LEGO The Incredibles Review

By Mark Delaney,

With Disney now outsourcing their properties to other studios for video game adaptations, it naturally fell to WB and Traveller's Tales to put together yet another LEGO game, this time focusing on Pixar's latest hit, The Incredibles 2. Like many LEGO games, you get the full series out of the box with both movies able to be replayed in brick and minifigure form. It's somewhat fair to say if you've played one LEGO title you know what to expect from the rest of them. However, each installment does add unique touches; in the case of LEGO The Incredibles, these work well, but the game's not all super.

A LEGO game based on The Incredibles seems inevitable in retrospect. The long-running series works best when it can combine a vast and varied cast of characters with different traits or, as is often the case, superpowers. Taking control of the Parr family fits like a glove for this franchise and if you're still enjoying LEGO titles every few months, there's no reason you won't at least like this one. Gameplay is similar to the countless that have come before it; break stuff down, build it back up to form new structures, gadgets, and platforms to solve puzzles in drop-in/drop-out co-op for two players. The basic outline is unchanged with few exceptions over the past decade and a half.

What's new this time are Family Builds, which task players with collecting Incredibricks around an area, then button-mashing massive structures that typically help defeat bosses. These are used a lot in the game, at least once per level, and they're the only part of the game that feels just a bit inaccessible for the youngest gamers who may partake in the Parr family adventures. The button-mashing required in these moments is actually a bit taxing, although it deserves to be said that in many other ways, the game is among the most accessible LEGO titles to date.

Having not played a LEGO game since Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I don't know if The Incredibles is the first to make some very welcome UI changes, but it's certainly one of the earliest. Now the bricks that need smashing are highlighted with a faint shine just to let players know where to look rather than having them run along the boundaries smashing everything in sight looking for key items. You'll still want to smash everything if you're going for the various collectibles, but now the game holds your hand just a bit more, which deserves praise seeing as how so many of its players will be children. Similarly, the characters talk more and give clues outside of cutscenes to help direct players. These little steps end up feeling like really important ones for young players.

He seems pretty cool.

Speaking of talking, while the clues are appreciated, the voice acting is mostly problematic. It seems the majority of the films' actors declined to take part in this adaptation, as is their right, but their replacements are decent imitators at best and laughably far off at worse. Elasti-Girl's actor does her best Holly Hunter impression, but the actor portraying Mr. Incredible is not much like his counterpart at all, which never gets better than jarring every time he speaks. A few original actors did reprise their roles, however, most notably Sarah Vowell as Violet and Bob Odenkirk as Winston Deavor.

It can be safely assumed this game was mandated to release concurrently with the movie, thus it's maybe safe to assume that's why several bugs are present that hinder progress. Goons may sometimes forget to fight back, which is annoying but at least a quick fix. What's worse is when certain prompts fail to appear or bosses forget their next mode of attack. In both cases, restarts are needed and both came up a few times during the playthrough.

These issues mostly appear in the 12 main story missions. That means the sandboxes are surprisingly less buggy. It's not the first LEGO game to implement open world areas, but it's yet again a good fit here. Superhero games love putting players on the streets of a big city with emergent crimes and side missions to tackle. LEGO The Incredibles treats those previous examples like a guidebook. It's nothing you haven't seen before if you've played genre titles or select LEGO titles for that matter, but it's fun and extends the length of the game without feeling artificial (looking at you, minikits).

Incredible Gear Solid

As The Incredibles series doesn't offer as sizeable a roster as the studio typically likes to include, unlockable characters extend to other Pixar properties, which makes for a fun bonus. There's maybe no one on the planet who likes just one Pixar series. Most people enjoy several if not all of them, so even if the additions are weird at times, like Dory riding around New Urbem in a water bubble, they're still a happy surprise to have in the game.

The downside to the character roster is how unlocks are now randomized. Players buy a blind bag, just like in real life stores, not knowing which character is inside. There are different tiers and you have to unlock even the option to then pay for them with your studs. It's a misguided approach, as though the studio thinks kids actually like blind bags and aren't just conditioned to enjoy them thanks to predatory manufacturers in the real world. This isn't the first game in the LEGO series to use blind bags as they were present in The LEGO NINJAGO Movie Video Game, but it is the first game to randomise them and it's a practice that needs to stop.

The achievement list is like most others in the series. You'll get some for story missions, some for specific tasks in each mission, some for doing X with Y characters, and will need to round up all the collectibles, per usual. If you're an avid LEGO achievement hunter, fear not. This list is more of the same that most people have seen at least once before.

Summary

The decision to play a LEGO game or not comes down to two things: how much do you still enjoy the everpresent formula and how much do you enjoy the series being made into bricks this time? The Incredibles makes its debut in LEGO form with this one, and that alone should entice anyone who is enthused for either brand. The bugs are annoying and the voice acting is just about as bad sometimes, but the open world crimefighting, Pixar cameos, and perfect pairing of these two brands makes LEGO The Incredibles a fun family game, even if it's not quite super.

Positives

Improved accessibility for kids
Fun open world sections add lots to do
Other Pixar characters available in level select

Negatives

Movie voice actors are mostly missing and replaced with subpar performers
Various bugs get in the way
Character purchases are now made blindly and randomly

Ethics

The reviewer spent 8 hours in Municiburg and New Urbem fighting frequent crime and occasional bugs. 22 of 51 achievements for 420 Gamerscore were unlocked along the way. An Xbox One review copy was provided by the publisher.

More LEGO The Incredibles stories:

Review Xbox One

Written by Mark Delaney

Mark is a Boston native now living in Portland, Oregon. He has written for GameSkinny, Gamesradar and the Official Xbox Magazine. He runs the family-oriented gaming site Game Together.