LEGO The Incredibles

Genre: Open-World 3D Action-Platformer

Players: 1-2 Co-Op (Local Split-Screen)

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Review:

LEGO The Incredibles is a family-friendly Open-World 3D Action-Platformer released in 2018 on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. This is the yet another entry in Traveller’s Tales’ long-running LEGO crossover franchise of family-friendly 3D Action-Platformers, and after many crossover games featuring both Marvel and DC superheroes, they have created a superhero game in Pixar’s Incredibles universe, focusing on the story of both films (in reverse order, oddly), along with cameos from numerous other Pixar films.

While this game of course retains many of the elements the Traveller’s Tales LEGO games are known for, it actually does some really excellent things with the formula as well, and as such I’m surprised that it’s generally considered one of the lesser games in the franchise.

First, I applaud LEGO The Incredibles for being one of the LEGO games that wastes the least amount of time before letting players access its open-world section. You only have to get through the game’s opening mission and then you’re let loose in the game’s Open-World hub city to do as you please.

Team-up abilities are back after being missing since LEGO Marvel’s Avengers, and they’re handled much better here than they were in that game, not merely being a context-sensitive thing, but actually giving you the ability to, for example, team up to use Dash’s superhuman speed to run in Violet’s force field like a hamster in a ball, or to have Bob toss his partner to an out-of reach area.

The combat is also good here, though perhaps not as good as what we saw in The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game. Characters have multiple moves to make combat more interesting, though usually you’ll find yourself resorting to the usual button-mashing.

And probably one of the more interesting new features here is the ability to create your own custom character, complete with the superpowered abilities of your choice, although sadly you can’t mix-and-match individual abilities, instead slotting in a complete ability profile. Still, this means that right from the start, you can quickly create your own custom team with the full gamut of abilities so you’re not constantly being locked-off by tasks requiring a specific ability type to complete.

Beyond that, this is of course more of Traveller’s Tales’ usual LEGO 3D Action-Platformer stuff. Fight a bunch of enemies, destroy everything in the room, and use it to build something to help you solve “puzzles” to progress. Wash, rinse, repeat.

In terms of problems specific to this game, there is a lack of polish in places, and the fact that this game starts with its focus on the worse of the two Incredibles films. Also, it’s disappointing that this game drops the four player co-op of The LEGO Ninjago Movie Video Game and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2, instead going back down to the series’ usual 2-player gameplay. However, I think that overall this is one of the better games in the franchise.

In terms of visuals, LEGO The Incredibles looks great, with a lot of detail in its 3D environments and a lot of mayhem going on on-screen at any given time, as well as some good lighting and shadow effects. I did notice some slowdown in parts though, though oddly I didn’t seem to have a problem when speeding through the Open World areas as Dash.

In terms of sound, LEGO The Incredibles of course makes liberal use of the films’ excellent soundtrack. However, because this game expands a bit on the plot of the films, you have voice-alikes for most of the cast, though some of the films’ characters are still voiced by their original actors. For the most part, the voice-alikes are decent enough that it’s hard to tell the difference.

Is the Traveller’s Tales LEGO formula wearing thin by this point in the series? Absolutely. But that’s not really the fault of LEGO The Incredibles, which actually does a lot of things right for this franchise. There are a few issues overall here, as noted above. But overall, I think this is a pretty excellent entry in the franchise overall that pushes it forward, albeit not so much that those who have grown tired of LEGO games will change their minds about it here.

tl;dr – LEGO The Incredibles is yet another game in Traveller’s Tales’ family-friendly franchise of LEGO Open-World 3D Action-Platformers, this time with its focus on Pixar’s superhero franchise. This game doesn’t dramatically change the usual Traveller’s Tales formula, but it gets a lot of things right, such as its custom character creator, its early access to the game’s Open-World, and its useful new co-op abilities. I don’t think this game will win over anyone who’s sick of the LEGO franchise at this point, but I do think it’s one of the more underrated games in that franchise.

Grade: B

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