Lego Universe may be the wrong game for hardcore- or for experienced gamers, but it's definitely a great MMORPG, which provides younger gamers with a great gaming experience.
I have two sons age 6 and 9 and for them and my inner child this is a great game. It has simple combat in a refreshing way where you just attack and different animations takes place pending what weapon you use. In other more adult MMOGs you have to press a sequence of attacks, but the end result is the same and for the youngest this is strait forward game play. The quests are generally easy and have only a few words of text you can read rather than a wall of text that you will find in the adult MMOGs. Should you not read the text then you still have a 95% chance of completing the missions, meaning that Dad does not need to be called to help very often. For those who may never have build with LEGO bricks there is a fairly gentle introduction to play as you progress. Resent patches have removed some of the bugs found during founders release and with more content every month we are looking forward to our adventures that is not just not set in D&D or some post atomic war. Here you have Pirates, Ninjas, Knights and Space faring mini-figs! The developers can really rocket you to any world you can imagine! Some of the player base has already created superb properties (this is your own land in the game) where they have created some amazing structures. They have also made them interactive using the behaviors in the game. Just going around and visiting properties makes for hours of fun that changes all the time, I can think of no other game where you have anywhere near the same level of creativity. We all think it is really cool and we are working on or own property in between questing. One thing I have noticed as a parent is my children's approach to the game, they will make multiple characters so they can join each fraction in the game and they don't take the linear approach to quest completion that I do, so the current content is still plenty for them where as I have completed a bigger portion. The chat in the game is heavily moderated so while it can be a little hard to get your words across as an adult, you can be safe to know that your child can remain a child in this online world. As a parent this is a big plus! All in all this is a super MMOG for the whole family. For the 30 year old hardcore MMOG gamer this game will be a little light at least until LEGO universe gets more content and with so many different themes LEGO offers (Even without using there IP's) the future may be a little blocky but very bright for this game.
Pros: You can make anything with Lego bricks collected in the game then bring your creations to life, 24/7 human moderation to keep things clean, focus on creativity, solid gameplay, original story, not another WoW clone, best parental controls I've ever seen in a game, cheaper monthly fee compared to other games, trusted brand
Cons: Currently feels light on content but new content gets released every month as part of your subscription cost
Bottom Line: If you have kids, they'll love it. If you have ever enjoyed Lego bricks at any point in your life, Brick Build alone is enough to go out and buy this game today. I'm mostly a FPS and RPG kind of gamer in my early 20s, but this game has me hooked. Anybody I've had play with me has found something they enjoy. My younger cousins love the gameplay and factions, my family loves the original story about saving Imagination by being creative, and I love the BRICK BUILD! What if you could own nearly every single Lego piece ever made, have as many as you wanted, in any color you wanted, put them together any way you wanted, bring them to life, then share your creations with the world? That's exactly what a section of this game has, it's AMAZING! And that's in ADDITION to the story, mini-games, racing, factions, items, and boss fights! No other kid-friendly MMO out there has all this right now, and as an adult gamer, I'm glad I gave this one a shot as I'll be playing it for a long time to come.
Recommended for Lego fans and families who want parent and children to be able to play a MMO together without either being completely bored. The few foibles in the game are mostly covered up by the quality of the game play, depth of the mini games and building mode, and similarities to the popular Lego series by TT Games.
The LEGO MMO has many kinks, quirks and weird design choices at the moment, but if you approach the game with patience and curiosity, there's plenty to enjoy. Just don't expect a virtual version of LEGO bricks just yet.
As it is now, LEGO Universe starts as a pleasant distraction but promptly ferries you straight into a fierce, ludicrous grind that leads nowhere. That's one brick wall I could do without.
I am a parent and new to MMORPGs. My 7-year old son and I play the TT Lego games on Xbox and DS, and of course buy and build the toys. After 4 days playing online it has been nothing short of spectacular. The plotline/story makes a lot of sense and is even intriguing. Flying around on your rocket you visit shard worlds of the Lego Universe and defeat the evil forces that are trying to kill imagination. There is always something to do, or some achievement / rank up you are working towards. Collecting blocks, taming pets and customizing your 4 mini-figures is the best part for us. It took 3 hours to nearly complete the first couple worlds and join a faction for each character. 16 hours in 4 days and we have barely scratched the surface of what this game has to offer. Itâ
While not without it's flaws (like any brand new MMORPG), Lego Universe is wonderful game for both young and old alike. Young kids will like the bright colors and "simple" combat system, while older folks will enjoy collecting all the items and achievements in the game. Unfortunately, at the moment it will only take you about month to complete pretty much everything the game has to offer, but I'm expecting new content in the future.
Lego Universe Early Thoughts: The game itself is a lot what I expected: It's EXTREMELY MMO-Lite. But the presentation is very fun and "cute", and the game play mechanics are fairly solid. There's a lot more focus on doing other little things like exploring than there is on straight up combat (Combat is probably the "weakest"mechanic, but extremely simple). The boards have little flags and secrets to discover, as well as story boards and mini viewfinders to find that give story and point out locations of hidden things. There are also races, and a lot of mini-games, like the car racing. I assume one of the biggest draws will be the "build your own crap" mode which is done nicely - You unlock little islands off of each land, and can build there with the pieces you find. Other players can give your land a rating,so it's easy to find the best ones to go check out which is a cool featuretoo. You unlock SCADS of bricks and little mini sets to build with, so it seems like if just letting your imagination go wild and throwing stuff together on your island is fun, you could do that for hours and hours. You even unlock basic scripting options, so you can have your island interact (or not) in certain ways, which is cool. Again, I've barely scratched the surface, but it seems incredibly deep and engaging for those who always have wanted to basically have an infinte amount of Legos at their disposal tobuild their own little town. You tame "pets" which are painfully cute, ranging from dogs and cats to Buffalo and crabs. They help you access areas you couldn't before, as well as dig up treasure. The taming mechanism is a mini game where you look at a model and choose pieces that go in it from a pile to the side. It's a different way to do it, and a couple of them were tricky. There's a sense of humor, as I've already encountered an Anchorman reference (Someone's going to a Pants Party) - and there are funny character names like "DJ Studd" And "Kant Dance". The game doesn't have a TON of content at launch, I think there are 5 lands or so, though the 6th is already in the game and a lot of characters makereference to it, so hopefully that will continue. It seems to be pretty bug free, and overall, I am enjoying it. My biggest complaint is inventory space which is a problem. You get and unlock TONS of cool gear to wear, but you can't keep hardly any of it due to limited backpack space. If you've liked any of the Lego games in the past, then you'd probably like it. It's certainy not a "deep MMO experience" (communicating with other players is infact quite difficult, as Lego tries very hard to avoid any sort of bad presscoming from "MrPointyPants" talking to little girls, but you can get around it for the people you are friends with pretty easily. For me, I am very happy with it so far and have no doubt it will give me atleast a month's worth of entertainment. Subscriptions are $10 a month afterthat, and we'll see how much they talk about adding content in the future. If you're looking to get a kid into RPG's/MMO's or just love Legos the way I do, I think it's well worth your gaming dollar. The suggested age range is 10 and up, btw - for those with kids considering playing with them.
Woot! Finnally a good Lego game!
The game looks brilliant, the gameplay is simple, building is simple, and it's easy to get into.
Gripes - How do you review someones imagination, kinda tough.
Monster grinding is too repetetive.
So, it's basically Babies first MMORPG. Theres no RPG elements so youngsters can easily upgrade themselves instead of being confused about the difference between the "Agility" and "Speed" stat.
Babies first MMORPG. Simple!
This game was really fun and interesting when I first got it. However once I'd completed all the quests and done everything there was to do, I felt indescribably bored. Apart from building, which is nowhere near as good as it is in Lego's digital designer, there really is nothing to do except try to collect bricks. Overall, Lego Universe seems good to start with but then just peters out into boredom.
SummaryWith a creative and building focus, LEGO Universe invites players to explore, battle, make friends, and flex their imaginations with the brick in a vibrant online world. Developed by The LEGO Group and NetDevil, LEGO Universe is a family-friendly online game, appropriate for players aged eight and above. The LEGO brick lies at the center...