'Lego The Incredibles' makes family team-ups a key piece of the game
The Incredibles marks the first time TT Games' Lego series will take on a Pixar production.
Weird, right? One of the most ubiquitous video game series on the planet, with hooks in popular franchises from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings, from Marvel to DC, and yet never a single Pixar story. Until now.
Lego The Incredibles sets players loose in a building blocks playset encompassing both The Incredibles and Incredibles 2 on June 15, the same day the sequel hits theaters. If you've played any of TT's past Lego games then you know what to expect here.
In fact, that's kind of the whole point for all of the studio's family-friendly-yet-kid-oriented Lego games.
"Children like familiarity," executive producer Nick Ricks said during a recent interview. "It's the same reason why kids like watching reruns of shows on TV. Familiarity is comfortable, familiarity is nice for them."
Lego The Incredibles (yes, that "The" is part of the title, and yes, it's weird to say out loud) should be familiar. It sticks to the basic series formula of re-telling the movie's story -- with comedic, Lego-fied gags where appropriate -- while letting you explore a virtual toyland filled with familiar characters and locations.
That's not to say The Incredibles is a carbon copy, however. Like past Lego games, TT works to imbue each new game with gameplay and ideas that in some way echo the source material. Harry Potter leaned in on magic and spellbooks, The Lord of the Rings delivered an RPG-lite.
In the case of The Incredibles, family is a big deal. "That sense of, in the first film, Bob realizing that he can't do everything himself," Ricks said.
"His physical personality represents his own strengths but masks his weaknesses. He's so immensely strong but he can't take everything on himself. He overencumbers himself. He burdens himself too much. He needs to be rescued by his family. And it's only then through the family coming together, working together, that they're able to beat Syndrome and stop the Omni-Droid. Without giving too much away, that idea is expanded again in the new film."
Lego The Incredibles uses that family dynamic to spice up the gameplay. In one example Ricks offers, the team is faced with a waterfall with a secret entrance behind it. Just inside the entrance is an array of security systems meant to cut down any trespassers. Combining each family member's powers is the only way through.
"Dash, who can swim fast enough, he can swim upstream and get in behind the waterfall," Ricks said. "The only way to stop the defenses is to use Violet's shield. But of course she can't swim fast enough."
Enter Helen, aka Elastigirl. She can twist her body into a number of different shapes and useful tools, including -- in this particular case -- a boat.
"[Helen] can be pushed by Dash, who has sufficient power to push against the current, whilst at the same time Violet shields them all."
The Incredibles also borrows an idea that become increasingly common in TT's more recent Lego games: A large, freely explorable open world. The world covers locations from both movies, and it connects everything across one, massive play space, with the map carved up into smaller districts. That last piece is where superhero crimefighting plays a role.
"Each of those zones [in the open world] is under the dominion of a crime lord," Ricks said. "They've taken over areas, so you need to use your powers to take out the minions so you can eventually ... arrest and rid the world of these ne'er-do-wells."
As usual, you can also expect a big roster of characters. Ricks couldn't provide any specific numbers, but in addition to all the familiar faces from both movies you can expect plenty of lesser-known heroes and other characters. Pixar has detailed ideas covering all the blink-and-you'll-miss-them players from both movies, and that wealth of information has been a valuable asset for TT.
If you've never been a fan of the Lego games, then it sounds like Lego The Incredibles isn't likely to change your mind. But for longtime fans of TT's work, it sounds like the studio's first Lego foray into a Pixar world is hitting all the right ideas.
Lego The Incredibles will be out for PC, PlayStation 4, Switch, and Xbox One on June 15.
Topics Gaming
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
