Lego Rock Raiders is not for everybody, and anyone looking for a Platformer should probably stay clear. Piloting a vehicle is as easy as getting close to it and pressing X, and you exit levels through a “beam-me-up-Scotty” portal the same way. When you’re not in a vehicle, the only real activity is running, jumping, and drilling. Analog and vibration are supported for Dual Shock controllers the vibration is used mostly to alert you when you take damage. Controls seem sharp, although everything is so small that it’s hard sometimes to find room to move around. Most of the time, you’ll be in a vehicle and safe from monsters, but at least one Sasquatch-looking beast is big enough to take down a car or small plane. Depending on the weapon, you can even power-up a Raider to go head-to-head with monsters when on foot. Every vehicle has certain limitations, but periodically you find weapons that can attach to a vehicle for extra power, or to fight a big monster. Sometimes drilling a wall is required more because you need to pilot a low-flying vehicle through or even carry some ground vehicle through with the big transport. Some rock can be drilled by a Raider, but others require dynamite or a special vehicle. The one thing involved in clearing every level is drilling through various types of rock walls. Especially when you’re required to use vehicles in combination, some levels can be challenging. Piloting the ground, air, or water vehicles is a fun addition that really takes the game beyond just threading 18 mazes and winning. I especially like the big transport helicopter, and there’s also a mini-helicopter you can use to shuttle between waypoints. Lego really has a great product to be making video games with, since all the vehicles work into the story nicely. It’s totally cool, and I found myself playing with the puzzle even after the level had loaded.

LEGO Media may have finally answered the question of what to do while levels load, because you get this puzzle with mixed squares showing a Lego character or vehicle, and you rearrange the pieces trying to put together the original image. One small detail that I loved in Rock Raiders was the loading screen. They’re fun, but I really wish the main game could have been accessed as two-player cooperative, instead of just single player. Two-Player Mode is really just six “special levels” that allow cooperative play. Other Raider skills include the ability to pilot certain vehicles more quickly, jump higher, get better power-ups, and replenish energy from drilling rock.

For instance, if there is a lot of water to deal with, you choose a Raider who can go through the water without taking damage. On top of this, each Rock Raider has a particular skill that may make completing a level easier. Vehicles are weighted to accomplish certain tasks, and you usually have to coordinate several vehicles to complete a level. Some of the tricks you’ll master in the 18 game levels are using transport ships (which you have to find the resources to build) to carry other vehicles, finding dynamite used to blow the tougher rock walls, and battling some aggressive monsters who don’t like you thiefin’ their crystals. All this together feels more like a Puzzle game than a Platformer, which would be the next best match. And, every level requires that you master drilling through the different varieties of rock to get every crystal. Every level you zap into has obstacles to overcome while you gather crystals, like rescuing lost crew members, powering up vehicles or defeating monsters. Luckily, one planet in the remote star system the Rock Raiders find themselves in looks to be rich in crystal deposits, so it’s up to the explorers to gather everything needed to get home. The premise for all the action is that a Lego spaceship is sucked into a black hole while exploring, and needs special crystals to get back on course. Is it Action, Racing, or a Platformer? IMHO, Rock Raiders is a puzzle game. You drive lots of vehicles, do some exploring, combat monsters and spend a lot of time jumping and swimming. Looking at the hype on Lego Rock Raiders, it’s hard to tell what kind of a game it is.

Lego rock raiders video game intro