Doctor Who Level Pack Review

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LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Level Pack -

It’s no secret that some properties in LEGO Dimensions have been treated better than others. You can tell that the developers are big fans of Doctor Who based on the quality of its levels in the game and the sheer amount of fanservice it’s gotten throughout. The Doctor Who Level Pack stands out as a strong example of what can be accomplished within Level Packs, not suffering from many of the issues that the other packs did, although it does come with an Adventure World that leaves quite a lot to be desired.

The level in this pack isn’t a retelling of an episode, it uses a basic ‘Daleks invade Earth’ plot as an excuse to travel through a bunch of different locations from the show. In order to break through the Daleks’ defenses and find their base of operations you’ll need to go on an adventure through space and time. In order to overcome obstacles in London, you have to travel back in time using the TARDIS to set up solutions to puzzles that will come in handy in the future. For example, you might need to travel back to Victorian London where a house is being built, so that you can add platforms you can use to climb it in the future when construction is completed. It’s a cool mechanic, but there’s a short-ish loading screen in disguise you’ll have to sit through each time you use the TARDIS to travel to a new screen, and it ruins the pacing a bit. Between these screens and actually flying the TARDIS you get a little sick of hearing the show’s theme music by the end of the level.

LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Level Pack - Victorian London

There’s some problems a sonic screwdriver can’t solve

This level is one of the more substantial ones, both in length and the scope of it. Not only does it take a while to complete (especially if you’re hunting for collectibles), but you’ll visit a number of varied locations full of varied enemies along the way. Most of the areas in London are accessible in three different time periods, and there’s some alien locations as well. Each of these is filled with nods to the Doctor Who show (mostly the modern series). If you explore every nook and cranny of the level you’ll run into everything from Autons to the Snowmen. Fans of the show will feel giddy at all the fanservice they’ll run into and the humourous LEGO spin that gets put on it – ever wanted to see a Dalek play basketball?

The level in this pack also stands out from other Level Packs when looking deeper, as well. The stronger Level Packs are the ones that require more than just reusing the same one or two abilities over and over again in simple ways, like how the Portal pack uses portals and physics, and the Midway Pack incorporates classic arcade games. The Doctor Who Level Pack features the previously mentioned time travel puzzles, which are something unique you don’t see in any other level. There’s also The Doctor’s hacking skill – hacking certain terminals starts up a minigame in which you have to move around a board without getting hit by enemies. The twist is that certain parts of the board are colour-coded, and you’ll need to move your minifigure around the physical Toy Pad to gain access to areas matching the colour of each section of the Toy Pad. This adds a nice physical component to puzzles that you don’t get from the other Level Packs. The level mixes these two gimmicks with more standard puzzles and combat, and then tops it all off with a boss fight at the end, which keeps you engaged the whole time.

LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Level Pack - The SIlence

I don’t get why I posted an empty screenshot?

Within this pack you get The Doctor himself, his TARDIS, and his robotic companion K9. The main incarnation of The Doctor is the Twelfth Doctor, who is fully voiced with new dialogue from Peter Capaldi, but after you’ve finished the level in the pack you unlock the ability to play as his other regenerations as well. Each time The Doctor dies he regenerates to a new form, from One to Twelve. All regenerations pre-Twelve use archive audio from episodes of the show, which works better for more recent ones as you can probably imagine. The TARDIS interior changes to match the Doctor you’re playing as, and will play the appropriate version of the show’s theme song as well. It’s great being able to unlock your favourite Doctor and run around the multiverse with him. All Doctors possess the same abilities, but their movement and combat animations differ. He can use his sonic screwdriver (which also changes depending on the current regeneration – seriously the fanservice in this pack is nuts) to Sonar Smash glass and quickly fix broken objects much quicker than regular characters can. And as mentioned before he can interact with Technology terminals. Some of these open up the hacking minigame, while others present much simpler puzzles (or no puzzle at all).

K9 also appears in this pack, in all his retro sci-fi glory. He’s The Doctor’s go-to means of blowing up silver LEGO, which is an ability you’ll need often in the game. His second form possesses the Sonar Smash ability which is pretty useless given that The Doctor has this himself, while his final form gives him proper legs to run around on adorably, as well as the ability to melt gold LEGO. He speaks a few lines from the show, so he’s more than just a lifeless vehicle.

The TARDIS is a real highlight of the pack because of its host of abilities – in all its forms it can fly and use special flight-related items like Flight Docks, and when upgraded to its second form it can fire lasers that melt gold LEGO. Its final form isn’t great as it just allows the TARDIS to use an inefficient special attack. But while those abilities are all well and good, the thing the TARDIS is best known for is its transportation through space and time, which is utilised just as well outside of the Doctor Who Level Pack as it is within it. In a few of the game’s levels you’ll find special docks the TARDIS can stop at, which will cause it to travel to a totally different area with all new puzzles to solve. For example, in one of the Simpsons levels, travelling in this way will take you to the Flinstone family’s house in Bedrock! All of these optional areas are meatier than you’d expect, with a fair few puzzles to solve within.

This teleportation is put to great use within the Adventure World that this pack unlocks, too. This world starts off fragmented, with only small parts of different locations being accessible. Each of these fragments has a machine that can be built that brings it in line with the others and unlocks new puzzles, races, and quests as more parts come together. Without the TARDIS you’ll have to jump into a void that will throw you into an area at random, but if you enter your TARDIS you’ll be able to access the control panel and choose which area of the world you want to teleport into. It’s a fun way to step into the shoes of The Doctor, and you can continue to travel in this way even after the world is fully assembled if you want to hear that iconic sound.

LEGO Dimensions Doctor Who Level Pack - Adventure World

Our customised TARDIS scouts out the Doctor Who Adventure World

The Doctor Who Adventure World offers a lot for fans of the series – it features locations like Trenzalore (complete with giant TARDIS) and Telos, and has fully voiced dialogue from a heap of cast members from the show. You can accept quests from a variety of characters like Captain Jack Harkness, Missy, and Strax. It’s great to team up with beloved characters to take on the show’s various enemies. However, players who aren’t fans of the series probably won’t get much out of this world as it doesn’t have much to offer outside of the TARDIS gimmick and the fanservice. The world feels really small, but I’m not sure whether that’s due to the actual size of it or because there’s a lot of space taken up by buildings and impassible mountainous terrain. If you’re travelling on-foot or in a land vehicle you’re going to be stuck on mostly linear paths between areas. And then with most of the gold bricks being distributed via quests and races, there’s less left for puzzles than in other worlds. The Doctor Who world was one of the ones I found myself revisiting least.

The Doctor Who Level Pack is definitely one of the ones that comes close to justifying the $50 RRP because of how much high-quality content it adds. Its level is ambitious in its scope, and the TARDIS unlocks a number of substantial areas in other parts of the game. If you’re a fan of the show you’ll get a lot out of everything this pack has to offer because it goes to lengths to cram in as much fanservice as it can. Those not familiar with Doctor Who should still enjoy the main level and the new areas the TARDIS can explore, but probably won’t get much out of the Adventure World that relies too much on fanservice.

Level9
Adventure World5.5
Characters and Vehicles9.5
The Doctor Who Level Pack is the best extra level so far, and the TARDIS is one of the more interesting vehicles in the game. There's plenty of fanservice in this pack but the Adventure World is lacking for those who aren't fans.
9
Reader Rating: (1 Rate)6
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