Years ago it used to be that LEGO games were cookie-cutter experiences that simply took a previous printed template and applied a new movie license to it. From Star Wars to Pirates of the Caribbean, the games offered up fun, but the experience really didn’t differ from game to game, other than theme. Years have gone by and the folks at Tt Games have figured out exactly what they want to do to make the LEGO series thrive again. For me, it started with LEGO Batman 2 and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, where little changes and a bigger world awaited LEGO fans.
This past week Tt Games released its latest LEGO marvel with LEGO The Hobbit. Quite honestly, it’s probably one of the more addictive LEGO games to date. Tt Games did a few things to make it like that, so let’s get right into it.
The gameplay that you know and love with LEGO The Hobbit is initially the same as you would find in past titles. You get a group together (though the group has expanded for this title quite a bit) that has its own unique abilities to help solve unique situations that the game presents. The difference in this title is that sometimes the puzzles require multiple bodies to complete them. For example, if I needed a dwarf to climb up to an unreachable platform then two to three dwarves would stack on each other and allow for the fourth to climb up them to reach the platform. You get a lot of teamwork required out of this title, sometimes it can get a bit burdensome when you’re in a rush and you have to decide between the dwarves and their abilities, but regardless the larger amount of characters a nice addition overall that adds more gameplay value to the experience.
The main body of gameplay is still 70% linear with a bit of exploration offered up here and there during your adventure. You run through the entire first two films with some freedom to venture off the beaten path. During the main quest, you will find a complete set of storylines pulled straight from the films with some humor sprinkled in along the way. The initial timeframe for this set of adventures, depending on your intentions (are you a completionist or a runner?) is somewhere between 6-8 hours of gameplay. That’s longer than both movies combined and at times more entertaining. Along the way during the adventure you will find small side quests that are getting your prepared for life after the main adventures are completed. You will find moments where you might run into an elf that’s requesting you to help them out or a set of tasks that are specifically character driven. There isn’t a lot of these small side quests during the main quests, but there is enough variety tasks to keep you going while you wrap up the films.
What I’m surprised about during the main quests is how difficult things can get along the way. The puzzles that you run into are easy to solve, though at times visual hints aren’t readily available like typical LEGO games, which can make life a little difficult. Sometimes you will have to explore the area to find what you need to complete the task. Typically, LEGO games have solutions readily obvious, but this isn’t your typical LEGO game. You have to stop and think once in a while and look around you for visual cues that might help you solve whatever puzzle lies at your doorstep. Nothing is terribly difficult, but the lack of hints that we’re all used to seeing in a LEGO game can impede progress. Of course, this is more of a gamer issue than a game issue. I’m not the shiniest penny in the pile sometimes when it comes to obvious solutions.
Having said that, you will find moments of frustration during gameplay. You have to get used to the controls that tend to fight you a little, especially when you’re having to buddy-up to get past certain obstacles. The camera system can also get a little wonky at times, which add a bit more frustration to whatever task you might be in the middle of doing. For the most part, the camera does a good job, but sometimes it can get confused and do a complete 180 on you if you’re not paying attention to what’s going on. I found this to be the case when I’m up against a wall or changing characters while I’m up against the wall. The camera would just flip to the back and I would be breaking the fourth wall with my character rather than it starting behind him/her. All of these complaints are minimal in scale when you look at how the overall game feels, but nonetheless there are some small improvements that could be made to make this adventure perfect (or at least as smooth as possible).
Another item of interest you must watch out for, and this only really happened once during the entire game, is the game crashing. Save and save often folks. You never know when the game is going to go splash.
Once you go beyond the main quests and you leave off where the second film leaves off (I know, depressing a bit because we all want more), things start opening up quite a bit.
The sandbox portion of the game really gets going after you complete the main adventure. I have to admit that I did enjoy the sandbox portion of the game, especially since I only completed 23.5% of the game after I beat the initial quest. You read that right, there was/is 76.5% more gameplay to complete after the main quests are beaten. That’s a lot of gameplay folks, especially in a movie license driven game. Of course, Tt Games knows how to make a game good (see the Harry Potter LEGO series for examples), so they went hog wild on designing a bigger world for the player to run around in once the game is beaten. As I’m writing this review, I’m still finding new side quests to complete, characters to collect and items that need obtaining. There are tons of characters to collect, tons of items left behind because of the lack of characters available during the main quest, and so much to do in regards to side quests. They aren’t shy from building a spectacular sandbox Tolkien world for everyone to enjoy, and I have to admit I’m enjoying this portion of the game quite a bit. This will easily add somewhere between 10-20 hours extra, if not more. It’s tough to calculate since I’m still going through it, but I can see at the very least that many more hours in addition to the initial quests. You will literally and figuratively get lost in the world that Tt Games built for you, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
Speaking of getting lost, the presentation on the PlayStation 4 version of this game is out of this world gorgeous. The sheer depth of the environments is breathtaking and engrossing. You can see mountains in the far off distance. When you’re in the sprawling city of Laketown, you’ll see the Lonely Mountains in the background without many visual flaws or pop-ups. The amount of details in the textures and shadow/lighting effects instituted in this title are better than any LEGO title to date. The characters look the same, as they should because the LEGOs are simplistic models, but the environments are where your eyes will certainly delight. When you see the rippling water, the fog on Laketown, or even the eerily shining moon in the distance casting shadows on everything around, you’ll be in heaven.
Visually this is the best looking LEGO game to date. The folks at Tt Games did their homework.
As for the audio, it’s equally as breathtaking as the visuals. Howard Shore’s composition is very much intact. When you’re in the heat of battle or a dramatic moment, you’ll hear Shore’s music making sure you understand the situation. Having been published by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment, it’s nice to have direct access to WB’s musical collections from the films. It benefits the game and increases the enjoyment.
Not to be outdone, the voice overs come directly from the movies, which means you get everyone spouting the lines you’ve heard in the theater. There are some adjustments/additions here and there, but having the actual voice actors from the films is a huge plus when you’re trying to mimic the same intensity and emotion in a video game based on The Hobbit movies. I’m glad that Tt Games has decided to institute voice acting. It helps with believability quite a bit (thanks goes out to the Batman LEGO titles for starting this trend).
So at the end of the day where does this LEGO game rank? Well, this LEGO game is the top of the series. It beats out Batman, Marvel Super Heroes and everything that came before it. Because it sets new standards in the LEGO series and tries new, bigger elements to make it more than just a licensed game title, it ends up being far more than just another LEGO title. For example, one of the neatest parts of the game is going around collecting Mithril material to take to a blacksmith and create stronger weapons. In turn, the weapons give you things like double the LEGO pieces that you would normally get when taking down an enemy. The fact that you can forge weapons in a LEGO game and improve them makes the experience of exploring more of the game a better adventure. It also goes back to the point mentioned earlier that Tt Games is finding new ways to make their LEGO games more interesting and not just another template for a license. Imagine what they’re going to think of next — maybe a leveling system and attributes? Nah, it’s not Skyrim, but it would be fun to see.
Anyway, there’s so much here to enjoy and Tt Games certainly brings their ‘A’ game to the table with LEGO The Hobbit. It’s worth the price of admission and your time.
