LEGO: Jurassic World

I've spent enough time with TT Games' LEGO formula to know when a license is pulling its weight and when it's just wearing a costume. LEGO: Jurassic World sits somewhere in the middle - and honestly, that's a more interesting place than pure cynicism gives it credit for. The game covers all four films across 20 levels (five per movie), with four open-world hub islands connecting them. That's a legitimate amount of content for a single-player run, and hunting down the 200 minikits, 20 amber pieces, gold bricks, and red bricks can push a completionist well past 25 hours. The headline hook is the playable dinosaurs, and it genuinely is fun. Stomping around as a T-Rex or sprinting as a Velociraptor in the hub world unlocks through Dino-spawns tied to gold bricks, and the roster covers everything from tiny Compsognathus to the Mosasaurus. The problem critics and players repeatedly land on is the same: these moments are underutilized. The different dinosaur abilities mostly serve as keys to unlock specific areas or secrets rather than flexible tools to experiment with. You find the one solution, you progress, you repeat. For a game built around creatures famous for being unpredictable, that rigidity is noticeable. The puzzle and combat loop is the standard TT fare - smash objects into studs, build things from the debris, switch characters to match the required skill (agile characters double-jump, scientists interact with specific panels, and so on), beat up enough enemies to clear a room. It moves at a good clip on PC, and the split-screen local co-op holds up as the best way to play. The slapstick humor lands more often than it doesn't; the velociraptors accidentally wearing human clothing and a well-timed Jaws reference are genuinely funny. The game also pulls archive audio from the first three films for its dialogue, and the quality gap between that recycled audio and the freshly recorded lines from Jurassic World cast members like Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard is audible and distracting. The open-world hubs on Isla Sorna feel like filler - translucent stud trails guide you to the next level, but the geography doesn't always cooperate and hunting around can kill momentum fast. For the audience this is aimed at - kids who love dinosaurs, parents who want something to co-op on a couch, and adults with a soft spot for the original trilogy - LEGO: Jurassic World does what it needs to do. The charm of seeing Jeff Goldblum rendered in plastic bricks holds up. Veteran LEGO game players who've already done this dance with Star Wars or Marvel will feel the formula fatigue harder; there is genuinely nothing new here beyond the dino roster. But 93% positive across more than 10,000 Steam reviews tells you the right people are finding the right game. Go in knowing it's a breezy, low-stakes nostalgia trip and it won't let you down.

Alex · Scout Team

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