So the last in the batch of dollar store LEGO Dimension sets that an online friend in California sent me is the Doctor Who Level Pack.  I didn’t have to pay my friend back, he just wanted me to review them.  The Doctor Who set is the one I actually wanted the most.   “Oh wow, Cary, you’re a Doctor Who fan?” you may be thinking.  Nope, absolutely not.  I know next to nothing about the franchise.  But my brother Jeff’s girlfriend loves Doctor Who, so when this set came out, my original plan was to buy it so they could come over and have fun building and playing the level.  But around that time, I lost my last job, so I went into “money saving mode” and didn’t buy it.  So I’m glad I was able to get it after all so they could enjoy it.  Anyway, two warnings before I start the review.  Like I said earlier, I know next to nothing about Doctor Who, so if I seem uninformed in my review, that’s why.  But not knowing about something has never stopped me from writing about it before.  And the other warning is that there may be an accidental spoiler alert here and there, so please go easy on me, Doctor Who fans.  LEGO Dimensions is available for nearly all the current game consoles, but reviewed on Wii U here.

LEGO Dimensions is essentially like Skylanders, except you build and play with LEGOs instead.  I even wrote a big article about it a while back that you can read.  Anyway, the Doctor Who Level Pack comes with a character and two vehicles.  You get Doctor Who (his father must’ve been an owl), as well as his robot dog K-9, and a big purple box that looks like a port-a-potty.  You also unlock a special level and hub world in the game.  They give you instructions on how to build the vehicles in the level.  Here’s a closer shot of the box they come in.

So Doctor Who, or more specifically the Twelfth Doctor according to Jeff’s girlfriend, holds an item called the “Sonic Screwdriver.”  Who does he think he is, Tim “The Toolman” Taylor?  The Sonic Screwdriver sends out a green beam in the game that can break certain LEGO blocks and repair others.  The Doctor’s pet robot dog is awesome!  I called him “Goddard” because he reminds me of the robot dog from Jimmy Neutron.  Anyway, you ride on top of him like any other LEGO vehicle, but he moves super fast!  Like, way faster than any other LEGO car in the game!  Even better, you can make him shoot rapid fire lasers from his eyes for massive LEGO block destruction!  Lastly is the purple port-a-potty.  You can fly it around, which is handy, but you can also land it on certain stands in the game, and then you can travel through time.  Essentially it unlocks new parts of levels for you to explore.  Also, when you’re flying around in the purple port-a-potty, they play the Doctor Who theme song in the background of the game.  At least I think that’s what it is, it’s what Jeff and his girlfriend were humming as we were playing.  Here’s a picture of the pieces built and out of the box.

With this set, you also unlock a special Doctor Who themed level and hub world to explore.  According to Jeff’s girlfriend, the level is based on an episode where the Twelfth Doctor dies, but she’s not completely sure since she’s not a big fan of the Twelfth Doctor and doesn’t know as much about his adventures.  But he doesn’t die in the level anyway.  You’ll start out in London, and must travel through time to change things in the level so you can progress.  Then you’ll go to a strange planet and fight these invisible alien things and also these robots that look like R2-D2 wearing a skirt.  And they like to say EXTERMINATE a lot.  And then you’ll battle the leader of those robots.

In the hub world, you’ll use portals to travel to a city, a snowy mountain, and the same planet where you fought those robots that look like salt and pepper shakers.  I think they’re called Tardises or something.  In the hub world, you can also go inside your purple port-a-potty and see what it looks like on the inside.  It’s a lot bigger than what you think.  Inside, you can activate a panel and switch your character to be any one of the twelve doctors!  Jeff’s girlfriend was excited about that, but you have to unlock them first and I’m not sure how to do that yet.  Anyway that’s all you can do with the Doctor Who Level Pack!  I imagine Doctor Who fans will enjoy it.  Jeff’s girlfriend sure did!

Kid Factor:

LEGO Dimensions is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Cartoon Violence and Crude Humor. The content in the Doctor Who Level Pack is pretty kid-friendly, but I imagine the show it’s based on is better for older kids.  I tried to watch Doctor Who when it was on PBS back in the 80’s when I was a kid, and I found it extremely boring so I’m not too terribly encouraged to watch it now.  Plus I don’t have time to watch most shows on TV nowadays anyway.  While I would recommend most LEGO games to all ages, I think LEGO Dimensions is best for older kids.  One, the things you build are pretty complicated sometimes, so they would need to be experienced LEGO handlers.  And like other LEGO toys, the sets are pretty expensive so kids would need to know how to keep up with and take care of their toys, as the game is useless without them.  And plus using the pedestal is not very intuitive.  Also don’t forget the whole choking hazard thing with small LEGOs!

One thing I learned from this Level Pack is that there is more than one Doctor Who.  Twelve in fact.  So Doctor Who fans, any speculation on what the thirteenth one will be like?  Well I’ve got a proposal for you.  I bet I could be a great thirteenth Doctor!  Yeah!  I could fly in a purple port-a-potty and fight annoying British robots while riding on a robot dog with pew-pew-pew lasers that come out of his eyes!  Plus, I’ve played lots of Chrono Trigger and watched Back to the Future so many times that I’m probably an expert on time travel.  So how about it, BBC?  What say you, Doctor Who fans?

And yes I know I’m being silly.  I have to let the sillies out here sometimes!  –Cary

Tags: Game Reviews, Movies with Children, Television