Lord of the Studs?
Ever since Lego Star Wars came out, I’ve always wanted a Lord of the Rings version and just when I had almost given up hope, TT Games release the best Lego game to date, providing you are a Tolkien fan and of course, have seen the films. Lego LOTR tells the tales of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King through 18 levels, but there’s much more to this game than meets the eye…
As with Lego Batman 2, Lego LOTR is set in a fully open world so you can experience all of Middle-Earth in glorious Lego. There are side-quests to do, you can craft items and there are dozens of collectables to find scattered across the land. Getting from level to level has to be achieved by foot, but a breadcrumb trail of studs will lead you to it, you can also place markers on the map which will also do this if you are looking for something specific.
The Lego formula hasn’t changed much over the years and Lego LOTR is no different, you go from point A to point B and gather hidden items along the way, but chances are you’ll need a specific character’s abilities to reach them and will have to replay the level through Free Play. You can still buy additional characters and the way to complete a level still involves breaking everything around you and puzzles using blocks/switches.
It’s not much of a surprise, but battles aren’t massive as in the films. You will fight famous characters like Sauron and Saruman, but the big battles of Helms Deep and Mordor are more designed to fighting a few enemies instead of a whole army, which does fit the gameplay well. If there’s a complaint to be had, the Lego formula is starting to get a bit old at this point and maybe it’s time it changed a bit.
Lego LOTR replicates key moments from the films but obviously maintains the classic Lego humour that we’ve all come to know and love. Voice-acting is present and doesn’t feel out of place in the slightest, while the music comes straight from the source material and the LOTR soundtrack is just beautiful in every possible way. It’s easily the best looking Lego game, Middle-Earth looks great but the game still looks a bit simplistic.
The Verdict
Lego The Lord of the Rings is the best Lego so far, Middle-Earth is great to explore and new elements like side-quests and forging items are added, but maybe the Lego games need to change as the formula is looking a bit tired.
