WB Games – Travellers Tales – 1-2 players – Out now on Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360 (tested), PC, Xbox One, PS4, PS Vita, 3DS
The latest in the long line of usually outstanding Lego games sees Middle Earth getting the brick treatment once again, this time following Bilbo Baggins there and back again. The Hobbit follows the recent Peter Jackson movies, and if you’ve played the Lord of the Rings Lego game, then you’re going to be in familiar territory. When you follow the story mode, it is a linear adventure, running through most of the movies’ key scenes and set pieces, although if you’re expecting the entirety of Bilbo’s Hobbit’s tale, you will be disappointed. The game only covers the as far as the second film, and despite the book having been around a few years, the final part isn’t finished yet, so the reasoning behind releasing the game almost a year before we see the final third, is somewhat baffling. The omission of the final part of the trilogy makes the game seem unifinished, and although as usual there’s Free Play mode and side quests, which see you wandering Middle Earth, as with the Lord of the Rings game, it can’t help but feel like filler in light of the fact we only have two thirds of a game.
Although it is disappointing that the main story ends at the same part as The Desolation of Smaug, all the hallmarks of an excellent Lego game are still there. It retains the humour that is common place in these games, and also the now familiar cut scenes, which now include dialogue lifted straight from the films. Also there’s the usual minikit collecting, character unlocking, and again like the Lord of the Rings Lego games, collecting weapons, items and various other curiosities throughout the levels and also blacksmith designs, with which you can use to forge new weapons. A new addition to the Lego games, as also seen in the Lego Movie game, is a new type of building mode, where another screen pops up, and the player has to choose which specific pieces of Lego in order to complete what they are building. In order to build these particular items, several materials are required, which are picked up randomly throughout the game after you destroy certain items, not too dissimilar to Minecraft. These items are also used in forging items at the blacksmiths. Where as Lord of the Rings just required the blacksmith designs, mythril bricks and a some studs, in The Hobbit, you also require thes items used for building, meaning you have to collect more than ever.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8Qp6rL_7qw[/youtube]
The gameplay is just as you’d expect from a Lego title, with platform based puzzle solving for all ages, but undeniably charming and puts you in the mood to watch the films again, and it’s all held together by Howard Shore’s exceptional music, which is much a character in the game as any of the playable ones, and it’s a nice touch having Christopher Lee narrate. There are some little niggles here and there however, much like in most of these games, and the main one is characters respawning in areas they aren’t meant to, leading to a seemingly endless loop of respawn/death. And the Gollum sections in the levels feel like they were thrown together in the last minute, with the controls being less than accommodating. Those minor gripes aside, once again Travellers Tales have been consistent with their Lego licence. Although why they didn’t wait a year and release it as a full package is beyond me. At least the Harry Potter games had enough content between them to warrant two releases, if this was the whole story, it’d potentially be an 8 or a 9.
Rating: 
Be the first to comment