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LEGO Battles Review
Forget Star Wars and Batman. True LEGO fans know that minifigs are plenty of fun without flashy licensed characters. At least that's what TT Games is banking on with LEGO Battles. The game succeeds in translating the distinctive characteristics of prominent playsets into unique, fun, and accessible play.
One of the biggest perks of LEGO Battles is the sheer bang you get for your buck. Featuring LEGO Castle, Pirates, and Space, along with a mishmash of other themes and situations, the game boasts six story modes (topping off at 70 levels), collectibles, free play, and multi-card functionality for you and two friends. The result is a long and surprisingly fulfilling game experience.
There isn't much of a story to follow, but diversity between playsets keeps things interesting. When playing as knights your task is to defend your kingdom from a skeleton army, forming an alliance with dwarfs along the way. Pirates take to the seas, forgoing smaller skirmishes for large battles on open water.
LEGO Battles is extremely easy to control and play, abolishing the learning curve usually associated with RTS titles. The pace perfectly eases players into the practice of commanding troops, managing resources, and expanding strongholds. Gameplay progresses in an encouraging manner as well. When you begin the Castle campaign, your troops are comprised of basic guardsmen. The next level introduces a knight on horseback, the next an archer, and eventually you are using catapults and cannons. The enemies also diversify as you progress, which should present a challenge – but more often than not it doesn't.
Many layers of strategy are integrated into play, but you are rarely forced to use them. Why take the time to map patrol patterns for each individual minifig when you could instead harvest early and then rely on overwhelming numbers? You won't often lose. That's the biggest flaw of the game; LEGO Battles won't offer the slightest challenge to an avid RTS fan. But overall I can't complain too much. I had fun, got in a few laughs, and kept coming back for more. Sometimes that's enough.
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