Monday 28 April 2014

VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Lego: The Hobbit - Warner Brothers Interactive

Release Date: 11/04/14
Publisher:  Warner Brothers Interactive

SYNOPSIS:

From the makers of the immensely popular LEGO The Lord of the Rings, comes LEGO The Hobbit, inspired by the first two films in The Hobbit Trilogy: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the upcoming The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug.

The interactive game of LEGO The Hobbit allows gamers to play along their favorite scenes from the films and follows the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins as he is recruited by the Wizard Gandalf to aid Thorin Oakenshield and his Company of Dwarves. Bilbo leaves the comforts of the Shire on a journey through Middle-earth to help the Dwarves reclaim their lost Kingdom of Erebor within the Lonely Mountain. Along the way, he is introduced to ravenous Trolls, dangerous Orcs and, of course, Gollum and his precious Ring. Players will utilise and combine the Dwarves’ unique abilities – often with hilarious results – to solve the most diverse Quests of any LEGO videogame to date.

Explore Middle-earth and visit key locations from the films, including Bag End, and trek through the treacherous High Pass over The Misty Mountains, or discover the depths of Goblin Town, Mirkwood and Rivendell.
Partake in Treasure Quests, mine for gems, discover loot from enemies, and craft powerful magical items or build immense new LEGO structures.
Play as your favorite characters from The Hobbit films, including Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarves: Thorin, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Ori. Each has his own special – and quite hilarious – ability. For example, Bombur can be used as a trampoline that enables his companions to “belly-bounce” out of danger!
Collect, combine and forge new items in the Blacksmith Shop using Mithril, the most precious metal in Middle-earth.
Triumph in a game of riddles and learn to wield the power of The One Ring.


REVIEW:

I’m a huge fan of the Lego games and to be honest, whilst Marvel: Superheroes for me is the best one out there, I have to admit to having had an absolute ton of fun playing this. Whilst I did read the Hobbit back in my old school days, I have avoided watching the films as I wanted to watch them altogether. Sadly after playing the game I couldn’t resist any longer and now not only a little lighter in the pocket but now up to date eagerly awaiting the third instalment.

What the game does is follow key events in the film with the wonderful Lego humour present throughout. The Dwarves are a whole ton of fun, they each bring skills to the table and the player is going to have more than a blast earning not only each character but finding the Blacksmith blueprints. It gives the gamer a real sense of achievement when they play each level originally and then again when you go looking for either items, bricks or tokens.

It’s a huge amount of fun, I love the animation (and to be honest I want to forget the Lego: The Movie game) and this title is definitely a game that will have many hours of gameplay in it for the player. (As witnessed as I wanted to complete it before reviewing it here.) Throw into the mix solid storytelling, a whole host of vocal talent from the films and all round I was a more than happy gamer and I have a 6 year old nephew who is definitely going to be stoked when it lands. Definitely a game for all ages. Magic.

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