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LEGO Battles

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9.2 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
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Based on 39 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / TT Games

Developer: Hellbent Games

Genre(s): Action

Players: Multi

ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)

Release Date: June 9, 2009

Summary

LEGO Battles pulls three LEGO themes together to create a unique extension of the LEGO build-and-play experience that stays true to the customization and humor that are the foundation of LEGO videogames. LEGO Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play. [Warner Bros]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Worth Playing

My only real big problem with LEGO Battles is that the pathfinding of your army is generally poor, especially if you need them to traverse a big chunk of the map. You can easily highlight a large group with the stylus by dragging a box over everyone, but they tend to get bottlenecked easily in tight passages, and you'll often find units that are still highlighted but have stopped moving for no reason other than because they've run into something.

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Cheat Code Central

Although this is not a hardcore RTS by any stretch of the imagination, the cute LEGO storylines as well as the large maps and customizable free play options make this one lots of fun, and you may be surprised by how much you keep coming back.

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Zentendo

It takes the Lego brand and brilliantly merges it with another genre. It offers a great learning curve and can be enjoyed by just about anyone. Definitely worth a look.

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Nintendojo

And as with other LEGO titles, those deficiencies don’t keep LEGO Battles from being an engaging, satisfying RTS experience, especially for younger players or those looking for lighter fare. If that’s your angle, then this game is a solid buy.

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Game Informer

LEGO Battles won’t offer the slightest challenge to an avid RTS fan. But overall I can’t complain too much. I had fun, got in a few laughs, and kept coming back for more. Sometimes that’s enough.

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GameZone

I am a fan of this title, because it moves the series forward in a positive direction even if some other things are sacrificed.

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SpazioGames

Quotation forthcoming.

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Official Nintendo Magazine UK

A solid strategy title for younger gamers. A little polish wouldn't have hurt though. [Sept 2009, p.82]

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Thunderbolt

It’s a Lego game, by and large, disguised as a lite RTS title. Whatever it is, Lego Battles is still a fairly good game, but these complaints keep it from being anything more than that.

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GameSpot

Bothersome control issues won't keep you from enjoying this charming strategy game.

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ImpulseGamer

LEGO Battles is reminiscent of those late 80's and early 90's real-time strategy games in terms of gameplay but the most annoying aspect of the title is that the developers could not master the path finding skills of the characters which forces the gamer to monitor all their units.

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Teletext GameCentral

Lego does real-time strategy and makes it look easy - rather too easy as far as the difficultly goes.

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IGN

If LEGO charm and pantomimed humor is reason enough for you to play a game, then there is plenty of it in LEGO Battles. If you need more than that, and are over the age of 10, then this game probably isn't for you. It's cute, and it works, but the storyline is far too repetitive to be that long, and the game never cranks the challenge past "cakewalk."

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Games Master UK

The DS is starved of RTS action, but Lego Battles never ramps up enough to inspire. [Oct 2009, p.74]

NGamer UK

A simple, solid strategy game, but one that never becomes more than the sum of its (easily clicked together) parts. [Sept 2009, p.67]

Multiplayer.it

LEGO Battles is a RTS especially developed for children: some will find it too easy, yet it is undeniable LEGO always charms the most nostalgic players. However, LEGO Battles still delivers a solid and appealing gameplay and a very funny multiplayer mode: such a nice couple of features, yet not enough to deserve it a very good mark.

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Level7.nu

Seen as an entry level RTS, Lego Battles is a great game. It teaches the basics of resource management well and it never really becomes to complicated or stressful. This unfortunately also means that it won't peak your interest for long. After a while it will become overly simplified for anyone who's ever played strategy games before.

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Cubed3

For the most part the touch screen provides a great interface for constructing buildings and managing units. Unfortunately, poor path finding and AI tarnishes the experience and adds a great deal of frustration to the mix.

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Games Radar (in-house)

LEGO Battles certainly drops the baton on a couple of essential basics, but its light-hearted tone, unit variety, hidden trinkets, and sheer volume of maps keep it a good value for dedicated fans of this angular toy world.

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Gameplayer Sweden

Lego Battles does a good job as introduction to the real time strategy-genre, but lacks in tempo and control. Gamers who already are familiar to the genre may find it to simple and should go for another game. And seriously, do we really need more games in Lego?

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Meristation

Fun and entertaining, Lego Battles is an ideal game for young kids. A great game for recreating Lego battles on a console. It's extremely simple, and it lacks something on its technical side, specially gameplay-wise, but overall a good game for kids.

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Vandal Online

Lego Battles is a simple strategy game, not very original in its conception, although it has an important factor which can help it to succeed: the LEGO franchise.

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Everyeye.it

An RTS without strategical depth. Sharp look, nice unit design, ad an impressive amount of extras, but a complete failure on the gameplay side.

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PALGN

At the end of the day, adults most likely won't find much long-lasting entertainment in LEGO Battles. But in short bursts, there is some fun to be had in revisiting a piece of your childhood.

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Kombo

The bones of the game are brittle and frail since the basics of a RTS games are never fully realized but LEGO Battles will be remembered in case studies as an experiment of how to implement RTS controls into a DS game.

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Nintendo Power

And the most basic element of LEGOs - building things from blocks - is entirely absent. [July 2009, p.86]

Game Revolution

If you're an adult who loves Legos and lives with his parents, this game is for you. Anyone else over the age of 12 is going to want something with more depth, and besides, making a game childishly easy is not the way to fix broken controls. Any kid can tell you that.

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Destructoid

The controls frustrate, the missions bore and the multiplayer has the potential of being quite unfair. While the basic idea is sound, the failure to implement its features in a compelling way makes LEGO Battles one you can easily skip.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 39 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Peter M gave it a10:
I cant believe a "real" RTS finally made it to the DS. After going to 2 sold out stores I finally got my copy! Wow, you will not be disappointed here, the map sizes are bigger than any I have seen on the DS and the variety of units it awesome I mean space ships attacking sail boats, what's not to love. The units are hard to see as pure lego, but the DS can only pull off so much and if the trade off was only seeing a close-up with detail vs seeing and controlling a battlefield, I think the choice was obvious here. Game play is not limited (like so many) to you taking your one unit against a max of 6 enemies... This game takes it up a notch with 30 on 30 fully controlled units into heated action packed battles. In that mess it gets a bit hard to see whats going on, but it looks awesome. Still getting a hold on the magic bit, but that looks like a lot of fun to. Cant wait to take this head on with multiplayer.

reed f gave it a6:
We preordered two copies of this one (my son and I) from the USA and have paid the price not just in getting it directly upon release in Japan, but in foregoing critical assessment and reading rhe Metacritic reviews (there are still only two as of this post) and trusting our guts and experiences as big fans of the Traveler's Tales LEGO DS games. LEGO Battles is at once a simple and fun game, and a terribly dull one with too many rules to learn for too little payoff later in the game. I fear this is a project not of love for the incredible gaming company that has produced LEGO Star Wars et al, but just a finished project -- one they may have enjoyed building at the start but were clearly unable to turn into something truly enjoyable for any particular audience. My son suffered as much of the tutorial level as possible but even so was not impressed with the graphics or the gaming style. The LEGO brand does not save this game from being just another RTS. What this has done is awoken certain nostalgic feelings for Blizzard games like Starcraft, which I would much rather be playing. As for my son, I think his copy may just go to the first buyer at a local shop. Or is it too soon to be passing judgment? (We have not unlocked any of the other missions yet.)

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