To the great surprise of no one, the Lego games are finally going there and, well, not quite back again in Lego The Hobbit. The game follows the first two films of the Hobbit movie trilogy, giving us a chance to lead Bilbo and company all the way from the comforts of Bag End to the dwarf home beneath the Lonely Mountain. It’s a fun journey to be sure, but confusing at times, and not entirely satisfying. Lego The Hobbit clings to the series’ standard combat and exploration, but, as usual, a handful of welcome twists make things a bit more interesting this time around. A few different rhythm-based challenges, an item creation system tied to resource collection, and the “find the missing piece” mini-game from February’s Lego Movie game make The Hobbit more than just a button masher, although it is still mostly just that. Thankfully, the environmental challenges and enemies are sophisticated enough to keep the action engaging. In comparison to the roster in last year’s Lego Marvel game, many of the characters in the Hobbit feel like, at best, minor variations of each other.
It certainly doesn’t help that they all sort of look alike, and it can get a little confusing to tell the dwarves apart. But you’ll need to pay attention, as each dwarf has one unique ability, like Bombur’s ability to turn into a bouncing platform or Bofur’s mining power, that needs to be applied to the narrowly scripted environmental challenges. Chip the Glasses and Crack the Plates The extended action sequences and sometimes slapstick humor of The Hobbit films make a good fit for a Lego game. Honestly, there’s always been something a little disjointed about watching Cyclops wreck the X-Mansion or Luke Skywalker destroy Yoda’s house, but seeing the Dwarves go to town demolishing absolutely everything in Bag End or Rivendell makes perfect sense. When you see them literally start smashing Bilbo’s cupboards and Elrond’s tables, it just feels right. From the plate juggling in Bilbo’s kitchen to the golden toilets in Smaug’s hoard, there are also loads of humorous little touches that keep the charm going.
Lego The Hobbit also looks beautiful. The settings are very convincing, with loads of little details and plenty of suitably moody lighting. The world is filled with fantastic creatures and monsters, and developer Traveller’s Tales has done a great job adapting the giant eagles, goblin kings, and dragons to the standard Lego models. The only real problem with the graphics is that the more realistic color palette and sheer density of some of the scenes can make it very difficult to see who you are or what you’re doing. The sometimes inconsistent camera angles don’t help things much. More than once, I just found myself just attacking and jumping at random in the hopes that I would eventually figure out where I was. To Dungeons Deep and Caverns Old The main story clocks in at about six hours, but there’s much more to do and see in the world once you’ve completed the main missions. Each mission unlocks events around the map, and you’ll be able to spend hours digging into the recipes, errands, and encounters around Middle-earth.
A campfire system lets you change the time of day to open up new events, and you can always call on a giant eagle to get you from one end of the map to the other. While most of the missions are fairly predictable, I was impressed with the Hobbit’s take on the solo sections. For Riddles in the Dark, Bilbo’s joined by a dazed goblin, for instance. There are also some tremendous set pieces where the characters are facing off against the dragon, or climbing up the body of a very active and very angry stone giant. Unfortunately, the story sort of goes by in a flash. Last year’s Lego Marvel showed what Travelers Tales can do with an original story, so The Hobbit’s abbreviated, sometimes scattered storytelling feels like a step back. There are narrative bits tying the missions together, but the whole game presumes that you already know the source material well enough to fill in the gaps yourself. (You probably do, but if you’re playing with kids it might not be clear to them.) It’s particularly troublesome to track the events between the spider attack and the dwarves’ arrival at Lake Town.
The game also ends where the second movie ends, which left me wanting more – and not in a good way. Lego The Hobbit won’t surprise fans of the Lego series, but the new gameplay systems add just enough complexity to keep things interesting. New events and mining opportunities make exploration of the open world almost as fun as the main missions. The storytelling presumes you already know the source material by heart, which means things are sometimes a bit disjointed, and the game, like the movies it’s based on, ends at an awkward place. But like almost all the Lego games, this is a journey worth taking. Published on Jun 1. Live the epic adventure with Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves as they journey from the Shire through the halls of the Goblin King and the dangers of Mirkwood to face the dragon Smaug at the foot of The Lonely Mountain.By now, this should be old hat for TT Games. For the better part of nine years, the U.K.-based developer has created Lego interpretations of popular franchises.
They’ve gone from Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Batman and Harry Potter with other projects in between. The studio’s work has popularized the building blocks for a new generation of children and helped the company rebound. TT Games latest project is Lego The Hobbit, a title that covers Peter Jackson’s second foray into Middle-earth. I had a chance to check out a preview build of the game at a recent San Francisco event. I played through the Goblintown stage, where Bilbo, Thorin and company are captured by the Goblin King and have to fight their way out of an underground ramshackle city. Players will face an army of goblins but defeating them is a breeze with some teamwork. GAMEPLAY YOU KNOW WITH A MIDDLE-EARTH FEEL: Jumping into the fray, I discovered that the title still retains those simple gameplay elements — character switching, one-button combat — that made other Lego games accessible. But there are notable tweaks that give the game its distinct identity. For example, players will able to choose from Bilbo, Gandalf and their dwarven companions who each have a special weapon or ability.
For example, Gandalf can shoot magic that can break open certain blocks. Meanwhile, Dori’s grampling hook chain will be used to pull down anchored drawn bridges or pull down doors. Kili has a bow and arrow that can be used to solve puzzles that open passageways. Aiming is as simple as holding the attack button and aiming with the analog stick. Out of nowhere Gandalf will come and save you because he always does. COMBAT THAT MIMICS THE FILMS: On top of the character-specific moves, players can also team them up for combo moves. The dwarves can toss swing each other at foes, getting long reach with attacks. They can pick up items like ladders and turn them into a makeshift battering ram, blasting goblins out of the way. These moves mirror some of the choreography in the films’ action scenes, and there’s a thrill seeing it done in Legos. Lastly, there is an inventory system that comes into play for certain puzzles. Over the course of the campaign, players collect random knickknacks in addition to studs.