Bionicle Heroes
Posted December 29, 2006
On the coattails of LEGO: Star Wars II, Traveller’s Tales is taking another stab a LEGO infused title based on the Technic line of LEGO toys called Bionicles. Bionicle is a mixture of two words: biological and chronicle. The Bionicle series of LEGO toys has spawned books, comics, and a few direct of video movies. Naturally, the transition to a video game franchise was the next progressive step. Unfortunately, the execution of the first step is less than admirable. The presentation of Bionicle is fairly humdrum and without any back-story. In fact, gamers may be confused during the single player campaign due to lack of exposition. The cut scenes to do little to expand on the story line or even explain what’s going on. As far as I can tell, the main robotic character is enhanced with elemental powers to stop an evil robotic character from gaining too much power and taking over the world. 
Gameplay:
As the first area loads up, players will notice an area that’s very similar to the cantina in LEGO: Star Wars. This section allows players to shop in the local store, check out trophies, research robotic interaction in the playground, and ultimately choose any level to play. The majority of the main areas are unlocked at the outset of the game, but some sections will open as you progress through the single player campaign. The main missions are broken into 6 areas, each with a specific environment in mind. Players can choose from the first mission in the desert, forest, mountains, islands, volcano, or a dungeon. Each section has four levels to play though, the last being a quick boss fight.
Battling against the onslaught of robotic creatures can only be done one way; endlessly firing the gun attached to your arm. Changing into a new mask can alternate the type of ammunition in use. Ammo is also based on the elements and is broken into water, fire, ice, etc. Each enemy has a certain weakness to a particular type of weapon, but eliminating them with any weapon is fairly simple. The main issue with the shooting mechanic is that it requires absolutely no skill due to the auto-aim system. The monotony of battle becomes incredibly overbearing. Often times, I couldn’t take more than 20 to 30 minute spurts of the game without getting fed up.
Bionicle Heroes also makes an attempt to add puzzles into the mix, but unfortunately nothing even remotely challenging. Each section of the level requires a certain mask to be used at the gate to proceed. While masks can be lost in the heat of battle due to lowered life, folks will rarely need to go look for a new one. Also, sections of each level cannot be passed until Hero mode is reached. This God mode is attained by collecting enough LEGO bricks to vault yourself into invincibility. Oddly, it’s very simple to reach Hero mode and I found myself playing the majority of each level within Hero mode rather than the opposite to be true. It’s yet another reason why the game becomes far too boring within a few minutes of play.
The store is an excellent place to upgrade the strength and armor capabilities of your various robots as well as purchase items for the robotic playground. Each robot can be upgraded 10 times in each category for a substantial cost. Once the maximum amount of upgrades is reached, weaponry gains a new level of destructive effectiveness and armor is just one notch below gold level. Powerful weapons have an ability to pop open formally closed sections of levels, thus gaining access to collectible items such as gold bricks.
Achievements are fairly simple to come by in Bionicle Heroes, but painstakingly repetitive. The entire set of 49 tasks for 1000 gamerscore points will take at least 10 to 15 hours to complete, specifically for the final few achievements. The majority of points are awarded for three actions: finishing a level, eliminating a certain number of creatures, or killing with a specific robot. By simply playing through the main campaign for the first time, expect to rack up at least 800 points. The final achievements require multiple play-throughs with an unlocked character as well as racking up millions upon millions of Lego pieces and purchasing every item in the game. Folks that played through Lego: Star Wars will understand the achievement structure quickly, but may be disappointed in the general lack of creativity. Traveller’s Tales could have been stingier with the point values to increase the replay value of their title.
Graphics:
The engine behind Bionicle Heroes is obviously similar to LEGO: Star Wars. The majority of the levels contain tons of breakable parts that look great in high definition. Particle, explosion, and lighting effects are much more detailed than the Star Wars title and the amount of detail seems to be vastly increased as well. The artistic flair to each type of weapon fire is highly unique and adds to the robotic flavor of the game. Character animations seem to be limited, but that certainly fits into the robotic theme. For a budget title, Bionicle is pretty darn polished and built to take advantage of the 360 hardware.
Audio:
If there was any game that needed a custom soundtrack, it’s Bionicle Heroes. The developer took a wacky approach with a single looped tune that repeats the entire game. The music slightly changes in pace during the major fight scenes, but more variety is definitely needed. The sound effects are also a bit grating, but certainly not to the same extent. While many of the sound effects seem to have made the jump from the Star Wars title, there is a large amount of unique recorded clips to enjoy. As for spoken word, there is no voice work recorded for any character in the entire game. Instead, it’s more of mish-mosh of groans, sighs, and cries. On a final thankful note, there is an option to silence either the effects or music in the options menu.
Overall:
While I applaud the developer for attempting to use an original concept for another LEGO title, the lack of a compelling story greatly hampers the amount of enjoyment offered to the player. Additionally, the inane simplicity to the game insurmountably adds to its repetitive nature. Without any multiplayer, there is no reason to continue if you can manage to force yourself through the single player. As for its target market, kids of that age group will most likely enjoy games like Viva Piñata and LEGO: Star Wars vastly more than Bionicle Heroes. This could pass for a rental on a rainy day, but nothing more.
Gameplay:
As the first area loads up, players will notice an area that’s very similar to the cantina in LEGO: Star Wars. This section allows players to shop in the local store, check out trophies, research robotic interaction in the playground, and ultimately choose any level to play. The majority of the main areas are unlocked at the outset of the game, but some sections will open as you progress through the single player campaign. The main missions are broken into 6 areas, each with a specific environment in mind. Players can choose from the first mission in the desert, forest, mountains, islands, volcano, or a dungeon. Each section has four levels to play though, the last being a quick boss fight.
Battling against the onslaught of robotic creatures can only be done one way; endlessly firing the gun attached to your arm. Changing into a new mask can alternate the type of ammunition in use. Ammo is also based on the elements and is broken into water, fire, ice, etc. Each enemy has a certain weakness to a particular type of weapon, but eliminating them with any weapon is fairly simple. The main issue with the shooting mechanic is that it requires absolutely no skill due to the auto-aim system. The monotony of battle becomes incredibly overbearing. Often times, I couldn’t take more than 20 to 30 minute spurts of the game without getting fed up.
Bionicle Heroes also makes an attempt to add puzzles into the mix, but unfortunately nothing even remotely challenging. Each section of the level requires a certain mask to be used at the gate to proceed. While masks can be lost in the heat of battle due to lowered life, folks will rarely need to go look for a new one. Also, sections of each level cannot be passed until Hero mode is reached. This God mode is attained by collecting enough LEGO bricks to vault yourself into invincibility. Oddly, it’s very simple to reach Hero mode and I found myself playing the majority of each level within Hero mode rather than the opposite to be true. It’s yet another reason why the game becomes far too boring within a few minutes of play.
The store is an excellent place to upgrade the strength and armor capabilities of your various robots as well as purchase items for the robotic playground. Each robot can be upgraded 10 times in each category for a substantial cost. Once the maximum amount of upgrades is reached, weaponry gains a new level of destructive effectiveness and armor is just one notch below gold level. Powerful weapons have an ability to pop open formally closed sections of levels, thus gaining access to collectible items such as gold bricks.
Achievements are fairly simple to come by in Bionicle Heroes, but painstakingly repetitive. The entire set of 49 tasks for 1000 gamerscore points will take at least 10 to 15 hours to complete, specifically for the final few achievements. The majority of points are awarded for three actions: finishing a level, eliminating a certain number of creatures, or killing with a specific robot. By simply playing through the main campaign for the first time, expect to rack up at least 800 points. The final achievements require multiple play-throughs with an unlocked character as well as racking up millions upon millions of Lego pieces and purchasing every item in the game. Folks that played through Lego: Star Wars will understand the achievement structure quickly, but may be disappointed in the general lack of creativity. Traveller’s Tales could have been stingier with the point values to increase the replay value of their title.
Graphics:
The engine behind Bionicle Heroes is obviously similar to LEGO: Star Wars. The majority of the levels contain tons of breakable parts that look great in high definition. Particle, explosion, and lighting effects are much more detailed than the Star Wars title and the amount of detail seems to be vastly increased as well. The artistic flair to each type of weapon fire is highly unique and adds to the robotic flavor of the game. Character animations seem to be limited, but that certainly fits into the robotic theme. For a budget title, Bionicle is pretty darn polished and built to take advantage of the 360 hardware.
Audio:
If there was any game that needed a custom soundtrack, it’s Bionicle Heroes. The developer took a wacky approach with a single looped tune that repeats the entire game. The music slightly changes in pace during the major fight scenes, but more variety is definitely needed. The sound effects are also a bit grating, but certainly not to the same extent. While many of the sound effects seem to have made the jump from the Star Wars title, there is a large amount of unique recorded clips to enjoy. As for spoken word, there is no voice work recorded for any character in the entire game. Instead, it’s more of mish-mosh of groans, sighs, and cries. On a final thankful note, there is an option to silence either the effects or music in the options menu.
Overall:
While I applaud the developer for attempting to use an original concept for another LEGO title, the lack of a compelling story greatly hampers the amount of enjoyment offered to the player. Additionally, the inane simplicity to the game insurmountably adds to its repetitive nature. Without any multiplayer, there is no reason to continue if you can manage to force yourself through the single player. As for its target market, kids of that age group will most likely enjoy games like Viva Piñata and LEGO: Star Wars vastly more than Bionicle Heroes. This could pass for a rental on a rainy day, but nothing more.