Confession: I and my children have never played LEGO Dimensions… not even a demo, and for whatever reason, despite all of my LEGO coverage, it just hasn’t happened. While my interest was piqued last year, we missed the first go ’round of the LEGO entry in the “toys-to-life” aisle, but with today’s news that may have to change… LEGO Dimensions just grabbed my retro-loving heart. This Fall, the call is to “Go Bigger,” and that means new characters spanning new franchises, many of which are completely unexpected. From a LEGO “Tom Cruise” as MISSION IMPOSSIBLE‘s Ethan Hunt to characters from ADVENTURE TIME and the forthcoming GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, the 80s are well-represented with E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, THE GOONIES, GREMLINS, BEETLEJUICE and THE A-TEAM, and the biggest one for me… a set from the greatest television series of all-time: KNIGHT RIDER! While there’s no pictures available, you can pretty much expect a LEGO Michael Knight (David Hasselhoff) and K.I.T.T. to compliment the just-revealed B.A. Baracus (Mr. T) and GMC Van from THE A-TEAM. But that’s not all that’s coming to LEGO Dimensions…
More from the Official Announcement: New expansion packs broaden the complete selection to 30 of the world’s most popular entertainment brands allowing players to customize their experience by mixing and matching favorite characters and universes with full compatibility. Game features adding to the fun are all-new, four-player competitive Battle Arenas, a first for LEGO videogames, as well as Story Packs, which provide deep, story-driven gameplay around the biggest theatrical releases and include a fresh LEGO brick building experience.
LEGO Dimensions packs based on 16 new entertainment properties will begin launching on September 27, 2016 with the Ghostbusters Story Pack, Adventure Time and Mission: Impossible Level Packs, Harry Potter and Adventure TimeTeam Packs, and The A-Team Fun Pack. Additional expansion packs based on other highly anticipated films Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them andThe LEGO® Batman Movie and wildly popular properties The Goonies, Sonic The Hedgehog, Teen Titans Go!, LEGO® City Undercover, Knight Rider, The Powerpuff Girls, Gremlins, Beetlejuice and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial will be released in product waves stretching into summer of next year. All expansion packs provide players with continued compatibility to use everything from waves 1-9 interchangeably, anywhere throughout the game. And no new starter pack is required, as all new packs will simply enhance the LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack game and work with the existing LEGO Toy Pad.
All-new Battle Arenas will offer first-to-LEGO videogames competitive split-screen local gameplay for up to four players. LEGO minifigures included in the wave 6 through 9 expansion packs will come with special, golden Toy Tags which unlock a Battle Arena within the Free Play Adventure World of the corresponding entertainment brand. Each Battle Arena has four different gameplay modes and comes with its own traps, special powers and interactive environments that make every battle arena unique.
The Ghostbusters Story Pack, based on the upcoming film, will provide a complete movie-based gameplay experience with six puzzle-packed levels and new LEGO Gateway bricks that allow players to build Zhu’s Chinese Restaurant atop the LEGO Toy Pad. It will also come with a buildable Abby Yates LEGO minifigure with Proton Blaster and 3-in-1 buildable Ecto-1 which can be rebuilt into the Ectozer and The PerfEcto. The pack unlocks “Rip,” a new Toy Pad mode allowing players to tear open an alternate universe. In this mirror world, players have the ability to solve puzzles and affect objects and other items in the primary universe. And like all gold-tag minifigures purchased, Abby Yates provides access to a new themed Adventure World with its own unique Battle Arena. The Ghostbusters Story Pack is just the first of this new exciting pack type, with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, based on the highly anticipated theatrical release, still to come later this year. The LEGO DIMENSIONS packs will be the exclusive construction toy offering this holiday for the exciting expansion of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World.
Story Packs also expand the Starter Pack story with deeper gameplay. In the game’s storyline, the evil Lord Vortech has hidden portions of his powers around the LEGO Multiverse. As players progress through Story Pack levels, they can unearth and tap into Keystone Runes to use Lord Vortech’s powers against him through all-new Toy Pad modes.
Developed by TT Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO DIMENSIONS is now available for PlayStation®4 and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment systems, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and the Wii U™ system.
Will you be playing?
