Lego The Incredibles Nintendo Switch Review: A Suit-able Adventure
Considering that The Incredibles 2 just hit theaters, WB Games thought it would be a novel time to [...]
Considering that The Incredibles 2 just hit theaters, WB Games thought it would be a novel time to celebrate the Parr family in another realm. And it's none other than Lego.
Yep, Travelers Tales is at it again with its latest brick-by-brick adventure, Lego The Incredibles, which covers events from both the original 2004 film and its sequel, as you take control of Mr. Incredible and company while they clean house on villains, including the dastardly Underminer and more.
Before we get started, there are some critics out there that believe the Lego games are starting to run their course. TT did redesign the wheel years back with Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, introducing a larger scope of play and a few new ideas that other games have since kept. And others like Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens have introduced multi-builds, where you can create different items depending on the scenario.
Not Quite the Perfect Hero
So do we see that many changes in Lego The Incredibles? Not really. TT Games follows the routine design here, though that's not entirely a bad thing. It knows what works with Lego games and shifts the Incredibles world around the formula pretty tightly, giving players a lot to do between main missions, co-op play and hidden items that will keep you digging as you unlock secret characters.
A lot of the objectives will be familiar to Lego fans. Collecting bits, for instance, will grant you a gold brick and let you unlock cooler stuff down the line. You can also beat up bad guys to pieces (relax, they just disappear after they're defeated, no muss no fuss) and team up to do come cool Incredible style attacks, giving the game a slight bit of ingenuity.
The gameplay is mostly responsive, though there are moments when you can tell that TT Games could've put in a little more fine tuning. For example, when you try to fly a helicopter and fight more with the controls than you would the objective at hand. There's also moments when your weapons (like Frozone's ice beam) aren't quite as useful as they could be.
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At least the combat's got its heart in the right place, with some modification of the beat-em-up tactics that were introduced in The Lego Ninjago Movie Video Game (say that three times fast) and those team-up moves that make it easy to bowl over foes. I just wish there were some breaks in the set-up, with a cutscene, action scene, cutscene, action scene, etc. TT Games should really try to blend these more so that they're in real time, instead of being like an interactive film. Perhaps with Lego DC Super Villains?
The general design of the game is still great, especially when it comes to entertaining fans of the films along with kids. The game's level design is true to the films, even though the second half does lose a little steam with the way the story goes; and the open world hubs, based on Municiberg and New Urbem, are pretty cool, giving you a lot to mess around with in-between clashes with the bad guys.
And if you don't feel like playing with The Incredibles, there are an abundance of special characters to unlock around its universe, along with the ability to create your own superhero. It's not highly detailed, but it is neat to be able to incorporate them into Brad Bird's world, even if he never really intended it. (I'm sure he'd welcome 'em anyway, right, Brad?)
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Plus, there are surprises. And some of you that are addicted to the Disney universe will like these the most, though I won't spoil them here. But they give the game far more leverage than you may realize, making up for its flaws and generally average formula. And, of course, the comical moments help too, in pure Lego fashion.
Lego The Incredibles' graphics are charming and do a great job replicating the look and flair of the movies. Sure, some of the characters look goofy in Lego form, but that's the way it works sometimes. There are times that some camera issues can arise (something else TT Games may want to look into), but overall this is a good looking game if Lego is your thing.
There are times the voice acting is on the mark too. It doesn't sound like WB Games utilized the original actors that much, but it is nice to hear some dialogue from the films. And the music is enjoyable, keeping up with Michael Giacchino's original score.
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I can see where some people would be worn out on Lego games, thinking that fatigue is setting in and TT Games is just following the same formula with each new theme. (Plus, the fact we're getting another game, Super Villains, in under five months may drive this point home even further for them.) But for fans of The Incredibles, this is pretty much the only game you've got going for you. And fortunately, it's handled nicely in Lego form.
Though it has some off moments with pacing, camera and slight gameplay issues, Lego The Incredibles still has enough to make it worth a recommendation. Plus those bonuses are going to be quite cool for you diehard fans.
So, no, it doesn't reinvent the wheel like previous games did. But Lego The Incredibles does keep it spinning, and that's "totally wicked" enough for me.
WWG's Score: 3.5/5
Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.
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