps it is a purposefully included by the developers to emphasize that these are huge, weighty creatures and maybe the different species will feel different but I did not get as much joy from smashing about as a Triceratops as I had first hoped.

This game does what is says on the tin: it is a Lego Game about the Jurassic park franchise and if you are expecting anything else then you will be disappointed but it is doing what TT Games and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment do best.  It is a fun, campy, tongue in cheek look at one of the most memorable franchises of the last 25 years, showing us what we fell in love with and infusing it with a new viewpoint.  The preview levels didn’t stray from the expected cloth but it was what it should be and I look forward to exploring the entire world when it arrives.

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