LEGO Dimensions mixes multiple franchises into one game

LEGO Dimensions is one of the most unique games I have ever played. Where else can you see Batman teaming up with Gandalf and more? Previous LEGO games were only based on one movie franchise. Here in LEGO Dimensions, several movies, TV shows and comic book heroes comes together to interact with one another in a way we have not seen before. The story of the game sees an evil villain by the name of Lord Vortech wrecking havoc on LEGO Multiverses. He does this by recruiting all of the villains from the respective franchises and this causes all of the characters to panic. To restore the franchises the way they are meant to be, Batman, Gandalf and Wildstyle from The LEGO Movie have to team up to take down the villains and Lord Vortech. Their adventure takes them into many different franchises such as The Simpsons, Doctor Who and their own universes too. The main story of LEGO Dimensions is one of the most unique concepts I have seen in the video game. It's quite entertaining to see the likes of Batman, Gandalf and Wildstyle teaming up to take down the likes of Lex Luthor, The Joker and more. What is even cooler is playing through all of the unique levels. One of my favourite levels in the entire game is when the trio enter the world of Portal. They even have to solve puzzles while they're there too and Glados isn't happy about it. The only minor gripe I have about the main story of LEGO Dimensions is that the other characters outside of Batman, Gandalf and Wildstyle are only reduced to cameos. As powerful as Superman is, he barely does anything. Homer Simpson's appearances are funny, although he doesn't have a big part too. However, the gameplay in LEGO Dimensions is fun because all of the main characters bring their own special unique abilities. The game also allows you to drive a mini Batmobile too. Batman's gadgets come in handy as does Gandalf's magic. Wildstyle on the other hand is super athletic and is good at combat too. The thing that makes LEGO Dimensions more unique is the way it uses the placemat. Much like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, this game also utilizes a placemat for your toys, but you can interact with it more than in the other games. In Skylanders and Disney Infinity, the placemat is only used to register which toys you have. In this game, you have to switch your characters around the placemat to solve puzzles or avoid enemy attacks. I have to admit it can tiresome getting off the couch to switch the characters around all of the time, but it's a unique gimmick I have not seen been done anywhere else. One thing that might irk some people is how expensive LEGO Dimensions is. The standard base game that comes with toys of Batman, Wildstyle and Gandalf retails for $NZD180. This is roughly $NZD80 more expensive than a normal price for a video game in New Zealand. If you want to play the side missions, you have to pay for a level pack individually which costs $NZD59.99. As for a two-pack for extra characters, this will set you back $NZD34.99. It will cost you close to $NZD1000 just to play everything that this game has to offer.  Overall, LEGO Dimensions is a very unique take to the platform game genre. Even though the game is aimed for kids, older gamers will love all of the popular franchises that have been added. The gameplay itself is quite smart and utilises unique puzzle solving element. The only main flaw is just how expensive everything is.  Verdict: 8.0/10