LEGO Battles Review
Written By Gaetano Prestia
TT Games have done an outstanding job with the LEGO franchise. Over the past couple of years they’ve taken some of the worlds most recognizable and beloved movie licenses and turned them into charming and witty LEGO game iterations. The likes of LEGO Star Wars and LEGO Batman surprised critics and gamers alike with their engaging gameplay and great humour. Now we get LEGO Battles, a DS-exclusive title that is essentially a handheld version of StarCraft. It’s a handheld RTS title with simple controls, which is exactly what the LEGO games are known for – simple fun.
The basic gameplay fundamentals associated with most RTS games are here. You build to create units and search to find resources to make those buildings. Some buildings make different units, some buildings are used for defensive purposes while others are used to allow for more resource capacity. Each LEGO group has their own hero-type character and you must build up your army to combat enemies and protect your part of the map.
There’s the main storyline mode, which has you controlling one of six races (king, wizard, pirate, Imperial, spaceman, and alien). Each race is paired up (spaceman and alien, for example) and a unique story is told for each pair. It is often important to beat the game with one race before unlocking specific parts of another races storyline. This adds a bit of extra incentive to the experience, especially if you want to play through it again. The stories all run parallel with each other, so it never feels like one story is being told randomly and that another has absolutely no meaning within the confounds of the narratives.
You can also play in a free-for-all mode that allows you to choose your side and opponent. It’s essentially the same as the storyline mode but with no plot whatsoever. If you’re going to play this mode you may as well just give the storyline a go, as at least that adds a bit of back-story and history to the paired races. However, the free-for-all mode lets you play one race against another that wouldn’t normally go up against each other in the storyline mode. There’s no online play, which is really disappointing, although you can team-up with a friend over local wireless multiplayer.
The gameplay holds up really well, with plenty of the memorable LEGO humour present and some really solid controls. The gameplay is a mixture of touch-screen and button controls, of which are implemented really well for the most part. The developer has done a wonderful job of creating an engaging RTS experience on a handheld with restricted controls and it has taken full advantage of the touch-screen, which is really encouraging. There’s plenty to unlock as you play through the game and it gets progressively harder as you progress.
However, there are some slight shortcomings. The friendly and enemy AI could both be improved on, with some serious pathing issues that seem to plague so many console and handheld RTS titles these days. You might experience trouble directing your units around specific areas and obstacles and any unintentional errors may severely hurt your chances of success in the title. Furthermore, it’s a bit too easy to finish and might not satisfy hardcore RTS gamers who will probably be able to dispose of most of the enemies quite easily.
The touch-screen controls also have a few problems. The game often fails to distinguish between a tap and a flick, which distinguishes between moving a unit and deselecting a unit respectively. This is disappointing, as the controls are really easy to grasp and fun to play once you get the hang of it, but glitches hinder the experience overall.
The Final Verdict
Despite some shortcomings, LEGO Battles is a surprisingly engaging and enjoyable RTS title. It’s not very challenging but gets harder as you progress and should please fans of previous LEGO titles. There’s a lot to get through and plenty of value, with accessible controls and plenty to unlock. The LEGO-game humour remains intact and the developer has done a great job bringing an RTS game to a handheld.
Gameplay
7.5/10
Despite some minor issues, it’s fun for the most part and very accessible. RTS games play the best on PC, but this is a game made specifically for the DS and it plays like an RTS DS game should.
Graphics
7.0/10
Bright colours and lots of nice little detail. This feels like a LEGO game, with plenty of humour and LEGO references throughout.
Sound
7.5/10
A surprisingly epic soundtrack.
Value
7.8/10
No online multiplayer is a letdown, but a decent amount to get through in the single-player campaign.
Overall
7.5/10
Submitted by Gaetano
29/06/2009
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