“LEGO Horizon Adventures” from Guerilla Games and Studio Gobo is a family-friendly remake of the hit game “Horizon Zero Dawn,” retelling the game’s events in LEGO format. We play as Aloy, a hunter in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with robot monsters, as she tries to discover the secret behind her mysterious origins and stop an unknown evil from destroying what’s left of the world. 

“Zero Dawn” stood out because of its story. It’s an intriguing mystery with many layers that are unraveled in unexpected ways. It’s shocking, moving and heartfelt—but none of that is present in “Adventures.” To make the plot palatable for a younger audience, “Zero Dawn” has been butchered down to less than its base components, missing so much context and detail that it’s essentially a different story. The characters suffer as well; not only is each major character almost unrecognizable beyond their voice and outfit, but relevant character arcs have been entirely removed for seemingly no reason. The oversimplification of the game implies that gamers aged 10-16 can’t handle a story with even a hint of complexity. 

“Horizon Adventures” has a boring gameplay experience. The four playable characters are limited to one attack each with a handful of effects and a couple of useful gadgets, as opposed to Aloy’s versatile gallery of weapons and gear in the original game. And there is no stealth, also unlike the original. You can hide for a bit until you attack once, and then you’re exposed for the rest of the encounter, which is very annoying. Then there’s the “exploration.” Not only is every level stuck on rails, but if you venture off the path when allowed, you’re never rewarded with more than some money and ammo.

I went into this game knowing that it would be weird, and expecting it to justify its existence. I wonder, who is this supposed to be for? “Horizon Adventures” looks good, but it’s too simple for the E10+ intended audience and too different from the original for fans. Sure, the robot monsters lend themselves to LEGO designs, but there’s so much more to the franchise than that. Not that the developers know that, though.