I got a chance to try out a preview build of Lego Skylines from Iceflake Studios and Paradox Interactive, and let me tell you, the excitement levels are off the charts for the final release build of this game!
Lego Meets Cities: Skylines
Combining Cities:Skylines with Lego? Lego City with Cities: Skylines? Either way, it sounds like a perfect match and something that I honestly do not understand why it hasn’t happened yet. Lego Skylines is the type of game that your inner child will scream with joy at and as someone who is knee deep in Lego sets, I was super excited when I saw the game get revealed.
What Is Lego Skylines?
So what exactly is Lego Skyline and how is it shaping up so far? In the preview build I got to check out, there are two options. One focuses on a 45-minute-long gameplay segment which gets you up to speed with the game’s most basic mechanics. How the final release build will hopefully play out. The game onboards you quite quickly with regards to how to build structures and how to get creating your own Lego City.
Building Your Lego City
First and foremost, you’ll be exposed to a Lego Minifigure family that requests your assistance with setting them up with a home. Once you’ve built this for them by
plopping down a plot, you’ll be taught how to customize it further with additional Lego objects and then slowly but surely, the game introduces new concepts to you. Your singular
Lego homestead will slowly turn into a tiny village with rural vibes and then a smaller town and eventually, you’ll be on your way to making it into a full-blown city. This is however where the main preview build ended.
Lego Skylines Late Game Scenario
The second option available in the preview build is a “Late Game” scenario where you will have access to a full-sized Lego City to manage. Much like with the earlier focused town building mode in the preview build, the late game scenario also has an objective to complete. However due to the fact that you now have a full-scale city to manage, things are a lot more complicated.
A lot of late game building mechanics and options are suddenly open to you, and you’ll be able to manage things like recycling garbage, powering the city with renewable energy, educating its citizens with universities and colleges and more.
City Building With a Lego Twist
If you played any self-respecting city-building game over the years, these are concepts that won’t be new to you. This time however there’s the Lego flavour added to everything. You can customize your buildings a lot with additional Lego objects and this really helps to make them more unique and identifiable. In a large-scale city though, a lot of this can be drowned out because of the sheer number of buildings that you will be managing and working with.
Gameplay and City Management
Lego Skylines plays out very similarly to other city-building greats in the genre such as Sim City and of course, Cities: Skylines itself. This is a game that you will easily sink hours and hours into as you build up your city from scratch and ensure that your Lego Minifigure citizens needs are met. The preview’s non-late game gameplay segment was very objective focused and kept things going at a brisk pace however I did notice a few snags along the way.
Preview Build Issues
For example, one of the objectives involved building flower gardens but despite the fact that I already did this, I still had to do it again before the objective would clear itself. Whether or not I needed to build it in close proximity to the Lego Minifigure that requested this or not, I wasn’t sure but hopefully the final release build gives some better guidance than in the preview.
Graphics and PC Performance
Graphically, the game looks absolute gorgeous with the Lego blocks and pieces all being faithfully recreated here. Everything looks awesome! And that’s not an exaggeration. The game looks fantastic and shockingly, even in the late game scenario, it ran perfectly fine on my mid-range PC (Core i7-14700KF, 16gb DDR5 Ram, RTX3070TI) with no performance issues. Hopefully this also translates to the final release build.
Who Should Play Lego Skylines?
If you’re a fan of Lego, Lego City in particular, and city-building games are your thing, this is a game that you should definitely check out. The preview build was solid and Iceflake Studios have clearly built upon the foundations laid by the greats in the genre to deliver a game that is clearly a city-builder at its core but with a beautiful Lego finish to it.
Building and Customization
Placing your Lego buildings which are focused around particular visual or functional themes is excellent and being able to customize them too with additional Lego objects is great. I do wish that we’d also be allowed a bit more creativity though by letting us insert or replace entire Lego bricks but I guess this might be asking for too much. Nevertheless, the game is shaping up to be a great one and I’m sure both younger and older gamers alike will have a great time with it.
Lego Skylines Preview Verdict
Be sure to keep an eye on this one! I know I will be!
LEGO Skylines Preview:
LEGO Skylines combines traditional city-building and management gameplay with the creativity and visual style of LEGO. The preview build features an introductory 45-minute scenario and a Late Game city-management scenario, with players building cities, managing LEGO Minifigure citizens, recycling garbage, using renewable energy and developing education facilities. The preview also showcases extensive building customization, detailed LEGO visuals and solid performance.
LEGO Skylines Preview FAQ
What is LEGO Skylines?
LEGO Skylines is a city-building and management game that combines traditional city-building gameplay with the visual style, creativity and customization of LEGO.
Who developed LEGO Skylines?
LEGO Skylines is being developed by Iceflake Studios and published by Paradox Interactive.
What can you do in LEGO Skylines?
Players can build and manage a LEGO city, construct homes and buildings, manage citizens, recycle garbage, use renewable energy and develop services such as universities and colleges.
Does LEGO Skylines have building customization?
Yes. Buildings can be customized with additional LEGO objects, allowing players to give their city and individual buildings a more distinctive appearance.
How long is the LEGO Skylines preview gameplay segment?
The introductory gameplay segment available in the preview build lasts approximately 45 minutes and introduces players to the game’s basic city-building mechanics.
What is the LEGO Skylines Late Game scenario?
The Late Game scenario gives players access to a full-sized LEGO city and introduces more advanced city-building and management mechanics.
Is LEGO Skylines similar to Cities: Skylines?
LEGO Skylines follows many familiar city-building concepts found in games such as Cities: Skylines, while adding LEGO-themed buildings, objects, characters and customization.
Read more awesome previews >>here<<.
The game was provided to us for the express purpose of reviewing.
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