3DActionCasualCollectiblesDLCFightingMoveMovies & TVMusic & PartyPuzzle & CardsRole-PlayingShooterSimulationSportsStrategyStrategy Guides Audio & VisualBatteries & ChargersCables & AdaptorsCameras & WebcamsControllersFaceplates & SkinsGame SystemsGaming FurnitureGear & ApparelHeadsets & MicsInteractive Gaming FiguresKeyboards & MiceMounts & BracketsRepair & CleaningStorage & CasesVideo & Sound Cards View all 15 screenshotsPredictably, after the Lego version of the Lord of the Rings movies a couple of years ago, comes Traveller’s Tales Lego take on The Hobbit. Available on all major consoles new and old, The Hobbit stays true to the Lego formula and offers plenty of fan service for those who loved the films. Lego The Hobbit spans the events of the first two Hobbit films An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug that have already been released in theatres. It has been revealed that a DLC pack for the game will be released alongside the release of the third and final Hobbit film There and Back Again.
Admittedly, I’m more of a Harry Potter guy than a LOTR fan. I’m sure some of the quirky humour Lego games are known is lost on me because I’m not all that familiar with the source material. However, this does not make the game any less enjoyable. Not being a fan of the films makes it perhaps a bit more difficult to follow but I certainly enjoyed playing this game. The standard Lego formula applies. You’ll collect studs, solve relatively simple puzzles and engage in somewhat forgiving combat. This time it just happens to be in the universe of the two Hobbit films. Playing alone or with a friend you guide Bilbo and his many dwarf colleagues though the events of the films. Simplicity can most certainly be expected since this is obviously a game targeted towards the younger demographic. If you’re already not invested in the story this simplicity may make things tedious (such as the exercise of collecting studs which I got bored of quickly). The similarity of the various dwarf characters can prove to be a challenge.
The sheer number of dwarves in Thoromir’s party and their similarities in Lego form makes finding the right character with the right ability for any particular task more difficult than it probably should be. I do not discount my unfamiliarity with the movies being a contributing factor here but in the other Lego games I’ve played, character designs are varied enough for this not to be an issue. There’s really only so much detail you can put on a Lego character yet there’s no mistaking R2D2 with an Ewok, is there? Presentation-wise The Hobbit stands tall. The source material may not lend itself as well to the Lego formula as the bright colours and unique characters of the Marvel universe for example but The Hobbit still looks sharp. Environments, especially outdoors, look great and there’s plenty of inspiring visual moments. There are some occasional moments where items suddenly pop into view no matter if they are far away or right nearby that I found weird. Taken straight from the films The Hobbit’s soundtrack is epic and fantastic to go along with the ample voice acting from the actors themselves.
The voice acting is used smartly during key segments that help to further the narrative. This allows Lego’s trademark dialect to stay intact elsewhere. It isn’t as serviceable to the Lego formula as the games before it, nor is it perfect, but The Hobbit is still worth a play through both for fans of the films or simply the Lego games in general.Warning: this article brings bad news to Shire folk — Warner Bros has announced Lego The Hobbit will not be getting any kind of DLC based on the third movie, The Battle of the Five Armies. When we reported on the new Lego Avengers and Lego Jurassic World games being announced, it seemed that a few Lego fans were a bit miffed. Why make new games when you haven't even finished Lego The Hobbit, they wondered? Well, now we know that the reason is simply that Lego The Hobbit is as finished as it will ever be. The publisher then went on to confirm that there are no plans for a future new game based on the film either. Despite a DLC based on the third movie seeming imminent in April when a Warner Bros. spokesperson told fans to, "stay tuned for more exciting news in the near future," there will not be a DLC coming out for its fans.
Since the game debuted in April of last year, fans have been absolutely bombarding Warner Bros. with questions about sequels to the game or an expansion that would encompass the third movie. You can check out Warner Bros' official statement below (courtesy of Gamespot), but spoiler alert: it's mostly just talking up the current game in an effort to make fans forget about the little tiny detail of them leaving an entire movie and ending out of the game — your standard PR misdirections. "The LEGO The Hobbit video game gives LEGO and Middle-earth fans a fun, new way to experience the legendary adventures of Bilbo and company as told in the first two films of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy. The game provides an excellent set-up for the concluding chapter of Peter Jackson’s film, The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies. There are no plans to develop DLC based on the final film of the trilogy."A couple of days ago, we posted that the LEGO The Hobbit Gandalf at Dol Guldur Polybag (30213) was for sale at Toys R Us stores.
I ordered a couple online and picked them in stores today. The polybag contains 31 pieces and retails for $3.99. Toys R Us is giving away a free polybag with any LEGO board game purchase of $25 or more. LEGO [email protected] is giving away the polybag with the purchase of the LEGO The Hobbit An Unexpected Gathering Board Game (3920) As I stated before in the previous post, the polybag probably represents Gandalf at Dol Guldur where he finds the father of Thorin Oakenshield, Thrain, being held prisoner and receives the map and Key of the Lonely Mountain. There is a torch, a spear, and a green vine that’s on the stone wall. There’s also a skull with a map next to it and spider to the side. The skull is probably Thrain after he died. The Gandalf minifigure is the same is the one’s we’ve seen before plus a sword. The Brick Fan Scoring SummaryDesign Playability Value OverallEverything is the same. TT Games takes cinematic material, strips out the most iconic scenes, then piles on the typical Lego humour.
A well-known recipe and one that, several years and many tie-ins later, we find we're losing the taste for. And yet, again, we find our tastebuds becoming curious as soon as the latest offering is dished out onto our console plate.It's likely down to the licence and how it's been handled. Unlike say, Lego Hobbit - which like its celluloid counterpart, felt like too much filler - Lego Jurassic World keeps things tight by splitting its twenty level structure evenly between all four films. That means only the best beats from the flicks make the cut, making for some great stages.One downside is that you'll have a harder time recognising the majority of the 100+ characters that are available for unlocking here; park staff and bystanders joining your ever-growing roster hasn't the same thrill as, say, unlocking the extended cast of characters from Lego Star Wars. There's other games in the Lego family that rely on the richness of the roster to drive replayability, but this just isn't the case with Jurassic World.When it comes to the main characters, the ones you'll definitely recognise, the studio's to be commended for working out everyone's special abilities and keeping them both interesting and tied to the source material.
Lex's screams in the first flick were irritating to the ears. Here they literally shatter glass. For the main these abilities are used to collect additional Lego bricks, but they are also often crucial to your progress, a howl distracting a dino at the right time, or a jump allowing access to a lofty platform.TT Games takes a slightly different approach to the source material this time round, stitching original dialogue pulled from the films together with new voice work and then spinning the scenes towards humour. The result is authentic, entertaining and amusing. The humour's simple but not flat. Take the raptor kitchen scene from Jurassic Park; one of the dinos sports a hairnet of cherries after an investigation of one cupboard. Given that the franchise managed to make dinosaurs eating people family-friendly viewing, the blend here fits in nicely with the tone in a suitably quirky way.And yes, let's not forget the dinosaurs. The big difference between this game and its brethren is the ability to play as twenty different creatures found within the game, each with their own unique ability.
Early on, for example, we're nursing a triceratops back to health, and then controlling the three-horned lizard and smashing through barriers into new areas. We can even splice together our own creations - perhaps as a nod to the events of Jurassic World - and drop these oddball breeds into the game proper.As with the human characters, you need certain dinos to unlock certain parts of the park, or certain areas within levels. It's this that causes the same irk that we have with other Lego games; sure replayability is a huge factor in these titles, but we're all too aware of the artificially extended play time, and we just stare at locked areas in frustration the first time we play through a level.The studio's still yet to perfect its Help system. While last time there were points we became stuck because we didn't know what to do next, here we're told exactly what to do during critical moments in the action, making this feel more like a interactive film at times. Maybe they'll get it right for the next game, but it's an element of the game that needs rebalancing for future releases.