Preview: 'Lego Universe'

There are few parts of the world left unconquered by those little coloured Lego bricks. Decades spent at the top of children's Christmas lists in almost every corner of the planet has transcended Lego from mere product to toy icon. Not only that, the Lego brand has spawned multiple merchandising spinoffs, including a popular series of video games. So what is there left for Lego to conquer? Its own universe, of course. Four years ago, US developer NetDevil set out to create Lego Universe, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game that would enable young players to build stuff, smash stuff and generally have a good time. Digital Spy checked out how the game is shaping up ahead of its release next month.

The Lego Universe story, narrated by acting legend Sir Patrick Stewart, unfurls in an alternate universe populated by Lego minifigures, where the spirit of imagination powers everything. When a team of minifigs goes in search of the last essence of pure imagination, they get rather more than they bargained for. A giant spider stumbles into the imagination source, unleashing a dark force known as the maelstrom that turns innocent minifigs into twisted monsters and shatters the planet into many miniature worlds (some of which presumably disappeared down the back of the sofa). Players are tasked with saving imagination by battling the maelstrom and bringing harmony back to the universe.

Lego's brief to NetDevil was to create an MMO aimed at the 8-12 male audience, but it has taken the studio four years to really "figure out what that was". At a hands-off session in London, a NetDevil producer said that the studio wanted to build on the excellent yet linear TT Games, such as Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman, by creating an MMO that truly delivered on the "build, play, socialise" experience. The team also attempted to bring forth the colour, humour and creativity of Lego, starting with the minifig creation process.

The game features more than three million options for character selection, including trousers, shirts and hair pieces that can all be decorated with brightly coloured patterns and stickers. The character creation is also where the "huge commitment to child safety" starts. Character names can be selected from a random name generator filled with moderated options, but any personalised choices must be approved by an online team at Lego. The system is one of a number of parental controls, starting with a Lego ID enabling parents to dictate the amount of play time or exposure to social aspects. The game's chat system also blocks any inappropriate questions, such as 'where do you live?' although players can be bound as 'best friends' to chat more freely.

In the demo, the NetDevil producer created a character called SassyVanillaSocks, who looked rather like a disco housewife from the future. The game starts off inside a space ship, which acts as a tutorial for the core gameplay. NetDevil opted to retain the same control mechanics as in the TT Games for moving the minifigs around, to ensure that players would feel instantly at home in Lego Universe. However, the game also moves beyond just linear levels and platforming into quests, achievements and factions, all the hallmarks of an MMO.

Lego Universe uses imagination in the same way that other games use Manna or Magic. It basically allows the player to manipulate things in the world or earn achievements. After charging up the imagination meter for the first time, SassyVanillaSocks's first mission involved tracking down rocket parts to escape the doomed space ship. On the tertiary level, building works exactly the same as in the TT Games, in which the player triggers a pile of bricks to auto-assemble into a range of items. However, Lego wanted Lego Universe to go much further than that, which meant introducing more creative brick building systems.

Modular build involves the player collecting sections of rockets, cars and buildings that can be assembled more easily than painstakingly placing every single brick. NetDevil pre-built a number of different rockets and then chopped them up into thirds for the player to put together however they want. The system opens up some creativity, but also allows players to make excellent creations without needing to be a building expert. Players will use their rockets to travel around the universe, while they will also get to modular build their own cars, including options for wheels, hoods, bumpers and engines.

After creating a rocket, SassyVanillaSocks descended down to Avant Garden, the first of numerous planets in the universe. Avant Garden is a verdant world, punctuated by the odd Mad Max-style settlement. The planet was teeming with enemies to tackle, which is where the battle system comes in. Early in the development, Lego Universe was a "very peaceful" game with a focus purely on building. However, the game tested "very poorly" with 8-year-old boys, who would rather be bashing than building. NetDevil therefore refactored the game to incorporate a battle experience, meaning players can push back the maelstrom either by creating stuff or destroying it.

Monsters roam all around the planets and players can fight them with weapons ranging from swords to fishing rods. The game starts off with "popcorn enemies" that die with just one hit, but more "advanced" battles await as the player progresses. There is also a creativity element in the battling as downed enemies become piles of bricks that can be rebuilt into temporary remote guns. Battle zones are open to all players in Lego Universe, just like the social areas. In the latter, shops are open for purchasing items such as weapons, clothing and extra bricks. There are also 12 different types of pets, which are cute, customisable and open up new abilities, such as digging up buried treasure. Later in the game, players unlock the ability to tame the pets by building something for them, meaning they bond to their minifig for the rest of the game.

Aside from the public areas, the player also gets a private space in which they can unleash their creativity. In the shattered world, there are countless planets infected by the maelstrom and every player is expected to return at least one to a creative playspace. After ridding all the enemies, the player claims their land by building something on it. Switching to a character with around an hour and a half of playtime, the NetDevil producer demonstrated how the modular building system can be used to create a fabulous property with minimal effort.

As with the rockets, a range of settlements - including castles, pirate ships, Wild West forts and futuristic bases - have been prebuilt and split into segments. The modular pieces can be collected by killing enemies or completing challenges in the world, and then kept in the player's backpack (the main storage system). Using a drag-and-drop system, the segments can be placed anywhere on the properties. Massive castles are split into ramparts, bridges, turrets and so on to be put together easily and redesigned at will. After completing a settlement, players can then invite their friends over to check out their handiwork.

For the "ultimate building experience", more adventurous players can use the brick-by-brick approach. NetDevil has imported the Lego Digital Designer (LDD) system, a CAD programme that enables people to build anything they want using digital bricks. Alongside the modular pieces, Lego Universe players can also collect individual bricks and other pieces for storage in their backpacks. Using the LDD, they can then use the pieces to build dogs, lifts, tables, or whatever they can imagine. In the demo, the NetDevil producer built a green tree with splashes of red, before creating a rather strange sheep with one stool-like leg.

By using a "really cool programming language" and a simple User Interface (UI), Lego Universe also enables players to make their creations come to life. Any items that have been built can be made to move, such as a lift being programmed to go up and down or the wonky sheep being made to hop around. If they feel so creative, players can even make LittleBigPlanet-style platform games with multiple lifts, slides and swings, and then share the experience with other players. Using the UI, items can also be set to interact with each other, such as the sheep triggering the lift to ascend when the player says "hello" to it. The scratchpad-style system means any unwanted creations can be easily got rid of, freeing players up to be as creative as they want.

Lego Universe will be available as a boxed game for £29.99, which includes the first month of play. After that gamers will need to purchase one-month (£7.49), six-month (£39.99) or 12-month (£64.99) subscription packages. NetDevil is also planning a "very aggressive" rollout schedule of additional content for the game. Mostly, though, the studio is hoping that players will embrace their role as creators in the universe and then "who knows where they are going to take it?"

Lego Universe will be released on October 26, but anyone pre-ordering the game will receive it on October 12.