LEGO Brawls: PS5 Review

Developed by RED Games
Published by Bandai Namco and the LEGO Group
Platform: PS5

LEGO: Brawls is, at its heart, a very simplistic game.

Developed initially for the Apple Arcade back in 2019, the game's now back 3 years after its arrival. And it feels like it's not really been adapted for console gaming, more for point and push arcade gaming than any kind of long-term playing sessions.

All the game is is a beat-em-up multiplayer brawling game, that devolves into button-mashing as you take on various opponents in differing settings. It may be about simplicity, but that doesn't mean it needs to fall into pointless gameplay, something which happens all too often in LEGO Brawls. 

Voting in on levels is fine, but there's often the feeling the AI has already decided if you're not playing multiplayer, and to be frank, the rewards for the game are simply nothing more than studs, pieces and unlocking various outfits - to call it a grind is an understatement.

That said, some of the levels are fun - with rising lava fields and pirate ships, there's a bit of thought been put into the environments, rather than a Street Fighter-style backdrop tacked on for no real reason. Including Jurassic Park is also fun, with special powers helping you unlock dino attacks on your enemies.

But the fun is too far apart, and sometimes the levels are too brief to make you feel fully engaged. Customisation adds some level of personality to proceedings, but it's few and far in between.

LEGO Brawls is frustrating, with plenty of feeling, there was an opportunity to develop a LEGO fighting title that was fun for anyone over the age of five years old. This will appeal to a very young audience, with the brevity of gameplay, simplicity of combat and repetition of sequences being enough to keep them engaged.

For others, sadly, it'll feel like a hollow experience that may have you throwing your LEGO toys out of your virtual cot.