It's easy to dismiss the Lego titles from TT Games with phrases like "it's more of the same" and "it's probably good for kids". And to be honest that's how many game reviewers continue to tackle the long-running franchise. But if you dig under the surface, you'll notice that there has been a lot of progression over the years since the Lego game first appeared.The last year has offered three games that have managed to really stand out on their own. Lego City Undercover offered an original storyline and was purely a single player game, Lego Marvel Super Heroes offered a wealth of abilities and characters, but returned to the classic co-op formula, while The Lego Movie Videogame offered something totally unique in that the whole game world was built with Lego blocks. As a result of this TT Games introduced manuals that you could collect, telling you how to construct certain things, and if you had real world blocks available you could build them yourself.James Norton, senior producer on Lego The Hobbit explains that this feature was something they really enjoyed and that'll return in this game.
In fact, he explains with a hint of pride in his voice, the team behind the game have built all the models themselves.As the last year's worth of Lego titles proves, TT Games aims to implement a new focus in each every game in order to keep the formula from feeling tired and recycled. This is true for Lego The Hobbit as well. Norton uses one word to describe what's new: 'dwarves'. But we're talking changes that are more than just shortening the length of the character legs. More on this later.As we sit down with the Dual Shock 4 controller in our hands to set out on the great journey of one special Hobbit, we're treated to the usual environments with blocks, Lego characters and that particular brand of humour sprinkled on top. The blocks don't make up as much of the landscape as in The Lego Movie Videogame; in other words this is a more traditional TT Games offering.But let's return to the adventure at hand. We arrive at the Goblin village and a bunch of angry creatures walk across the screen.
They angrilly throw their weapons on the ground and make angry sounds. There are axes, swords, crossbows, and... Obviously.As we make our way up to the Goblin King for a mini-boss fight the first major change in the game mechanics appear. We need to shoot a box that the Goblin King holds up over his head, and, as usual, it's colour-coded to correspond to the ability of a certain character. But this time it is possible to move while you line up a ranged attack. This adds a far better flow to the action.This is, however, not the major change we mentioned. As he drops the box following a well placed shot, two of our dwarves illuminate and are now paired up for a tag team attack. They grab a hold of each other, one climbing on top of the other and perform a body slam worthy of Hulk Hogan.Later on as Goblins have formed a blockade, my two dwarves grab a tree and mow them down. Even later on four of my dwarves will climb on top of each other to create a ladder of meat. Co-operation has been integrated into combat and puzzles to a much larger degree.
If you're tired of mindlessly mashing a button you will be glad to know that each of the characters come with a special attack that is charged by holding down a button. It's still very much the simple system that we're all used to, but this adds a layer of depth that should appeal to players who want something a little more tactical.The so called minibuilds that were introduced in The Lego Movie Videogame make a return, and allows players to solve smaller puzzles by building simple Lego models and make use of them.The developers promise around eighty characters in the game and double that amount of side-quests. So there should be enough content in there as the game covers the first two movies of Peter Jackson's trilogy. Lego The Hobbit is expected to release in late spring and includes all the original voice talent including Christoper Lee (Saruman) as the narrator.If you're longing for yet another adventure built with blocks, Lego The Hobbit looks like it will follow suit in a line of great games that offer both familiarity and new ideas.
Pause the game, select the "Extras" option, and choose the "Enter Code" selection. Then, enter one of the following codes to activate the corresponding cheat function. Note: Characters unlocked with codes cannot be saved. Thus, you must re-enter codes to activate the characters again each time you quit and restart the game. Fast travel to Hobbiton. When you arrive, select "Bofur" as your character. Then, follow the river east until you see a box full of bread on the right. Destroy the box, and collect the wood and bread. Next, go straight through the fence to reach a small cave that contains random loot that can be mined. The random loot can be gold, silver, copper, iron, sapphire, ruby, emerald, diamond, or stone. After collecting the loot in the small cave, turn left to see a box of fish next to the bridge. Destroy the box of fish, and collect the items. After collecting the loot, pause the game, select "View Map", and choose to fast travel to Hobbiton again. All loot will respawn.
Repeat this process as many times as desired. This trick allows you to obtain enough loot to forge all the weapons and tools in the game. Fast travel to Esgaroth, and go to the tower on the far right. Stand in the tower for two seconds to make this area your save location. Then, collect the nearby sapphire, ruby, emerald, and diamond. After collecting the loot, pause the game, select the "View Map" option, and choose to fast travel to Mirkwood. When the eagle drops you off, hold Up on the Left Analog-stick to cause your character to fall into the water. You will then respawn back at the tower in Esgaroth. Repeat this process as many times as desired. Successfully complete the indicated tasks to obtain all stud multipliers. Stud multipliers can be activated in conjunction with one another. Collect and activate all five stud multipliers to receive a x3840 stud multiplier, giving you 3840 studs for every one stud collected. Mithril Flail schematic location: At the beginning of the "Over Hill And Under Hill" level, change to an elf, then shoot arrows into the yellow slots on the cliffs.
Swing on the arrows to reach the schematic. Then, forge the Mithril Flail item in the Bree blacksmith shop. Red Brick location: Successfully complete the quest in Hobbiton during the daytime. The person giving the stud quest is in the far northern section of the map. Trade the Mithril Flail item to be able to purchase the x2 studs multiplier for 500,000 studs. Mithril Shadow Blade schematic location: Go south and slightly east of Bree, and look for large yellow and purple sign post with arrows. Follow the yellow arrows; if you see a purple arrow, go the opposite direction to find the next yellow arrow. If you go the correct way, two yellow arrows will appear above some loose dirt. Dig in that area to find a key, then jump over to a special altar. Give it some crafting items, which can be purchased in Erebor, to obtain the schematic. Then, forge the Mithril Shadow Blade item in the Bree blacksmith shop. Red Brick location: Travel to the High Pass east of Rivendell. Climb down the giant Lego brick cliff, swing across the gap, and then climb up to find the person giving the stud quest.
Trade the Mithril Shadow Blade item to be able to purchase the x4 studs multiplier for 1,500,000 studs. Mithril Construction Hat schematic location: On the road between Dol Guldur and Rhovanion, locate the goblin wall, and climb up it with a goblin character. Jump across the platforms, and plant a flower to reach the jump pads above. While on the mountain path, go to the cave entrance, and solve the puzzle by moving the large block to the high ledge. Then, set a fire, and smash the chest to get the schematic. Forge the Mithril Construction Hat item in the Bree blacksmith shop. Red Brick location: The person giving the stud quest is on the southern shores of Moria, next to a Lego tent near the water. Trade the Mithril Construction Hat item to be able to purchase the x6 studs multiplier for 4,500,000 studs. Mithril Beanstalk schematic location: In the snowy Pass Of Caradhras, far south of Rivendell, is a cave covered with mithril rocks. Smash the rocks to find the schematic inside, near a snowman.
Then, forge the Mithril Beanstalk item in the Bree blacksmith shop. Red Brick location: On the path south of Bree's entrance from Hobbiton is the person giving the stud quest, on the edge of a cliff. Trade the Mithril Beanstalk item to be able to purchase the x8 studs multiplier for 10,000,000 studs. Mithril Candle Staff schematic location: South of Dol Guldur in the forest, look for sparkling wooden bricks covering a cave entrance. Use the ring with Bilbo to destroy the planks. There is a locked altar inside that requires three hidden keys. Dig up the loose dirt on the right, shoot the target under the owl in the tree to the left, and break the bricks in the foreground left to collect all three keys. Use the three keys to open the locked altar and obtain the schematic. Then, forge the Mithril Candle Staff item in the Bree blacksmith shop. Red Brick location: In the elven forest west of Dol Guldur, the person giving the stud quest will appear in the trees. Trade the Mithril Candle Staff item to be able to purchase the x10 studs multiplier for 20,000,000 studs.
Note: Successfully complete the other optional quests first for this stud quest to become available. First, unlock and activate as many stud multipliers as possible. Then, travel to Bree to find two purple studs (worth 10,000 each at x1 multiplier) in the center square of town, and collect them. After collecting the purple studs, enter the nearby interior shop, and then go back outside to make the purple studs respawn. If you have unlocked and activated all five stud multipliers, you will earn 38,400,000 studs for each purple stud collected. Search the indicated locations to find all Minikits. Search the indicated locations to find all schematics. Search the indicated locations to find all treasures. To get the "Lord Of The Prance" achievement, you must equip the Dazzle Wig, Mithril Rhythm Stick, and Mithril Dance Boots items. The mithril items require a schematic to forge them in Bree. The wig can be found as a special treasure item. The items can be found at the following locations: