Client

LEGO

The opportunity to work on LEGO's prestigious DC brand has always been a major milestone at Mind Orchard. When we were given the chance to make games and animations for the Caped Crusader and the Man of Steel, we felt as though we had won the LEGO Lottery!

BRIEF: We were asked to create a microsite, which would contain access to the game, based upon the LEGO DC brand for Superman. This included comic book inspired, animated introduction videos and endings for each game, as well as fun and addictive gameplay to put players right into the worlds of Gotham and Metropolis respectively.

WHAT DID WE DO: Our first port of call was to really study the halftone art style made famous by the original comic books. We found using darker and stronger shadows, along with halftone patterns, created a beautiful combination of LEGO's strong identity with DC's comic styling. Once this was established we began developing a short story revolving around Superman fighting crime, with an emphasis on chasing Lex Luthor, to save the day. After this we began developing a game that really defines Superman.

The gameplay takes its cues from classic arcade side-scrolling shooting games: the player takes control of Superman and has to dodge Lex's missiles, whilst shooting him with his laser eyes and frost breath. We debated for a long time as to whether to have Superman controlled with the mouse to give a more natural flight, but opted to go with keyboard controls as we felt it gave a more authentic, arcade style, experience. At the end of each level, the player fights against Lex Luthor in his gigantic mech suit, to defeat him and proceed!

RESULT: Ultimately the game was a great success, seamlessly blending story and gameplay into a fun and truly addictive experience!