Title: LEGO The Hobbit Format: Blu-ray Disc / PlayStation Network Download (8 GB) Release Date: April 8, 2014 Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment LEGO The Hobbit is also available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PC. The PlayStation 3 disc version was used for this review. A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review purposes. PS Nation Review Policy. The audio review for this game is available on Episode 380 of the podcast. LEGO The Hobbit is a curious game. While it has all the trappings of a tried and true LEGO game, something just feels off here. Let’s start from the beginning. First, the game only covers the first two movies, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug. While I understand the complexities of releasing a game (or series of games) tied to a movie trilogy, the timing and content just doesn’t feel right. It has since been announced that the content covering the third film will be released as DLC for the game.
How big the content will be and any pricing involved is yet to be determined but I’m not too thrilled with how this is being handled. Don’t get me wrong, you can certainly expect to find all the major scenes from the first two movies and they generally tend to be wonderfully fun little LEGO recreations. Perhaps the fault lies in the source material and the characters available. The Hobbit movies, like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, tend to be pretty slow paced, punctuated by some action sequences here and there. That doesn’t always work well for a game, especially a LEGO game. The characters are also a bit problematic. Unlike LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and LEGO Harry Potter, where you have clearly defined characters that look very different and have different sets of abilities, there’s a numbing sameness to the dwarves as LEGO. It makes it much harder to tell who’s who on screen and which one you’ll need to get past a particular obstacle. Holding Triangle gives you a character wheel to choose, but more often than not I just found myself tapping Triangle over and over until the right one popped up.
I usually found myself relying on just one or two characters because I liked the feel of their weapons. I’d then need to do a switch to remove and obstacle or open a path and then switch back. There’s also a large (for a LEGO game anyway) forging system here. When breaking apart objects more than just LEGO studs will appear. You’ll find a ton of collectible materials such as wood, fish, minerals, and all types of food items. You’ll then need to combine these items to progress in certain areas. Even with my obsessive need to smash everything in sight, this became a little annoying after a while because I’d often find I was woefully short of a key ingredient which led to a ton of grinding. Essentially I love smashing things, but on my own terms. I don’t like being told that I have to go find fifty loaves of bread to complete a quest, not in a LEGO game. Free Play sections are generally worthwhile for exploration and clean up of any items you may have missed but it can be problematic, as is evident in Bilbo’s house.
You’re not given the ability to just explore the area as you quickly get locked into specific set pieces ruining the fun of exploration. There’s certainly a ton of stuff to do in the game between the Main Story and all the Side Quests. The problem is that it just doesn’t seem to be as much fun as the other LEGO games. I can’t really fault the developers for trying some new things here and there, I just wish they had been a little more thought out. The forging is an interesting idea that doesn’t quite hit the mark and it’s the same with the item building for bonus LEGO studs. The side quests have a bit of variety and there’s a rhythm game in there. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but maybe this game is just a bit too all over the place, trying to add too much to the traditional LEGO formula all at once. While a lot of the wonder contained in the movies is on display here in the game, it feels as though the developers were a bit pressed for time. Disc space certainly wasn’t an issue as the download tops out at 8 GB but it does feel as if some corners were cut.
The settings are all recreated wonderfully, but it often feels as though the lens has been smudged with Vaseline. It really feels like a step back considering how good LEGO Marvel Super Heroes looked overall. It gets worse when contrasting cut scenes and gameplay but I’ll just leave it at that. With Christopher Lee narrating and the lyrical music of Howard Shore, the sound is generally one of the best parts of the game. You’ll get a lot of dialogue from all different characters which is generally great. The side quests and repetitive nature of the characters asking for help can be a bit grating at times though. As a LEGO game, couch co-op is what we get and it delivers as expected. No real surprises or changes here. This is an interesting game in that there’s so much to do here that it’ll keep you busy for hours on end. The downside is the sometimes tedious nature of the game. With three DLC packs out already (two character packs and an armor pack) priced at $1.99 each, it becomes a bit concerning how the final movie will be handled as DLC.
Will it be the price of another whole game? Will it be discounted? Will it be free? And what about everyone who can’t or won’t download it from the PSN? Will there eventually be a “complete” edition of the game on one disc or are they to be left out in the cold entirely, unable to play the conclusion of the game? These are all questions I shouldn’t have to be asking when playing a Lego game. This is also something that needs to be taken into account when deciding whether to purchase LEGO The Hobbit. * All screenshots used in this review were taken directly from the game using the Elgato Game Capture HD Pro screen capture feature.Become a superhero and save the city from villains LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is the latest next-gen game from the LEGO collection. Developed by TT Games and released by Warner Bros., this adventure comes with the entire Marvel universe for your entertainment. This installment has the same gameplay as other titles such as LEGO Star Wars, and Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes.
However, the factor that makes a big difference is the huge number of characters you have at your disposal, from the Avengers to the X-Men, or even the Fantastic four—almost all characters of the immense Marvel Universe will appear. About 150 characters are controllable by you through the adventure, each one with his or her own super-cool abilities. Depending on which one you control, you can use different super-powers. For example, if you are controlling Thor, you will be able to fly or throw your Mjölnir; or if you are Spiderman, you will have the possibility of web-slinging or using the spider sense. But super-powers are not all there is. If you are Hulk, you will have super strength, but if you are Bruce Banner, you will have quick access to computers and other technological devices. About 150 character are controllable throughout the adventure, each one with his or her own super-cool abilities The main antagonist of the storyline is Galactus—but don’t worry, he is not alone.
Loki, Magneto, Doctor Octopus, Doctor Doom or Red Skull will also be there to challenge you. Of course, Stan Lee cannot hold himself back from appearing. After having appeared in all the Marvel movies, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes will be no exception. Stan Lee in Peril are missions in which Stan Lee is a playable character with borrowed super-powers, such as Wolverine's adamantium skeleton, the heat beam of the Human Torch, the optic blast of Cyclops, or even the Hulk-like version of Stan Lee and his ability to smash things! In addition, you will be free to explore the entire city of New York, with all the Marvel buildings included; for example, the Daily Bugle, the Buxter Building, the Stark Tower, the Oscorp Tower, and even the X-Mansion. But it’s not all New York, in some sections of the story you will have to visit Asgard or Latveria. Enjoy the fantastic story The story begins when Silver Surfer is knocked out by Doctor Doom after a chase involving Iron Man. The surfboard is broken into Cosmic Bricks, which are spread over the Earth.
Those Cosmic Bricks are very powerful, and Doctor Doom wants them. Doom forges an alliance with Loki from Asgard to get the bricks, gathering other villains together in a quest to get them and build the Doom Ray of Doom. Later, Sandman and Abomination are in the Grand Central Station looking for a Cosmic, and they are faced by Iron Man, Spider-Man and Hulk. Meanwhile, Nick Fury sends Captain America and Mr. Fantastic to search for the rest of the bricks, so they skydive off the S.H.I.E.L.D transport, the Helicarrier, to the Buxter Building, which is controlled by Doctor Octopus. However, the Green Goblin steals the brick and takes them to the Oscorp Tower. Spider-Man, with the assistance of the Hawkeye and the Black Widow, goes after him, but he manages to escape, joining Venom. Then, Wolverine, Iron Man and the Hulk go to the Raft to battle Sabretooth, Abomination and the Leader, who is revealed as Magneto, and steal the Iron Man suit. Because of this, Tony Stark has to go to his tower to get a new suit, and he is accompanied by Captain America.
Nevertheless, Aldrich Killian and the Mandarin are waiting for them in the Stark tower, and another fight begins. In the meantime, Captain America, Human Torch, Hawkeye and the Black Widow go to the HYDRA base to defeat Red Skull. Later, Wolverine, Thor, Human Torch and Captain America assemble to use the Bifrost Bridge and go to Asgard, fighting Loki and his army of Frost Giants. Loki uses that Destroyer armor, but they manage to get the Tesseract, and Wolverine goes to the X-Mansion to give it to Professor X. But despite all this, the mansion is attacked by Juggernaut, and Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Storm and the Beast fight him. At this point, we are not going to tell you the rest of the story, because we don’t want to spoil such a brilliant plot. We can just tell you that lots of heroes and villains are likely to appear, and that the Galactus menace is not a mere trifle. If you want to know what happens, you will have to play and finish the game. LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 1.0 Features
Here you can find the outstanding features of LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: About 150 playable characters, including heroes such as Thor, Heimdall, Hulk, Ant-Man, Maria Hill or Storm; supervillains such as Loki, Laufey, Malekith, Galactus, Red Skull, MODOK, Deadpool, Mystique or Magneto; and humans such as Stan Lee, Mary Jane Watson or Jane Foster Each character has his or her own individual abilities Emblematic buildings such as the Stark Tower, the X-Mansion or the Asteroid M Open-world with huge locations such as New York, Asgard or Latveria You will have to unlock characters as you play There are secondary missions for each character Includes Stan Lee in Peril missions, in which Stan Lee appears You can download packs to expand the worlds Multiplatform: it is available for PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One If you are interested in LEGO Marvel Super Heroes and you want more information about it before you download it to your PC, feel free to visit the official website .