The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game

Genre: Open-World 3D Action-Platformer

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game (wow, what a title…) is a family-friendly Open-World 3D Action-Platformer released in 2017 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is yet another game in Traveller’s Tales’ long-running LEGO crossover franchise of family-friendly 3D Action-Platformers, with this one of course being based on The LEGO Ninjago Movie (not the TV series, which the film is only very loosely based on).

Once again, the core gameplay remains much the same as the other Traveller’s Tales LEGO games – fight some enemies, do a little platforming, break everything in the environment, and at times use jumping blocks from the stuff you broke to build something to solve a “puzzle” (and I use that word lightly). On that note, this game once again uses the “multi-build” system first introduced in LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

However, while much of this game is “more of the same”, there are a few new elements that have been added this time around. This game takes the “ninja” thing to heart, really focusing on adding some depth to the combat, and it’s much appreciated – players will now zip from enemy to enemy in combat, and will occasionally have to shake things up using a few different types of attack to get past more difficult enemies.

In addition, there’s a new skill tree system called “Ninjanuity tokens” that allows players to upgrade their abilities as they see fit throughout the course of their adventure, an excellent addition. What’s more, where prior Traveller’s Tales LEGO games featured 2-player co-op, The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game allows up to four players to join in the mayhem, which combines with the combat to make this feel almost like an Arcade Brawler at times.

The presentation is on point here too, with big, detailed 3D environments with a lot going on at any given time, big explosions with lots of LEGO pieces, all backed by a nice, cinematic soundtrack. And rather than just using voice clips pulled from the film, this game mostly uses voice-alikes for its characters, allowing the game to tell a more expanded version of the film’s story. These voice actors aren’t quite on par with the original voice actors (I mean, how are you gonna’ replace the likes of Jackie Chan?), but they’re decent enough.

Overall, I think the changes made to the combat in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game make it one of the stronger entries in the LEGO franchise overall. It’s not a major enough change to make this game escape the “yet another LEGO game” complaint, but anyone who’s not sick of the franchises many iterations over the years will likely find this to be well worth playing.

tl;dr – The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game is yet another game in Traveller’s Tales’ family-friendly franchise of LEGO Open-World 3D Action-Platformers. This entry in the franchise makes some strong additions to the combat that really bring this game into its own, making it one of the better games in the LEGO franchise, though not so different from prior games that it’s likely to attract those who grew sick of the series prior to this.

Grade: B

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