‘Horizon Zero Dawn’ has made a massive comeback over the past year with the release of ‘Forbidden West’ on PC. It is virtually only yesterday that ‘Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered’ was released on PlayStation 5 and PC. Where else could Aloy possibly travel next? It could be into the lovable world of those wonderful bricks that are great to build with, painful to step on, and iconic.’ LEGO Horizon Adventures’ takes a huge leap by taking the super intimidating world of Guerilla Game’s Horizon series and its colossal mechanical creatures and shrinking them into a much cuter, family-friendly package on PlayStation 5, PC and Nintendo Switch. 

LEGO Horizon Adventures reimagines the gorgeous, realistic visuals of the Horizon series with the lovable little brick people and machines. Working closely with LEGO and with the blessing of Guerilla Games, Studio Gobo has built a familiar world in a shiny new package. This lovely little package is a lighthearted, playful take on the far-future, post-post-apocalyptic world. While it has the quintessential marks of one of the many incredible franchise-inspired LEGO games, LEGO Horizon Adventures tries something different, which could be a promising look into the future of LEGO games, which hopefully will explore even more Sony IPs. 

LEGO is well-known for its adorable and strangely almost frame-by-frame (with a few bananas and random gags thrown in for good measure) likenesses to scenes from series like ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Harry Potter’. Building up Horizon brick by brick was not something I was expecting, but seeing the Sony PlayStation title in a whole new light brought an unexpected amount of joy while still being action-packed enough to test my might on the PlayStation 5. LEGO Horizon Adventures takes quite a few liberties with the story. We again join Aloy on her journey to discover her origins and achieve her destiny – saving the Earth from a corrupting force threatening what remains of the new world. 

Taking Horizon’s fast-paced, gadget-heavy combat alongside a reasonable amount of platforming and exploration and fusing it with the trademark LEGO humour we all know and love. The style of LEGO blends incredibly well. From my first outing with Aloy’s mentor and father figure, Rost, I found the Sacred Lands incredibly beautiful. Studio GOBO made the LEGO equivalent visuals glorious; from stunning rushing brick water to lush-looking forest environs, snow-touched mountaintops and scorching deserts. As described early on in the game, it’s “beautiful and totally not-boring nature”. I was pleasantly surprised at how incredible the wilderness looked, topped off by the adorable, expressive beasties and buddies. 

As someone who played Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered incredibly recently, I found it great to see a new spin on the characters; it lovingly pokes fun, takes the usual fairly serious Aloy, and makes her a cheery, curious soul. Joined by her allies, Erend, Varl and surprisingly, old lady Teersa, our heroes must explore various regions while fighting through machines and the sun-loving cult, the Eclipse. The entire LEGO Horizon Adventures can be played solo or with a friend online, with online and couch co-op options.

I do wish that when playing a single player, a companion would join to run around and banter with the endearing LEGO versions of characters with super cute quirks; Varl’s love for comic books and Erend’s love for food and Teersa is spry and battle-ready old-lady. Canonically I believe none of the above was addressed in the leading franchise, but I am still on board with it. To top it off, each companion can be decked out in unlockable outfits from the Horizon series, a few Sony-inspired outfits, including Ratchet and Rivet and fits from LEGO Ninjago and City. For friends who want to play crossplay between PlayStation 5 and PC, the bad news is there’s no option to do so remotely, meaning, if you want to journey with a friend, you’ll need to get a friend over or peer pressure your friends to buy a PlayStation 5 or decent PC. 

Aloy and friends will explore each region and encounter the Eclipse clan and many mechanical monsters. The blend of action and adventure strikes the perfect balance. Horizon has a decent amount of gadgets like tripwires and various blast bombs. LEGO Horizon Adventures gave me more than I expected, with additional gizmos such as Blast Boots for super jumping, gravity bombs and a bomb-basic hotdog cart.

Each character has access to different powered-up weapons throughout the journey, including elemental bows for Aloy, spicy spears for Varl, hectic hammers for Erend and, for some reason, chicken and shark bombs for Teersa. Using the environment to my advantage added some extra flair, with clever ways to use fire barrels to set enemies ablaze and traps to lure creatures to their doom. 

The super simplified combat mechanics are more straightforward than Horizon but still give that nice little kick of the Nora warrior experience. Aloy’s ever-useful Focus device can exploit creature weaknesses and take advantage of the land. Aloy and the gang have access to extra skills and upgrades at the literal Skill Tree in the hub area, Mother’s Heart, to buff up the squad further. There were a few downsides in my experience.

While Aloy can sneak into the grass to hide, turning into the grass while weaving through it, there isn’t much emphasis at all on stealth. Combat encounters feel repetitive, and some levels are uneventful or transition abruptly. Likewise, levels can feel the same after a while. LEGO Horizon Adventures is pride in wiping out hordes of machines with a swift arrow strike to a Watcher’s face, throwing various bombs at big baddies and exploring – -like platforming to reach a Tallneck. It’s good, chaotic, and sometimes calming, casual fun.

Like any LEGO title, it prides itself on being family-friendly. I was pleasantly surprised by the difficulty of the options on offer here. Story difficulty allows for super speedy, one-shot kills of enemies while the upper difficulties, Scout, Adventurer, Machine Hunter, and Hero, amp up the difficulty several notches. I played mainly in Adventurer mode, which felt balanced but was a lot more of a challenge than expected.

Enemies spawn in large groups, launching plenty of projectiles and doing hefty damage on them. For Horizon veterans, Machine Hunter and Hero difficulties test your hero’s mettle. There’s a reasonably customisable slew of accessibility options from player invulnerability to altering damage. On any difficulty, there are enough cultists and machines at any given time to get chaotic. Still, with clever tactics, getting that killing shot is all too satisfying, sending enemies bursting into a pile of studs. 

The soundtrack borrows little elements from Horizon, with a more spirited, upbeat feel. It feels unique, with a childlike quality that can be cheery, chill or sometimes, even synthy. Of course, silly sound effects lend themselves to the gameplay, adding a few great slapstick moments alongside recognisable Horizon cues. Some of the star-studded cast of Horizon return, with Ashly Burch reprising her role of Aloy, albeit a lot more charismatic and 

There is some character narration & NPCs full of voice lines and a star-studded returning cast, including Aloy herself, Ashly Burch and JB Blanc returning as Rost, lending his voice talents for some excellent narration. Unfortunately, the late great Lance Reddick couldn’t reprise Sylens, but the voice actor did a great job in the same way. All in all, I laughed out loud so many times. The humour caught me completely off guard in the best way and in a way only LEGO can. 

Game options are abundant. Graphics can be set to favour performance or fidelity, and both work a treat. The game also features a 4K capability to bring the bricks to life. Coupled with super-quick load times, the game ran flawlessly and looked just as good for me. DualSense haptic feedback adds even more to the experience, feeling the hefty weight of losing an arrow or shooting an explosive object. It’s a short game that doesn’t overstay its welcome. It has plenty of options to customise Mother’s Heart, tackle challenges, and free runs for extra playtime. 

LEGO Horizon Adventures is a charming, refreshing, fun spin on the Horizon series. While not a faithful retelling, it brings a cheerful take on Aloy’s journey, turning her into a curious, lighthearted soul. Perfect for LEGO and Horizon fans, new and old, looking for a playful adventure with a classic Horizon twist.

Written by: Yasmin Noble