# Lego Horizon Adventures

Lego Horizon Adventures is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by Guerrilla Games and Studio Gobo in association with The Lego Group, and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. As a spin-off entry in the Horizon series, the game reinterprets the events in Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) in a Lego-themed environment.
Lego Horizon Adventures was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Windows on November 14, 2024. The game received mixed reviews from critics.

## Gameplay

Lego Horizon Adventures is an action-adventure game played from an isometric perspective. The game has five different difficulty levels, and the weak point targeting system from previous Horizon games returns. Aloy, the game's protagonist, and the game's hub world can be customized extensively. The game features a two-player cooperative multiplayer mode which becomes available following completion of the game's prologue.

## Development

Guerilla named UK-based Studio Gobo as a co-development partner in January 2023 to expand the Horizon universe. It was previously rumored that the studio was working on a remake of Horizon Zero Dawn, which turned out to be false because the 2024 remaster was actually developed by Nixxes Software and Guerilla.

### Game design and technology

According to Guerrilla, the studio initially designed the machines from the first game using Lego Duplo, and wanted to make a more light-hearted game after working on two Horizon games. It was The Lego Group that pitched the game to Guerilla as "We were all fans of Horizon" according to Kate Bryant, a project lead on Lego-branded games. The Lego Group felt that Horizon was a good choice for a video game project due to its vibrant visuals. They were also drawn to Aloy as a character as she can "speak to that wide audience because she has that strength of character that can resonate with a younger audience". Lego and Guerrilla previously collaborated for the release of the Lego Tallneck set in 2022.
Lego Horizon Adventures was developed with Unreal Engine 5 and uses visual enhancements like ray traced lighting on PlayStation 5 and Windows versions. On PlayStation 5, Lego Horizon Adventures features fidelity and performance graphics modes at 30 and 60 frames per second respectively. The game does not include PlayStation 5 Pro Enhanced support. According to narrative director James Windeler, Guerrilla wanted "wanted to create a playable Lego movie in terms of the visual quality". The game uses a fixed camera that was in all Lego games before Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (2022). Environments in the game are made entirely out of Lego bricks rather than only being limited to Lego pieces that the player interacts with. As a result, the game's environments can be built with real Lego bricks at home.

### Narrative

Lego Horizon Adventures retells the story of Horizon Zero Dawn in an upbeat and family-friendly way, with the team significantly downplaying its apocalyptic story while focusing on its environmental messages and Aloy's connections with her family and friends. The Lego Movie inspired the game's visuals and animation, with the characters in the game moving in a way similar to those found in a stop motion animation film. Narrative director James Windeler also added that all of the assets found in the game were "built from an individual [Lego] brick". The goal for the studio was to make the franchise "approachable" to newcomers, offering both slapstick humor typically found in Lego games and self-referential comedy found in the films.
Most of the original voice cast from Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West return for Lego Horizon Adventures. The cast includes Ashly Burch as Aloy, JB Blanc as Rost, John Macmillan as Varl and John Hopkins as Erend. In October 2024, it was confirmed that Sylens had been recast following the death of his voice actor Lance Reddick in March 2023. Tim Russ was revealed to be taking on the role of Sylens the following month. Russ had previously voiced Jetakka, a member of the Tenakth tribe, in Horizon Forbidden West who Aloy encounters during side quests.

## Marketing and release

Lego Horizon Adventures was announced for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Windows in June 2024 at Summer Game Fest.
On September 24, 2024, Lego Horizon Adventures was announced to be releasing on November 14, 2024. The game's release date had previously been listed by accident on the PlayStation website in August. The game will be the first game featuring a Sony PlayStation IP to come to a Nintendo console since Return to PopoloCrois in 2015. Sony released the game on Switch to target a "family-friendly audience and a younger audience".
The digital deluxe edition of Lego Horizon Adventures includes three additional Aloy outfits, Ratchet and Rivet outfits from Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (2021), and Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet.

## Reception

Aggregate scores :
| Aggregator | Score |
| Metacritic | PS5: 71/100 |
| OpenCritic | 51% recommend |
Review scores :
| Publication | Score |
| Destructoid | 6/10 |
| Digital Trends | 3/5 |
| Eurogamer | 2/5 |
| GameSpot | 7/10 |
| GamesRadar+ | 4/5 |
| Hardcore Gamer | 3.5/5 |
| IGN | 7/10 |
| Nintendo Life | 6/10 |
| NME | 3/5 |
| PC Gamer (US) | 49/100 |
| PCMag | 3.5/5 |
| Push Square | 6/10 |
| TechRadar | 3/5 |
| Video Games Chronicle | 4/5 |
Lego Horizon Adventures received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregator website Metacritic. OpenCritic determined that 51% of critics recommended the game.
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated Lego Horizon Adventures for "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction" at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards.