Game preview: Lego Horizon Adventures

With the release of Astrobot on PS5 earlier this year, it appears as if Sony wants to rebuff its game lineup towards family-friendly titles. Aside from Astrobot, parents with young children can also buy the upcoming Lego Horizon Adventures as a Christmas present this year.

Lego Horizon Adventures is a family game based on Horizon: Zero Dawn, which was originally released in 2017. It's a more kid-friendly retelling of the first game featuring a more upbeat version of Aloy, and it's less violent. 

Techday NZ was lucky enough to be invited to Sony New Zealand to play a small preview of Lego Horizon Adventures. We only got to play the game for around one hour, but we experienced the tutorial and a bit of the couch co-op action.

Before you are able to play the co-op mode, only one player is able to go through the game's tutorial. Aloy will have some of the same abilities and weapons that she has in the main games. At the beginning of Lego Horizon Adventures, Aloy has a bow and arrow, climb cliffs, jump, and use her focus. 

To use the bow and arrow, players just need to hold down on the square button, and an arrow will pop up. To shoot, you let go of the square button, and the arrow will point in the direction you want. Using Aloy's focus also allows her to see the weak spots of the robotic animals that roam this strange futuristic Earth. 

Much like the main Horizon games, several pieces of the robots will fall off if you shoot your arrows correctly at their weak spots. It goes without saying that Lego Horizon Adventures is much easier than the main games, so it should be accessible for kids and parents.

When you finish the short tutorial as Aloy, a second player can jump in. The first partner Aloy has is Rost, who was her mentor and father-like figure. Rost pretty much has the same abilities as Aloy, and killing robots and enemies is far easier with a friend at your side. 

Later on in the preview build, Aloy and Rost gain access to newer abilities. My favourite ability in the preview was collecting the blast boots, I think they were called. These boots literally glow fire, and you can somersault-kick enemies with ease using them. The only downside is that you can only use the boots for a limited number of times, so it's best saved for special occasions. 

Graphically, Lego Horizon Adventures is arguably the best-looking Lego game that has ever been made. We were told the development team wanted to make this game look as impressive as the previously released Lego movies that came out a few years ago. 

It's also worth mentioning the levels in Lego Horizon Adventures are much smaller than in the normal Horizon games. It's not as open as the normal games, as the levels are much more linear and self-contained.

There's not much else I can say about Lego Horizon Adventures because we were only allowed to play it for less than 60 minutes. From what I have played so far, though, the game is looking like a fun time for younger players. The game will be released worldwide on November 14, 2024, for PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch. Look out for our full review of the game very soon!