LEGO Dimensions – Ghostbusters Story Pack

LEGO Dimensions is the must own Toys-to-Life gift this holiday season, and for LEGO fans, the most own game this holiday season. No, it’s not a new title, but with all the updates and releases from LEGO and Warner Bros., you would think it is! Recently, GamesReviews was fortunate enough to get a few of the newly released packs to play around with, and Ghostbusters was my first choice!

The Ghostbusters Story pack is a new addition to the LEGO Dimensions catalogue of sets. In the past, we have seen Team Packs, Level Packs, and of course, Fun Packs, all of which bring something new to the LEGO Dimensions universe.

For those unfamiliar, Level packs often include a figure and two vehicles, and will unlock a new world to play in, obviously based on the character or franchise you have purchased.

Team Packs include 2 vehicles and two figures, and are considered an ‘upgraded’ version of the Fun Pack.

Fun Packs are inexpensive sets that give players a character and a vehicle to use in game. These are great for slowly expanding your LEGO Dimensions collection.

As I mentioned before, Story Packs are new. The Ghostbusters pack – which we are looking at right now – released on September 27th, 2016. Two more Story Packs are slated for release in the next little while, including the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 18, 2016) and the LEGO Batman Movie in 2017.

What’s great about these new Story Packs is that they are more of everything. While that sounds odd to say, it’s frankly the truth. You get more LEGO bricks to build with – as you will be building a brand new portal display with many of the included 259 bricks – more story to play through – Story packs include their own story line that goes deeper than the missions found within Level packs – and more fun to be had.

The new gateway build is a welcome addition to the LEGO Dimensions line up. While I love the game, the portal that you build when purchasing the starter pack was a bit too tall, a bit to flimsy, and frankly had too many parts that easily could fall off and become lost. The Ghostbusters build – the Zhu’s Chinese Restaurant – is much smaller in height, and much sturdier when compared to its portal predecessor. Having the ability to swap portals is a welcome addition; in the end, my kids will get more enjoyment out of this than myself, but when I have multiple options in the near future, I will pick my favorite and keep it that way.

The bricks included in this set are generally fairly standard; that being said, the ultimate reason to buy or not buy a LEGO set for many fans is the number of unique blocks / stickers you might be able to get. This set has it’s fair share of them, which only adds to the value. The best part about this set is that the portal build isn’t even the best one. The vehicles – all three variations, which is common for all LEGO Dimensions sets – are outstanding as well. I’ve already rebuilt the set into all three to see which one I like best. They are all so great.

From a LEGO bricks and set standpoint, this is a great purchase fro 59.99. However, part of the value is also in the gameplay, and Ghostbusters adds a ton to this already fantastic title. The Story Pack includes six Ghostbusters themed levels to explore based on the 2016 film. The plot can be summed up nicely by stating that players will get to “Relive the film and help Abby Yates and the team of Ghostbusters save the world from the mysterious and evil ghost, Rowen.” I won’t delve into spoilers here, but I thoroughly enjoyed the six levels I got to play. There was variety, decent puzzles, and some great multiplayer action to be had. My son Logan also enjoyed this, despite not knowing 100% what Ghostbusters even was!

Abby Yates has some great abilities to compliment the rest of the LEGO Dimensions line up of characters. Her two main abilities are the Charge Transfer, which is activated by using her Proton Blaster, and the Intelligence Access. The former move electricity between electrical conduits to help open doors and solve puzzles, while the latter is purely a puzzle solving ability. Both work well within this short story, but I haven’t used her enough outside of the Ghostbusters realm to assess her real value there.

Overall, there is a lot to like in this Ghostbusters Story Pack, and not a whole lot to criticize. While some may wince at the price point – 49.99 seems like a lot for 249 bricks – it is important to remember exactly what you are getting with this pack: 1 character, 1 vehicle, 1 new gateway build, and six new levels to explore. In our opinion, the Ghostbusters Story Pack is definitely worth the money, and should be a must own for any big Ghostbusters or LEGO Dimensions fans!