LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES PREVIEW

If there is one blockbuster game that was announced at Summer Game Fest that doesn’t seem to be getting much attention, it’s Lego Horizon Adventures, which is likely due to the challenge of marketing the game to dual audiences.

On one hand, you have the more casual demographic that enjoys Lego, and on the other hand there is the more hardcore PlayStation gamer and the more serious tone behind the post apocalyptic tale of Horizon. Here are five reasons that we are excited for it.

TOP FIVE REASONS TO BE EXCITED FOR LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES

1. Lego Horizon Adventures is the first Lego game developed by AAA studio. Most Lego games of the past have been developed by Travellers Tales, TT Games, or a collaboration with small indie studios. Lego Horizon Adventures is being developed by Guerilla Games, creators of the IP, in conjunction with Studio GOBO, who have mostly been known for assisting on other games including Hogwarts Legacy, For Honour and Disney Infinity. Guerrilla Games have a very solid track record with their last two games Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West scoring 88 and 89 respectively. There is no reason to believe that they will allow their name or IP to become tarnished and we shouldn’t expect anything less than greatness. It will also be interesting to see what new ideas they can bring to the Lego formula

2. Lego Horizon Adventures is a feast for the eyes. The visuals, the stop motion animation style, but also the entire world of Lego Horizon Adventures is made up of bricks! Guerrilla games have been known for making eye popping visuals dating back to the PS2, and when talking about Lego Horizon Adventures after a hands on preview, PlayStation Access said “it’s one of the best looking video games they have ever seen”.

3. Lego Horizon Adventures looks to provide a level of depth that Lego games have not seen before. Most Lego games are targeted towards a casual demographic with gameplay that sacrifices depth for fun and accessibility for everyone. Vinny Caravella from the Nextlander podcast got a chance to play the game early and said “the gameplay is deeper than he thought it was going to be.” He also talked about how the combat had a depth that was trying to emulate the style of Horizon that features the targeting of weak spots on the enemies, which I think a lot of people were wondering after watching the trailer and trying to understand how the core formula of the series would translate to Lego. In addition to this the game also features upgrade system and base building.

4. Lego Horizon Adventures is clearly going for a more playful tone. This change in tone is a great way to bridge the gap with parents who love PlayStation and its exclusive games, but also want to share that love with their kids. Lego Horizon Adventures looks to be the perfect game for PlayStation parents to play with their kids thanks to the couch co-op mode as well as its availability on Nintendo Switch.

5. One of the biggest reasons we’re excited is because of the possibilities that Lego Horizon Adventures could open up. The hope is that with success, we will continue to see PlayStation experiment with some of their other IP in interesting ways. 2024 was a bit of lull for PlayStation Studios releases. Earlier this year, we ranked PlayStstion Studios and in 2024, only one of the Top 8 studios released a game and that would be the upcoming Astro Bot from Team Asobi. If you want to see the full list check here. Partnering with smaller studios to develop smaller titles that are less of a financial risk like Lego Horizon adventures could not only keep more people employed, but could boost sales with more consistent release cadences.

   
   

Lego Horizon Adventures is a big step for PlayStation. It’s taking a risk with a very important and successful IP. It’s also a pretty big deal that this will be launching on the Nintendo Switch. Lego Horizon Adventures might have to walk so that other PlayStation IP can run. It would be great to see Lego God of War, Lego Uncharted as well as the unlimited possibilities to expand their IP to other audiences in other genres.