LEGO Horizon Adventures retells Horizon Zero Dawn with humour and charm

LEGO Horizon Adventures is a bold new exclusive from PlayStation that’s quickly become one of my most anticipated titles of the year.

While there were several rumours before Summer Game Fest about PlayStation’s exclusive IP being adapted into a LEGO format, I still think we were all surprised to see it officially announced during last Friday’s show.

Check out the trailer for LEGO Horizon Adventures below

After going hands-on with the game over the weekend, I can confidently say that even if you’ve never played a Horizon or LEGO game, it’s bound to appeal to you in some way.

My demo took me through the first few levels of the game, teaching me traversal, combat, and introducing me to the main hub area, which I’ll get to in due time.

Visually the game is stunning, as while previous LEGO games have opted for a more animated approach to the builds, LEGO Horizon Adventures is more like the LEGO films in the way it almost feels like stop-motion. All of the in-game assets are based on real-life sets that were built for the game, and the characters move and express themselves in the same way a real-life minifigure would rather than being overly animated.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

As any Horizon fan would expect, you will of course face-off against mechanical beasts, and the combat functions exactly the same as normal game, with a few additions.

You’ll still be targeting weak spots on the robo-dinos you encounter, though you can also find explosive barrels to hurl at enemies, light your projectiles on fire for bonus damage, and find power-ups.

After a mission you’ll be sent back to your base-camp, where you’ll find even more LEGO charm. Players will be able to spend studs to customise various buildings, as well as dress-up Aloy and her friends in a variety of costumes, many of which are from completely different LEGO IPs like LEGO City and LEGO Ninjago. If you want a building to look like a massive ferris wheel? Go for it. Want to see Aloy dressed as a hot dog? You can do it.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

Speaking of LEGO charm, the story of Horizon Zero Dawn is retold with humour, and the majority of the original voice cast have returned with more light-hearted performances for their characters.

All in all, it was a joy to play, and I’d argue it feels more like a LEGO game than any titles I’ve played before, largely helped by the way characters moved and the pure silliness of the story and gameplay.

It had the vibe of a child mixing and matching their LEGO toys to create a completely new story, and I can’t wait to play more.

Sony Interactive Entertainment

LEGO Horizon Adventures will drop for the PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch later this year, though an exact release date hasn’t been shared at the time of writing.