LEGO Bricktales isn’t like most of the LEGO games you’ll play, with this title you’ll need to get your thinking cap on.
You play as an unarmed character that can be customised as you unlock new parts and their inventor grandpa who embark on adventure to search for inspiration to help reinvigorate his rundown amusement park with your little robot buddy in tow.
You’ll visit the deepest jungle, sun-drenched deserts, a bustling city corner, a towering medieval castle, and tropical Caribbean islands as you progress through the game. Each world will require you to explore and solve various building puzzles to unlock new areas as you move around. You ‘ll meet and help the minifigures of these worlds by solving puzzles and unlock new skills throughout the story to further explore these worlds and uncover the many secrets and mysteries they contain.
Unlike the licensed TT games LEGO titles where all you have to to do is hold down a button to build a structure, in Bricktales you need to have a proper think about how you are going to build each structure.
One of the first things you’ll need to build is a bridge, which is hardly surprising since it’s made by the same team responsible for the entertaining Bridge Constructor series. You are given various bits of LEGO and an area to build it in, you are then left to your own devices to complete the task. Before you can move on you’ll need to prove your structure is solid but testing it with little robots.
As you progress through the game the builds become more complex with more bits of LEGO to use. It’s pretty unforgiving, there are no hints or tips to help you, you are purely relying on trial and error each time you build which at times can become a little frustrating. The only guidance you have shows bricks in red if they can’t be placed or are out of the build area. Hardcore LEGO builders will welcome the challenge while younger players will find the this game pretty difficult.
One challenge for all players however is the camera. Bricks can be rotated and moved up and down through the levels and placed wherever you think is best, but the camera makes it really difficult to see where you are placing bricks, especially when you are trying to be precise with your build. I often found myself placing breaks wildly out of place too often which became really frustrating. Once you had completed a difficult build however it was very satisfying.
When you have completed a build you are able to go back in and add extra flourishes with new colours and bricks, apart from a purely cosmetic need there was little reason for me to do this though.
I love the fact LEGO Bricklates goes back to basics with non licensed LEGO worlds to explore with a cute story about family. Each of the worlds are fascinating to explore and they all look great, it’s just a shame the puzzles are let down by such awkward camera movements.
