It’s always an amazing feeling when you get something new and shiny that you can build yourself. It’s the way I felt when I received the new Ghostbusters Expansion pack for LEGO Dimensions. Being a lifelong fan of building LEGOs, I was amazed at what Traveller’s Tales Games had been able to achieve with their LEGO videogames. With such success, TT Games took a big risk with Dimensions, combing the building of LEGOs with video games is definitely a risk but one I believe has paid off.
I never got a chance to play Dimensions when it originally came out. But now almost a year later I finally got a chance to experience it with the game’s Wave 6 set. The big addition of Wave 6 is Dimensions first big expansion Story Pack, featuring the 2016 Ghostbusters movie. Since this is the game’s first expansion, I was surprised that TT Games went with a movie that has been out for quite a while now that also wasn’t as successful as some may have hoped it would be. Having never seen the movie myself I was more than excited to jump right in without a bias, and I wasn’t disappointed in the least.
The Expansion Story Pack comes with a new portal gate for you to build. This one based on the Chinese restaurant that the new Ghostbusters use as their base of operations and comes with a new vehicle for you to build: a mini Ghostbuster Ecto-1 cruiser which you can upgrade in game and reconstruct into different forms. Unfortunately the new set only comes with one new character, Melissa Mccarthy’s Abby Yates. Although you can play as any of the four characters from the movie I would have been nice to have all four characters to place on the Lego Pad. The other inclusion with Wave 6 is the Adventure Time Level Pack which finally introduces Finn into the game along with two new vehicles.
Sticking to an all female cast I was instantly drawn to each of the four characters in the story with their great personalities. The humor and writing had me laughing out loud more than any other LEGO game thus far. Unlike the LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack game, this story pack does not mix different Dimensions or other LEGO worlds but still requires you to use different character toy tags to solve a lot of the puzzles, some of which are other Wave 6 characters like the A-Team and Mission Impossible’s, Ethan Hunt. For the most part it’s a self contained story but does feature some cool cameos in the background during the various cutscenes, including characters like Scooby-Doo and his gang as well as the police officer from the LEGO Movie. The voice work is also excellent except for Chris Hemsworth’s character, whose Australian accent sounds weird and forced. I can’t say how much it truly followed the movie as I haven’t seen it myself, but the LEGO version is definitely worth experiencing.
The Adventure Time Level Pack is a smaller addition and sees Finn on a quest to find a mysterious book. It’s much shorter than the Ghostbusters Story Pack but a great addition to the game nonetheless. For those who are fans of the show will be happy to know that TT Games have brought the world of Ooo to life and the cartoon’s wacky humor is intact. The world of Ooo is also unique because it doesn’t look like a LEGO world. Nothing in the world of Ooo looks like a LEGO brick. Its colorful destructibles look more detailed and refined and seeing LEGO studs come out of them just seemed a little off. Just looking at a screenshot of it, you would never have thought it was a LEGO game. Finn is also one of the best Toy Tag character so far. He’s able to use his sword for acrobatics like swinging from wall to wall, his power glove allows him to shoot laser beams, and his six different swords give him a huge edge in combat.
The LEGO games haven’t changed much from their initial creation. You run around breaking everything you see to collect LEGO studs to unlock secrets and solve puzzles. One of the unique things about LEGO Dimensions is its use of the LEGO Pad. Much like the core game, the Ghostbuster Story Pack requires you to use the LEGO Pad to solve puzzles and get your character out of traps. This pretty much means you have to have the LEGO Pad and your Toy Tags close, which can be a problem for those sitting further away from their PS4. Some of the puzzles range from having to move your character’s Toy Tag in a specific color order as the LEGO Pad lights up with differnt colors. Another has you traveling to different dimensions by placing your Toy Tag on the three different placement pads on the pad. It may sound like a gimmick, but I thought it added to the depth of the game. Instead of just being for aesthetics, Dimensions forces you to interact with both the physical LEGO Pad and the virtual game adding a great layer of depth.
Outside of just the new story mode, the Ghostbuster 2016 Story Pack also includes a new open world map to explore, full of side quests and side-activities like time trial races. A recent update to the game also added a Battle Arena for you and three of your friends to battle each other in a multitude of game modes like capture the flag and my personal favorite Tic, Tag, Boom, which sees you having to tag your friends with a giant bomb before time runs out passing the bomb onto them.
These battle arenas come packed with power ups to collect, which add a multitude of abilities and traps that you can build using the LEGO studs you collect in the arena. You can also create tower defenses in games like Capture the Flag with gun turrets and pitfalls. The Ghostbuster Story Pack unlocks a destroyed city level as a battle arena map. It’s smaller than some of the other ones but adds a little darker tone to the more fun and colorful LEGO art style. Meanwhile, the Adventure Time Level Pack unlocks a large colorful world that looks like it was ripped right out of Little Big Planet. Unfortunately, TT Games still hasn’t included an online component to the game which means only local multiplayer is possible.
The sixth wave of LEGO Dimensions shows that you can support a game for a long time without needing to release a sequel every year to keep it viable. With the new Ghostbusters Story Pack it’s clear that this is a great alternative to the standard yearly LEGO games we get based on the various properties. LEGO Dimensions is still big investment but one well worth taking.