LEGO has long been a staple of imaginative play, both virtual and physical. With the upcoming release of LEGO Horizon Adventures, the iconic brick-building experience takes a significant leap into an expansive and vibrant world. Blending exploration and character customization, LEGO Horizon Adventures promises to enhance the classic LEGO experience and offer a fresh take on the Horizon narrative and dynamic gameplay.
During my hour-long preview, it was clear that at the heart of LEGO Horizon Adventures is its stunningly crafted world and immaculate attention to detail. I was immediately transported into the vibrant universe of Horizon. In keeping with the LEGO game tradition, as I traversed this colourful world, I encountered various interactive elements, hidden secrets, and collectibles that firmly reminded me this is a LEGO game through and through.
The world feels alive, with NPCs going about their activities and walking around Mother’s Heart as I built it up, adding depth to the village. Engaging with the world—specifically, the community board, which became available near the end of my playtime—gave me various quests to complete, with rewards of golden bricks. These golden bricks are used to expand and build Mother’s Heart by adding new buildings such as upgrade stores, costume shops, and habitats for the denizens of Mother’s Heart. I was intrigued to see how Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo managed to merge the worlds of LEGO and Horizon.
“LEGO Horizon Adventures captures what makes LEGO so beloved: creativity, exploration, and storytelling.”
“At Guerrilla, we have always been huge fans of LEGO,” explained design director at Guerrilla, Stephane Varrault. “For instance, the very first machines of Horizon Zero Dawn were actually prototyped with Duplo bricks. Many people here at Guerrilla are also deeply invested in the LEGO community. They attend conventions and have connections with the LEGO master builders.”
This led me to discover my favourite aspect of LEGO Horizon Adventures: the extensive character and world customization. Players can create their own unique LEGO avatars using a wide range of LEGO Horizon sets and other well-known LEGO franchises like Ninjago and LEGO City. This feature extends to the customizable homes in Mother’s Heart as well. While I didn’t unlock any of these extra sets during my playthrough, it looks like they add another layer of humour that is well-established in the LEGO games universe.
The game introduces an engaging storyline that blends humour, adventure, and heartfelt moments with a twist. While it is, from my experience, the Horizon Zero Dawn story retold, it’s done in that fun, unique way that only LEGO can achieve. Although some key moments are altered to keep the tone light-hearted, the new elements fit perfectly and make the story more family-friendly.
While the Horizon universe is known for its expansive open world, LEGO Horizon Adventures offers more of a bite-sized level interpretation. Even so, I found the quests to be well-paced, providing a balanced mix of exploration and action. It can’t be overstated that the narrative is filled with comedic dialogue and whimsical situations, capturing the playful spirit of LEGO—some of the most humorous moments I’ve seen in a LEGO game yet.
I asked Stephane Varrault, a game designer at Guerrilla, how they managed to blend the mature narrative of Horizon Zero Dawn into a more family-friendly experience. “There’s been great work by the writers at Studio Gobo, especially. We were lucky to have writers who are very familiar with writing for LEGO, whether it’s like The LEGO Movie or using those rich, multi-layered narrative techniques. That was truly part of the appeal right from the start. Even in the prototypes of the game, there was always that conversation that was a bit funny, with different layers of understanding.”
The Lead Engineer at Studio Gobo also chimed in, explaining, “I mean, that has been a really amazing part, just being on the outside of that, but being in the dev studio. At the initial point, we’d get the narrative lines through, then they’d be voice-acted and fully integrated into cinematics. Every time we got an upgrade of those scenes, the studio was just rolling around in laughter. It was really fun.”
“Visually, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a feast for the eyes, combining the signature blocky aesthetic of LEGO with stunning graphics that bring the world to life.”
As with any LEGO game, the multiplayer aspect is a major feature, and LEGO Horizon Adventures is no different. The game shines with its multiplayer options, allowing players to play cooperatively either on the same couch or online, with the second player taking on the role of a sidekick. However, the second player has their own unique items and weapons, making them feel just as important as Aloy. Since co-op had not been featured in any previous Horizon game, this marks a first for the series, and I wanted to know if this was a core pillar of the game’s development.
“Co-op’s been here right from the start,” explained Stephane Varrault. “Again, it’s that idea that we wanted a game for a broad audience. We wanted a game that felt welcoming for everybody in your home. If you just have one TV and one couch, but let’s say you have family and friends around, it’s always better if you can play on the same screen at the same time.”
“I remember at the very, very start of prototyping this game,” added David Wilson. “One of the first things we put in was the co-op experience. It was really important to us. Even when it was just a giant flat plane, there were still two characters there.”
Visually, LEGO Horizon Adventures is a feast for the eyes. The game combines the signature blocky aesthetic of LEGO with stunning graphics that bring the world to life. Each environment is rendered in vibrant colours, and the attention to detail is impressive—from the texture of the bricks to the intricate designs of enemies and characters. The animation is smooth, with characters moving fluidly, and the whimsical animations during interactions and cutscenes add a layer of charm.
The visual style perfectly complements the playful nature of LEGO, making it enjoyable for players of all ages. Studio Gobo and Guerrilla Games have successfully captured the look and feel of LEGO movies, and David Wilson from Studio Gobo provided some insight into how this process worked.
“We had those aspirations to really look like a LEGO Movie,” David Wilson explained. “What we needed to do was make that happen in real time, because it’s not just an animated scene—you’re controlling these characters. They need to be able to react to everything. So the animation teams and tech animators did a great job exploring how we could bring these stop-motion elements into the game. For example, hair pieces are swapped out rather than deformed, and we kept everything down to being brick-built. I think the quality of that has really shown in the final product.”
“Players can create their own unique LEGO avatars using a wide range of LEGO Horizon sets and other well-known LEGO franchises like Ninjago and LEGO City.”
LEGO Horizon Adventures captures what makes LEGO so beloved: creativity, exploration, and storytelling. With its expansive world and rich character customization, the game offers a unique blend of gameplay that appeals to a broad audience. LEGO Horizon Adventures stands out as downright charming. I’m excited to see where this LEGO journey takes the Horizon franchise as a whole. Stephane Varrault from Guerrilla had a humble perspective on the franchise’s growth.
“What’s really striking is the level of maturity that the Horizon franchise has reached. We’ve only had about seven years since the first Horizon game came out, and in that short time frame, the franchise has sold 32 million copies, which is crazy if you think about it. Today, for me, and again, looking back at Horizon Adventures, it’s a privilege to work with a world and setting that allows you to create multiple titles. Often, when you build a world in this industry, you make one game with it, and even succeeding with that is a miracle and a thing of beauty. To have a world that can deliver new experiences—that’s really the key takeaway.”
