“I still find myself asking, “Who wanted this?” And for a full $70"
PC | PS5 | SWITCH
HOW I PLAYED: I was gifted a copy of Lego: Horizon Adventures via the Epic Game Store on PC. I played on my R7 7800X3D, RTX 3080 gaming PC. I played at 1440p Maximum settings.
STORY — 14/20
INTRO - 3
Lego: Horizon Adventures is clearly a game for kids, but it does a good job summarizing the story intro of Horizon Zero Dawn. What I especially loved about this "Kid Downed" version of the story is they didn't make you play as child Aloy for literally no reason...
CUTSCENES - 5
There are 2 type of cutscenes, there are cinematic pre rendered cutscenes that play (they might possibly be rendered in game?) that look fantastic. These cutscenes are on the same cinematic level as the lego movies.
Then there are dialogue type cutscenes where it just has close ups of the characters while speaking dialogue to each other.
Both were effective and I was surprised at how much quality they put into the cutscenes in a watered down kids game. It almost made me think this should have been one of those "Straight To DVD" movies.
WORLD BUILDING - 3
It's a kids game... so the world building is very surface level. The story and main drive is basically told through narration. And there is some throw away dialogue here and there throughout the playthrough.
OVERALL STORY - 3
The story takes the 2 bloated premises and storylines of the 2 existing horizon games and simplifies them down to a short 6-8 hour kids story. Funny enough I felt this did a better job than the 2 horizon games did...
I was surprised at how much quality they put into the cutscenes in a watered down kids game.
GRAPHICS — 15/15
CHARACTER MODELS - 5
The characters and designs are top knotch. Like mentioned earlier the quality is cinema level with the lego movies. Everything looks incredible and I was genuinely impressed with the character models and animations in this game.
ENVIRONMENTS - 5
I know with older Lego games some feedback shared is some environmental elements or some background objects are not lego items. But Lego Horizon Adventures has incredible environments that are such a pleasure to look at and examine all the details. I was very impressed with how intricate all the environments were.
SPECIAL FX - 5
From fire effects to lightning, everything looked top tier. I keep repeating myself but this game truly encapsulated the high quality of a full on lego movie. It is kind of funny that this game has such high quality for the level of gameplay it has... more on that.
AUDIO — 9/15
AMBIENCE - 3
The ambience is very safe and cookie cutter for a kids game. There was nothing exceptional nor anything truly terrible. I found the whole games soundtrack to sit in mediocrity. Again, I know this game is aimed at a younger audience and is trying to keep a lighter tone. I still think you can accomplish this without having generic xylophone background music that is better suited for a kindergarten playroom than a AAA gaming experience.
BOSS MUSIC - 3
Very typical "high intensity background music", think of it like Elevator music with a faster bpm.
SOUND DESIGN - 3
I thought the audio mix was done decently well. The voice acting is a little campy but that is perfect for a kids game like this. I was pleasantly surprised at how much more I enjoyed these characters in a kids game environment compared to their main titles.
PERFORMANCE — 9/10
FRAME RATE - 4
Lego Horizon Adventures runs great on all the platforms its on. I am pretty sure each console is able to run the game at mostly 60fps. On PC it runs great and I was able to push it well into the 100's in regards to fps. I just wish more games had more than just the 2 basic "Graphics" and "Performance" modes. As I feel this game would be able to run at close to 60fps in a balanced mode on consoles.
STABILITY - 5
The game runs fantastic and I also encountered 0 cosmetic or gameplay bugs or glitches. Very impressive! I am glad to see that less games are releasing super broken in 2024. LHA is a very simple game but I was still happy to not run into any bugs or even cosmetic glitches.
GAMEPLAY — 26/40
CONTROLS - 4
The controls are simple and work well for a game like this. Think of it as a very simplified version of ARPG controls, similar to Diablo or even something like Battle Slug. Everything felt smooth and fluent, which I appreciated, but there wasn’t anything particularly amazing or mind-blowing about them.
MECHANICS - 3
Lego: Horizon Adventures sticks to some pretty basic mechanics. You unlock different weapon specials as you progress, and you can choose between two of them. This part reminded me a lot of old-school Battle Slug, except the ammo for your pickups isn’t unlimited.
You can also unlock different story characters as co-op buddies, which is a nice touch, but I played through the entire game solo.
PACING - 4
The pacing is fast and straight to the point, which is exactly what you’d expect from a kids’ game. What really impressed me, though, was how well they condensed the story of Horizon Zero Dawn. Honestly, I think I prefer this version, it’s just the essentials, with no unnecessary bloat or padding!
UI/UE - 4
The UI and UE are minimal and effective. The menus are super easy to navigate, and nothing feels overly complicated or clunky. My only minor gripe is that there’s no option to completely remove the UI, which means I couldn’t grab any clean, scenic shots without the menus getting in the way.
BOSS QUALITY - 3
All of the boss designs were excellent, fun to look at and really well-crafted. But the mechanics? Pretty simple. Most bosses just spam ads at you while using a couple of unique abilities. What’s worse is that a lot of them eventually show up later as regular NPC enemies, which I’m not a fan of.
That said, there are a couple of ‘true bosses’ that really stood out and were fantastic! I just wish there had been more of them.
ENEMY VARIETY - 3
There were a few unique enemies, but I felt like the game could have used more variety. The lack of diversity becomes even more noticeable because the level layouts and missions feel so similar.
GAMEPLAY VARIETY - 3
This is where the game really struggles. A lot of common feedback is that the levels and missions feel too similar, with the same set of activities repeated over and over. That feedback is completely valid. You’re essentially cycling through the same three or four mission and level types on repeat. It gets very repetitive, and you can easily plow through the game on autopilot.
That said, I have to remind myself this game is clearly aimed at kids. The repetitive design and minimal complexity are intentional to keep it simple and accessible. If you’re looking for intricate level design, clever puzzles, or deep exploration, this is not the game for you. Lego Horizon Adventures is none of those things, and it was never trying to be.
There are plenty of in-game unlockables you can buy using the golden Lego block currency. These range from new outfits for Aloy to different designs and buildings you can customize in the hub. While these options were fun, none of them felt compelling enough to make me want to grind through missions or side quests to unlock them.
REPLAYABILITY - 2
Even with the in-game unlockables, I can confidently say I’d never play Lego Horizon Adventures again. This is definitely a 'one-and-done' game for me. Sure, you could try harder difficulties, but with the repetitive and overly similar level designs, there’s no real incentive for multiple playthroughs of the game in my opinion.
Think of it as a very simplified version of ARPG controls, similar to Diablo or even something like Battle Slug.
BONUS — 2/4
Lego Horizon Adventures has some basic colorblind options, and you can remap the controls, but that’s about it. I was honestly surprised that a Sony-owned studio would offer such limited accessibility features 🤷🏼. Most Sony studio games are known for having really in-depth accessibility options, so it was a bit of a shock to see such a minimal menu here.
OVERALL — 75/100
Lego Horizon Adventures is a really confusing game for me. Who is this for? Who asked for this? Those are the questions that come to mind. I get that it’s a simple, kid-friendly game with a PlayStation IP, but I still find myself asking, “Who wanted this?” And for a full $70 USD AAA price?
The Horizon Games is a series that the industry keeps pushing as a mainstream hit, but it just isn’t. These games have an unfortunate habit of releasing at the worst possible times and quickly fading into obscurity. But with each new release from Guerrilla Games, I’m starting to realize it’s not just the timing... Horizon games aren’t memorable enough to make an impact. It’s like when Hollywood tries to push a new movie star on us and tells us they’re the next big thing, but they never quite catch on.
This game should have been released at $40, tops. No one was asking for a $70 Lego game based on the story of Horizon Zero Dawn or Forbidden West, and I think the Steam player count shows that. Honestly, I think this would have worked better as a fun animated Lego movie featuring the Horizon characters and story.
PROS
✅ Amazing graphics
✅ Fun Cutscenes
✅ Simple and enjoyable gameplay
✅ Performance is excellent
✅ Fun Cutscenes
✅ Simple and enjoyable gameplay
✅ Performance is excellent
CONS
❌ Repetitive levels
❌ Few good bosses
❌ Weapons Have Ammo
❌ Unshockable's are weak
❌ Few good bosses
❌ Weapons Have Ammo
❌ Unshockable's are weak
TLDR: 73/100 (GOOD) Lego Horizon Adventures offers stunning visuals, top-notch character models, and impressive cutscenes that rival Lego movies, but its gameplay is repetitive, and the audio is generic. While the story simplifies Horizon Zero Dawn effectively for a younger audience, the game struggles with variety and replayability. It runs flawlessly with no bugs and delivers a polished experience, but at a steep $70 price tag, it feels more like a missed opportunity. This might have been better suited as an animated Lego movie rather than a full-priced game.
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