LEGO continues its video-game franchise with the new LEGO Jurassic World from Warner Brothers Games and TT Games. If gamers are a fan of the Jurassic Park franchise as well as the LEGO franchise, they will be a fan of this game. Even if gamers are not familiar with either franchise, it is a fun game.
LEGO Jurassic World draws on moments from all four films in the Jurassic Park franchise and uses LEGO-fied cut-aways that make the player feel like they are watching the LEGO versions of the films. And nothing prepares one for the first time you see Jeff Goldblum as a LEGO mini-fig. (I’m still pretty excited by that aspect of the game.) The gamemakers have done a great job at inserting humor into some of the scarier scenes to make them more age-appropriate for the “Everyone 10+” rating.
Throughout the game, DNA comes along to assist the player on their way which definitely ends up helping. However, there are times where the player just has to figure out what is supposed to happen with little to no guidance and that can cause a real slowdown; it did for me. At times, it caused me to become frustrated so I can only imagine how frustrating getting stuck must be for a kid. The lack of guidance at places in gameplay is my only real negative critique of this game.
LEGO Jurassic World has a lot to offer. When a player knows exactly what they are supposed to do they can get right to accomplishing the task needed to advance. Players can also spend time exploring the environment around them and bust up LEGO-built items in order to rack up some big points and bonuses.
Like with some other LEGO games, a player gets to switch between being different characters from the films, even getting to play as a dinosaur. But the key in switching is knowing what character needs to be played at any given time. The game does give you visual hints to let you know it is time to switch in order to accomplish a task.
One of the really fun aspects is that through collecting amber, a player can build and customize their own original dinosaurs in the lab. They can then use those dinosaurs in order to complete special Free Play missions. The game also includes John Williams’ incredible score from Jurassic Park, which is one of my all-time favorites. I loved getting to hear that music whenever I played.
LEGO Jurassic World is a great game for kids and adults to play, both separately and together as parents can play with their kids using the drop-in/drop-out feature on console play. Even as a person with no children, I had a wonderful time playing.
LEGO Jurassic World is out now andavailable for Xbox One, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 & 4, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, Playstation Vita, and PC.
