Think you're too old for Lego, but have a DS? Then get this game!
I had picked up Age of Empires: Age of Kings DS when I bought my first DS
Lite system. After hearing that a DS could never handle an RTS; I settled
down to a good game.
Enter Lego Battles. After seeing the trailer, reading about it, I got
excited 'cause I didn't think a RTS was possible! So I preordered it and I
am quite happy with my purchase several months later.
There are six main storylines based on current lines of Lego. There are also
six "sub storylines" that have hidden heroes you can unlock. These are allied
with the main characters in each story, and are based on current or older
lines that Lego no longer uses. Each story has 15 levels and the missions
vary from defend the base, to search and rescue, to seek and destroy. Each
story has 3 Acts with the first mission in Act 1 being laughably easy to the
Act 3 final mission which is sometimes oh crap. No misison is incredibly hard.
There are also hidden things to find in each mission. 20 blue studs per
mission, plus a Minikit and one Red Brick per Act which unlocks cheats you
can use in game. The Minikits enable you to unlock some hidden heroes,
veichles and soldiers. These can be used in Free play (you vs AI) or in
multiplayer, which does not support single card. The Blue Studs enable you to
purchase these hidden units in the "store".
There are some cons and pros to this game. The graphics are pixelated but you
still can see who is doing what at that particular time. Comapred to other
RTSs, the unit cap is small, but in this game, the cap is enough for what
needs to be done and is capable of taking out an enemy base. Some sounds and
music are fitting for the themes, while others just don't match. You can get
ariel, sea and land units; and most units are equal to each other. The heroes
have powers that can be effective when you're in a tight spot financially or
on the losing end of a battle and need to pull together. Your resources are
lego bricks. Nothing else. The trees turn into bricks when they
are harvested and that is how you build your army and buildings: is with
bricks. It is common to get a very large amount of bricks. As you build or
destroy a soldier or building, lego bricks go flying. The strategy is light
but good. But don't buy this for a 7 year old; buy it for a 10 year old or
for an RTS enthusist who is willing to try this game and has a DS.
Now that the RTS has shown it can be done on the DS to a decent
extent, its time some big name RTSs made their debut on the DS. However
they would need to downsize their unit caps and such but it really does
work. For this game, anyway. But I say give this game a honest chance.
Just because it has passable graphics or off sounds does not mean
that this game is any good.