You can often tell when a game series has reached the next level of attraction when it clearly evolves -- and that is the case with the LEGO series of action-adventure / puzzle games. Early hits in the series like the Star Wars sagas, Indiana Jones, and Batman both established the look and feel of the series as well as established its play style.
With the release of LEGO Movie the well0established series has suddenly matured, and the changes are far beyond what was anticipated. The familiar play style has been tweaked to include a more interactive level to the puzzle-side of the game, but it is more than that... It is an added dimension that offers what is very nearly a 3D take on the mechanism that was accomplished without 3D tech, and that is a neat trick.
Add to that the fact that the creators of the game have finally found the right way to voice the protagonist AND the antagonists, and what do you have? An irreverent romp through a game play universe that is at once well known and recognized, while at the same time new, improved, and different.
In fact "different" is an important word in describing this newest title in the long-running series, because so much of it is that!
The Unofficial SuperCheats Walkthrough and Guide for The Lego Movie Videogame is meant to provide the sort of strategy tips that will help the player from getting stuck or in a rut, while at the same time organized with an eye towards offering assistance only as needed -- the perfect approach for this title!
Released for console play on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and PC, it is also available via portable games consoles for PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS.
The basic synopsis and story are drawn directly from the LEGO Movie itself -- though you do not actually have to have seen it in order for the game to make sense thanks to the amazing job of narration and story-telling the creators have done.
Without giving away spoiler-type information -- is a simple one: The hero of our story is a typical LEGO man named Emmet. A blue-collar everyman who happens to work in the construction business (which means tearing down old LEGO structures and building new ones among other things) as the story opens he quickly finds himself stepping into an unwilling role as the Chosen One -- which he is not.
To put a fine point on that particular matter, in the distant past a series of unfolds that reveals the existence of the legend of the Chosen One -- a yellow-faced innocent hero who will one day locate and use a special object that will be used (and provide a certain guidance) as the key to defeating the villain and saving the world.
The thing is Emmet is really just Joe-LEGO. Nothing special at all -- not to insult him -- but it is that everyday ordinariness that is critical both to the attraction that the game holds and the massive fun it provides, because you see, as you play as Emmet (and a lot of other characters but Emmet mostly) you will not only have to help him do the right thing, but survive his inept and often comical reactions to the situations that he finds himself in.
And there you have it -- those are the elements that have created what has turned out to be the best game in the series so far! It is also the most challenging in the series though -- which is why this guide exists.
Before You Play
The LEGO Series has a few common characteristics that exists in all of the games -- and if you have not played any of the previous games you are not going to be aware of this, so we need to cover it now.
1. Blocked Areas and Impossible Tasks As you begin to play through the story mode you are going to find that there are areas in the game you cannot get to no matter how hard you try or creative you get. You will find that there are objects you cannot open, interact with, or destroy no matter what you do. This is normal.
The reason for it is because the game was created that way. In simple terms you are NOT meant to have full access during the story mode. There is a certain logic to this - after all if you did well then the game play would be a lot shorter. But more than that, it is the reason that matters, and that reason is simply that you do not have the characters (often character type) and thus abilities that are required to access the other parts of the zone or items.
You are meant to revisit each of the story zones later, in Freeplay Mode, and complete those Collections and tasks. In fact unlocking Freeplay Mode is one of the objectives for your initial story-mode campaign play!
2. Those Little LEGO Studs are Meant to be Collected... You will notice that scattered around the world there are different colored LEGO studs -- Silver, Gold, Purple, and some of special colors that do specific things. These studs are the money of the LEGO world and they are meant to be collected by you - so be sure you do!
Perhaps the most important reason for collecting them is the fact that you need to collect a targeted number per zone as you play in order to unlock the Golden Brick that is associated with that task, but even more important is that later you will need to use your banked studs to purchase new objects, characters, and the like. So collect them studs!
3. The Games Use Checkpoint Saving... You do NOT actually actively need to (nor can you) save your game -- it does this automagically for you at key points. When you stop playing for the session and return later you will resume that game wherever the last save point was, so no worries there.
If you stopped playing in the midst of a chapter when you return the game will lay a trail of Green Studs for you to follow that will lead you back on the story track -- simply follow them to resume the adventure.
4. What About Achievements or Trophies? Well the simple answer is simple: They exist in significant number.
What you need to know though is that you can unlock all of them in a single campaign story-mode play-through plus a single Freeplay Mode play-through. There are NO missable Achievements or Trophies in the game so that should be a big relief to gamers who love that sort of thing.
If you are in a hurry you can easily unlock the entire lot in around 20 hours - but we recommend you take your time and enjoy the story and game play mates.
5. Creating Custom Characters... This is a mainstay feature for every game in the series that at some point in game play you will reach a place (usually via the Freeplay Mode) where you can create your own custom characters. This was an especially fun aspect of the Star Wars and Harry Potter games in the series, but all feature it.
In the case of LEGO Movie the location for creating custom characters is found in the Cloud Cuckoo Land hub, in the puppy-faced building off of the plaza. So once you reach that point in play you will be able to make use of that feature!
6. Unlocking Characters... Finally the last important point you need to know before you play is that the different characters can be the key to success for specific zones and tasks. Because of that you want to make the effort to unlock as many characters as you possible can.
There are over 90 regular characters plus others that are added via DLC -- but you do not need the DLC characters to complete the main game. Just saying. Get busy, unlock characters, have fun!