Tonight at midnight $465 worth of LEGO Dimensions product goes on sale. How much does one need to pay to have a good time? Let our buyer’s guide be your...guide. LEGO Dimensions, taken as the whole of the first series of starter and toy kits, is the priciest total game release of the year. Skylanders Superchargers kept launch releases relatively short and sweet, and Disney Infinity 3.0 is definitely playing the long Star Wars game. But not LEGO Dimensions. Along with the priciest starter kit (not counting Superchargers special Dark Editions), Warner Bros. is releasing a trio of Level Packs, two Team Packs and a whopping 15 different Fun Packs. What does that all mean? (Prices may vary based on retailer and promotions)Now that we know the basics, what do you need to play? A single $99 starter kit for PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Wii U goes quite a long way. The kit includes the game itself; the game’s portal platform, which connects to your video game console via USB, as well as the bricks needed to construct it;
three minifigures—Batman, Gandalf and Wildstyle; and a miniature Batmobile that can be rebuilt into three different configurations, as with all of the game’s accessories. With the starter kit you can experience the game’s complete single player (or local co-op) story mode from start to finish. There will be collectibles you cannot unlock due to them requiring a power the three included figures do not have, but the basic game is all there. The three minifigures will also grant access to three of LEGO Dimensions’ free-roaming Adventure Worlds, basically expansive themed playgrounds filled with challenges and secrets and fun. The DC Comics, Lord of the Rings and LEGO Movie Adventure Worlds are accessible with just the starter kit. You don’t need to purchase every single toy in order to experience all of the in-game content available for LEGO Dimensions at launch. Just a little over half. To gain access to every Adventure World and special level along with the main story, you’ll need the following: The grand total for this complete content unlock is $285.
Still a lot, but it’s no $465. What’s missing from the unlocking all the content list? If you go that route then only 12 Fun Packs stand between you and complete mastery of your LEGO domain. I know this, because that’s exactly how many kits are in my Amazon order. With five waves of sets scheduled between tomorrow and May of next year, not all content from LEGO Dimensions will be available at launch. The Doctor Who Level Pack arrives on November 3. Until then, no Doctor Who Adventure World for you. Same for Ghostbusters, the Level Pack of which is due out January 16. And finally the Midway Arcade Level Pack isn’t arriving until March 15. If the inspired Midway Arcade level from the main game is any indication, untold riches await in the Adventure World. I’ve fielded many questions since running the game review earlier today about what sort of extended gameplay comes with each Level Kit. Between the three launch Level Kits—Back to the Future, Portal and The Simpsons—I averaged about a half hour of gameplay in the included levels.
Mind you that’s without attempting to unlock secrets or gathering collectibles or hitting that bits goal. I’d say a dedicated player could squeeze an hour or so out of each. Generally there’s more to do in the figure-unlocked Adventure Worlds than in the Level Pack levels. Unfortunately for Portal, there is no corresponding Fun Pack, so the Level Pack is it. Here’s a brief rundown of the three. Portal: Chell returns to the Aperture Science testing facility to go another round with GLaDOS, aided by the mildly villainous in an adorable sort of way Wheatley. The level is a series of testing chambers, culminating in a good-old Chell Vs. GLaDOS showdown. Easily my favorite of the three. Back To The Future: the level here follows the story of the movie in the most skipping stone of ways. We follow Marty from Doc Brown’s garage to the mall parking lot. From there we go to the past, where we’re immediately tasked with hooking up wires to the clock tower to power the DeLorean’s trip back.
We make it back, and that’s it. The whole thing played out in under 20 minutes, so maybe that hour was a generous estimate for this set. Disappointing content, but great music. The Simpsons: Homer has to make it from home to a chili cooking contest, where he eats hallucinogenic peppers and goes on a vision quest. It’s trippy in a very Simpsons sort of way. I think I had more fun playing with Homer’s powers (belching and hulking out) and driving about the family’s pink car than playing through the story, but fun was definitely had. If you’re planning on getting a bunch or all of the sets, make sure you have a container for the extra bits. There are always extra bits. I used a tiny wooden chest got from the dollar store for my birthday one year. Repeat after that large, bolded bit right above this sentence. The LEGO Dimensions starter kit is packed with fun things to do, and I don’t foresee a shortage of sets in the long run. Start with that, and then collect other bits that interest you as you go along.
Treat yourself or your loved ones with a new character here, a Level Pack there. Hopefully this has been a helpful guide, and you’ve got a better idea of what enjoying all LEGO Dimensions has to offer means to you and your wallet. or follow him on Twitter at @bunnyspatialLEGO Dimensions enters into a very crowded Toys-to-Life market. Not only do we have a playset for perhaps every genre available at the moment ranging from Superheroes (Disney Infinity), IP specific (Nintendo amiibos), Star Wars (Disney Infinity again) and the IP resurrecting (Skylanders), Warner Bros and LEGO deemed fit that the space allows for another player for that piece of the pie.In an extremely bold statement, Warner and LEGO have revealed a release schedule that stretches to last till May 2016. And this is but only wave 1 of their release. They have entered the arena with a solid game plan and are looking to achieve top dog status.LEGO is no stranger to Toys-to-Life games as they have already experimented with the concept through their regular LEGO Collectible Minifigure releases.
In the recent releases, each minifig pack comes with a redeemable code that allows you to play as your minifig online. They probably felt the time was right to turn up the dial and ensure that every one would love to get their hands on the new LEGO Dimension.If you’re totally new to the concept of Toys-to-Life games, we hope that by the end of this article, you’d be well versed if LEGO Dimensions is worth plunging into.Depending on where you live, Amazon might be able to provide free shipping to your country. For me, at least, Singapore is one of the eligible countries for free shipping!This is where it all starts – to kick things off you’d first need any of the current gen console gaming systems (PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Xbox 360 or Wii U). Next, you would need to pick up the LEGO Dimensions starter pack.Staying true to LEGO form, the entire gateway as seen above would need to be assembled before even the game starts. The fun literally starts way before the game disc is even popped into the console.
Accompanying within the starter set would be Batman, Gandalf and Wyldstyle which covers across 3 hugely popular IPs in their own right ensuring that right out of the box there’s definitely a character that would easily appeal to any age range.In all sense of the word, the LEGO gateway is truly the start of an extremely long ride with even more characters and packs to purchase. This is where we see how far that rabbit hole goes…Warner Brothers and LEGO have conveniently released 7 packs to accompany the release of the game. Each pack is broken down into 3 types to help make things a bit more affordable depending on what you are looking to get out of the game –Unlike other toys-to-life games, LEGO Dimensions reminds itself what made it appealing in the first place. LEGO Minifigs are pretty much the hottest commodity in any regular set which is why the ability to remove the toys from their bases the biggest draw of LEGO Dimensions.@BenRelics Minifigures can be removed from their bases and can travel at speeds of up to 88mph!
#BreakTheRules— LEGO Dimensions (@LEGODimensions) April 14, 2015 While it remains to be seen if the bases can function without the figs or vehicles on top, the fact that there will be exclusive figures only available via LEGO Dimensions sets that will make it a sure hit with LEGO fans.For the love of me, this Slimer fun pack would go perfectly with my LEGO IDEAS Ghostbuster ECTO-1 but it will only be releasing in May 2016!I’m thinking there will be a great secondary market created from all these as fans might simply sell away parts of each pack that they do not need.To kick things off you would need to purchase the LEGO Dimensions Starter Pack which sets you back by USD$99.99 –Then at release, depending on which IP appeals to you the most, we’ve broken down on how much possibly you would need to invest right from the start.Back to the Future fans will enjoy a grabbing a level pack that comes with Marty McFly.And if that does not appeal to you, the Simpsons Level Pack will have their own fair share of fans as well.
Lastly, we have the Portal 2 Level Pack also standing as well, which I feel could be replaced with a much juicer IP from the start.For team packs, we have Jurassic World and Scooby Doo to kick things off.This is where is gets all confusing. The release of each fun pack will be coming out in waves all the way til May 2016. So there, is a good possibility that the pack you are looking out for might be months down the road. But, from the get go itself, you would be able to purchase 15 assorted packs ranging from Ninjago to The LEGO Movie.Out of the 15, only two IP releases that will see their entire announced range being sold from the start would be Lord of the Rings and the Chima series. For the most synergy, I’d say that grabbing the Lord of the Rings fun packs may make the most sense considering that the start comes with Gandalf.A mech?? This is the one we want. In addition, another fun pack featuring Jay is a timed exclusive with Toys’R’Us so sit tight in the meantime. From pretty out of no where, LEGO spawned another amazing line of products with the LEGO Movie.
And, it’s pretty amazing that the appeal goes this far after the movie has been released. There will be 3 fun packs for this series. Combining together with Gandalf, the Lord of the Rings packs are complete right from the start. No enemies yet from this pack until the subsequent Joker team pack in 2016. We’ll just have to do with the good guys first! Once again, Toys’R’Us has snagged another timed exclusive in the form of Laval. Pretty sure this would be the top seller for them. Depending on how much a completionist you are, there is no real need to further every pack out there. However, you do need to purchase at least one of each IP in order to unlock the corresponding world. At launch, this is what you might want to grab –In total, this would set you back by about US$315 and gives you access to all the Adventure Worlds right out of the box. If you’ve ever wondered how Homer Simpson might fare against GLAdOS, this would be the option for you.While you don’t really need to buy them all at one go (it would hurt the wallet very much), it might be more prudent to focus on the few IPs that you’d really enjoy playing.