LEGO Dimensions: Doctor Who (Wii U) Review

The story level is entitled the "The Dalek Extermination of Earth," and it sees the Doctor travelling between 19th and 21st century London, right before jetting off around the galaxy to Skaro, in order to take the fight to the Daleks and Davros. The writing and design of this section are quintessential Doctor Who through and through, making it really feel like a part of the Doctor's canon.

Along with the writing, a lot of work and money has been put in to ensure that the final product feels very much a part of the Doctor Who universe. Peter Capaldi is on hand, providing full dialogue for the Doctor, along with the iconic Nicholas Briggs who brings life to the Daleks and Cybermen. Other characters use archived audio, but there are a few more nice surprises from members of the cast, not to mention all of the iconic sound effects and pieces from the soundtrack that really capture the franchise's feel.

The story level is not particularly long, and it will take around an hour and a half to complete - double that to complete it 100%, collecting all the mini-kits, golden bricks and other collectibles. The gameplay is much the same as most level stages, although it also implements some fun and smart puzzles, utilising the Doctor travelling to different time periods of the same location, and changing things in the past to affect the environment in present day. These are well done, but occasionally feel a little dull when requiring multiple trips, as a journey through time results in a loading screen.

One particularly badly designed puzzle sees the Doctor altering which window in a building has patio doors in the past to allow him to enter the respective rooms in the future. This requires going back in time, moving the window with a crane and then returning to the present three times, translating to six loading screens, which aren't particularly fast.

The Adventure world is a hub initially just made up of 21st Century London, but this can be expanded by travelling to different times and worlds. By completing puzzles in these other areas, they are joined to the central hub, making a crazy mismatched zone containing London, Mars, Trenzalore, Skaro and Talos. There are nice enough designs to the zones, but for some reason a really obnoxious theme is continually playing in the London area.

With such a rich history to pull from there are so many things to include in the adventure world, the Doctor will have to fight against, not just Daleks, but also other classic enemies like Cybermen, Zygons, Ice Warriors, and more. There are plenty of friendly faces too, with plenty of fan favourites like Strax and Captain Jack, providing side-quests to accomplish, a particular highlight of which is Michelle Gomez's Missy, with original voice work provided by the actress.

In this expansion pack, it's actually beneficial to get the character killed a few times. After every death the Doctor regenerates, unlocking another of the Doctor's regenerations - and all Doctors are included, even Paul McGann's Eighth and John Hurt's War Doctor. All of these also come with their respective Tardis interior and theme tune as a music choice, which is a neat little feature that fans will enjoy. The choice can be locked once every incarnation has been unlocked so everyone can stick with their favourite Doctor.

Acquiring all of the Golden Bricks and the other collectibles from this content will extend the playtime by many hours, with the lack of content compared to the cost of the pack being the main issue with LEGO Dimensions, this goes a little way to addressing the problem. The physical LEGO pieces also are of particular quality, the pieces that come with this pack consist of Peter Capaldi's Doctor, K-9 and a mini Tardis. The Tardis and K-9 come with some unique printed pieces that can't be had anywhere else for the collectors. While the cost still seems a little high, the amount of content and the LEGO pieces make this feel reasonable enough for a recommended retail price.