Developer: Traveller’s Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
Rrp: £14.99
Released: 27th November 2012
Available on Steam, Amazon, and through the Warner Bros store
Played using: An Xbox 360 Control pad
I doubt when J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the Lord of the a Rings books that he would have imagined it would go on to become a multimillion dollar movie series, let alone a Lego game.
I admit I walked into this review thinking “Oh, goody more of the same, collect the studs yada yada.” and in part I was right, it is more if the same, at least in some ways. BUT this game does distinguish itself from the others in many other ways, so I’m happy to say this review will not be a “read my Star Wars review but replace Jedi with hobbit and the force with magic” type review… Thank goodness for that.
Lego Lord of the Rings is the first of the Lego games that has actual spoken dialogue, all of which was taken directly from the films. Personally I’m not a big fan of that particular move as it takes away from the slapstick element that has become something of a tradition for the Lego games cutscenes. But then that’s to be expected because from interviews I’ve read, the developers made a conscious effort to not be so slapstick this time around.
One of the things that I feel is lacking in this title is the characterisation, in their previous game Lego Pirates of the Caribbean they had it spot on. You could tell which figure was Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swan or Blackbeard from their movements alone, something you can’t do in this title.
The key difference in this title to the previous Lego titles I’ve reviewed is rather than having a level selection area you are given an open world and can explore it as much as you want, from the Shire all the way to Mordor. In fact there’s an achievement for walking that particular distance… I’m sure you can guess what it’s called. If and when you come across a major plot point in the story you can enter it and play that stage.
Another new inclusion to the Lego games franchise is the save statues, usually Lego games simply auto save a checkpoint or on exiting a level. Now, Lego Lord of the Rings does still have a checkpoint system but it also has the statues. These may have been included due to the nature of the game story sections as many of them tend to be quite large. You can also take on quests from NPC’s in the overworld, these will allow you to find treasures to add to your treasure trove or just allow you to get some other collectible.
Within the overworld you will find map stones, once these map stones are activated they will show you the locations of secrets and objectives that are hidden around that area. Through these can also set a location you wish to go to. Once the course is set you will see translucent lego studs, these studs guide you to your set location.
This time there are four kinds of collectible, red bricks which unlock extra’s (generally making the game easier), letters which unlock new equipment to make in the blacksmith, Mithril bricks which is what is used to created the aforementioned equipment, and treasures which allow you to perform certain actions. Those that have played the previous titles may notice that the golden bricks are absent, in this game they’ve been replaced by Mithril bricks.
Graphically you can tell that Traveller’s Tales have really gone to great pains to make sure that this game feels authentic to the film. From the backdrops to the lighting and weather effects everything’s been given a more cinematic feel… And no I don’t mean they dropped the framerate to thirty.
This game is very much of a surprise hit for me, I honestly didn’t expect this to wow me. As I said at the beginning of the review I thought it was going to be more of the same. I’m glad to say it’s really not. This is a big recommendation from me, there’s so much to do in this game and it’s a lot of fun all the way through. I won’t say it’s the best of the Lego games, but it is certainly the prettiest of the ones I’ve played so far.
If this interests you perhaps look at;
Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
Rayman Legends
