Zach was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with Lego Dimensions whilst in L.A at E3 2016 and got a hands-on look at what’s in store for year two of Warner’s Toys-to Life franchise.

The biggest addition is a new battle mode, which allows up to four players to combat each other competitively for the first time in a Lego game. Series Co-Game Director Arthur Parsons explained that the development team decided to create this mode after watching players inevitably turn upon each other for fun whilst playing previous iterations of the Lego games.

Zach played a “Capture the Flag” style mode taking place in an arena based on the Adventure Time franchise. To help protect their base, each player can also construct traps to prevent the opposition from gaining access to their base. The game quickly became a free-for-all as players sought to gain possession of their rivals’ flag in order to quickly accumulate points.

The combat is similar to previous Lego games, where you frantically mash the ‘X’ button and wail on all and sundry. Additionally, there are now item bubbles laying around to take advantage of, granting players special abilities such as increasing in size or reversing your enemy’s controller inputs. Each arena seemed to feature quite a few of these bubbles, so understandably the matches can become quite chaotic. Ranks are awarded at the end of the round, giving players an incentive to try and attain the most points.

Zach also got to have a brief session on the upcoming Harry Potter map; the world closely represents its source material and boasts unique features, like mud slides. The new characters, such as one of the titular Gremlins from the classic Eighties film, Finn and Jake and Harry Potter, also feature unique abilities. This includes Harry using his wand to shoot a Deer Patronus or Jake taking advantage of his amorphous body to stretch out his limbs and attack far off foes.

Overall, Lego Dimensions: Year Two seems to feature a stack of new modes and worlds for fans to explore and the addition of multiple new franchises to the lexicon of the game is sure to extend its life span well into the coming year.

Check out the interview with Arthur Parsons below for a quick glimpse of what to expect when Lego Dimensions: Year Two drops: