Game review: Lego Lord of the Rings

Unless you have been living in the middle of nowhere for the past few years then I am sure you all know the story of Frodo and his quest so I won`t go there.

Lego the Lord of the Rings is true to the original movies, with many scenes recreated faithfully.

The battle of Helms deep is one of the most memorable, with hoards of Lego characters battling it out, even the soundtrack is the same.

With original character voiceovers and epic scenery you soon become engrossed in the world of middle earth once again.

OK it’s not completely faithful to the original, after all this is aimed at kids, so all the sloppy/kissy bits have been taken out, and there has been the injection of the usual Lego humour.

It works really well, each character can pick up weapons an upgrades as they progress and with the opt in/out system for other players (console only) it’s a great adventure for all the family.

With over 80 characters to unlock and endless side quests and missions this is a great value game that should keep the kids (or adults) quiet for some time.

Each character has a special ability so you have to keep switching from one to another to perform certain tasks, enabling progression through the game.

There are plenty of riddles and puzzles to make it interesting and with the usual collectables it certainly keeps the player occupied.

As most of us are aware, the original movies were violent and pretty scary, so don`t expect that from this game.

There are certain cut scenes that might frighten very young children, but the actual violence in this game is very child friendly.

All the characters do is fall apart when hit, this doesn`t take it away from the story, though with the original music and voice overs it really brings the story to life.

The graphics are superb, with large open scenes of middle earth and plenty of breakable scenery where you can collect more items.

Unlike earlier Lego games the characters can now carry a number of weapons or magical items which they can use at certain stages within the game.

The gameplay can jump between multiple story lines just like the movies, and the game is divided up into three movie length adventures, so when the credits come up after a few hours of play it’s not the end of the game.

Of course, this being a Lego game as with Batman 2: DC Super heroes there is the free roaming open world element as well, allowing the player to complete other quests as other characters and with endless Orcs, trolls and dragons roaming about there are plenty of things to keep the player busy.

You can either roam from place to place or fast travel using the map.

This game complements the Lego the Lord of the rings toy collection which Lego released in the summer.

Summary

Again Lego pull off another classic game. Kids will love this, especially those too young to have seen the original films. With plenty of beautifully rendered scenes and excellent game mechanics, plus a great story line, there is nothing not to like about Lego the Lord of the Rings. Parents will love the humour and will enjoy the game as much as their kids.

I wanted to dust off the original movies and watch them after playing this.

Lego Lord of the Rings

Developers: Traveller`s Tales

Publishers: Warner Bros Interactive

Playstation 3®

Xbox 360®

Wii

Playstation Vita

Nintendo 3DS/DS

Genre: Open world Action adventure

Release date:23rd November 2012