LEGO The Hobbit video game to launch in 2014 Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, TT Games, and LEGO have announced a new video game is coming to the popular LEGO game franchise next year. The game will be called LEGO The Hobbit and will put players into the big feet of Bilbo Baggins and his friends. The exact launch date for the game in 2014 is unannounced at this time. LEGO The Hobbit video game will be based on the two films in The Hobbit Trilogy including The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the film to launch soon called The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug. That new film will hit theaters on December 13. The game will see players on a quest through Middle-earth with Bilbo, Gandalf the Grey, and Thorin Oakenshield and Company. The game will allow players to take the form of their favorite Hobbit characters including Bilbo, Gandalf, and all of the Dwarves. Each of the characters has his own special power. One of the powers players will get to use is for the dwarf Bombur who uses his belly as a trampoline to bounce his friends out of danger.
TT Games is currently developing the game for launch next year. The game will also expand on themes introduced in the new LEGO The Hobbit toy collection. The game will be offered on the Xbox One and 360, PS4 and PS3, Nintendo Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, and Windows computers.The internet spoiled the surprise Warner Bros. was preparing for later today, but now the company has come out and announced LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The publisher teased overnight that a new announcement concerning two of the biggest entertainment franchises will be made today. The announcement, and game in question, leaked online thanks to a Xbox Store product page slipping out early. Similar to other Legofication of popular movies, it has its own take on the movie’s story. It will also feature content that bridges the gap between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Developed by TT Games, LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens promises new gameplay mechanics to build, battle and “fly through the galaxy like never before” thanks to the Multi-Builds system.
It allows players to choose from multiple building options. It will also contain Blaster Battles which will make use of the surrounding environments, participate in arena-based battles and dogfights in space using ships such as the Millennium Falcon. Characters Rey, Finn, Poe Dameron, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and BB-8, Kylo Ren, General Hux and Captain Phasma will be includes along with locations such as Jakku and Starkiller Base. PlayStation 3 and PS4 players will also have access to exclusive DLC: the Droid Character Pack and the Phantom Limb Level Pack. Content details will be announced at a later date. A Season Pass will also be made available, and when customers purchase the Deluxe Edition of the game, it’s included in the $69.99 price. LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens releases on June 28 for 3DS, PC, PlayStation 3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.PSLS • • • • Another year, another trek through a building block infested world.
The LEGO series of games has put us in Batman’s suit, holding Indiana Jones whip, and now we travel to the world of hobbits and orcs with LEGO The Hobbit. Like a yearly sports release, the LEGO series has shown small improvements each year to the formula and this year is no different. However, it would have been nice to see the developers finally solve some key issues and add much-requested features.LEGO The Hobbit follows the events of the first two hobbit movies, as Bilbo Baggins has teamed up with a group of Dwarfs to try and claim back their homeland Erebor from the dragon Smaug. It makes sense that the game follows along with the first two movies as the third hasn’t released yet, but it really makes the ending to the game a bit awkward as there really isn’t a true ending. As someone who has seen both movies, it was really cool to see the great sense of humor added to very serious scenes of the movies.Cooperative play is the name of the game when it comes to the LEGO series and The Hobbit is no different.
The game takes it a bit further than past titles however, as you have anywhere close to 8 characters on screen at once during some levels and you have some new coop elements to play with. Stack up dwarf’s at certain areas of levels to reach higher places or buddy up with your teammate to perform a buddy attack. This attack can be used at anytime during the level but comes in most handy when trying to break a wall or take down a large enemy.As you have so many possible choices during levels, the game actually provides you a reason to use most of the characters in your party. One of the dwarfs has a bow, one has a slingshot, and then one has a big hammer. All of these weapons will need to be used at some point throughout each level, whether you are weighing down something with the slingshot or knocking a boulder out of the way with the hammer. Each dwarf has multiple weapons and abilities which helps spice up the gameplay a bit, giving you plenty of options throughout each level.Outside of the main story levels, which once beaten can be played in free play mode, there will be plenty for players to do throughout the world.
The world, which is bigger than you might expect for a LEGO game, allows you to travel all around it, performing quests for NPCs and collecting bricks and loot. Loot is something new to the series, as you collect boards, fish, stone, and much more. This loot can be used during the levels to build a needed device or used at the Blacksmith to craft special weapons or items. Bricks can be collected throughout the game which allows you once purchased to unlock different cheats to use during your playthrough and like past LEGO games, you can also purchase multiple different characters to use during the game.Now I mentioned earlier how there were some issues here in The Hobbit that sadly has been there for almost every LEGO game and hasn’t been fixed. This is namely the glitches and freezes in the game. During my playthrough, I had the game freeze up completely over 6 times, with 3 of those coming at the same exact part of a level when I switched characters too fast. I could forgive these issues a little bit if they didn’t happen every single time they released a LEGO game.
There were also a few occasions where I completed a quest, only to have the game not recognize it and making me redo the quest to complete it again.A minor issue I found too was while playing co-op with my wife. The game lets you visit two different areas of the map and work on separate things, which is nice. However, if I was working on a specific quest and then my wife started talking to an NPC to gain a new quest, the game collapses the split screen and reads you the quest. This becomes increasingly annoying when one person is in the middle of doing something and a quest is started, sometimes accidentally. This would be fixed with an option for online co-op, however that has still not been realized in the series sadly.Outside of some issues, LEGO The Hobbit is a step forward in the series. Gathering loot and buddy attacks are super additions that do just enough to improve the series. It is obvious that the devs were strapped to reach a big amount of playable characters and it is annoying to see issues not fixed.