After an unexpected journey away from Steam, both Lego Lord Of The Rings and Lego The Hobbit have arrived back, safe and sound. They were delisted in January 2019, presumably for annoying license reasons. Now they are back, presumably for slightly less annoying license reasons.
I'm vaguely irritated that licence Hokey Cokey is the reason I'm reminding you that Lego games make for some pretty good couch co-op, but here we are.
]]>As is becoming disappointingly common with games based on movie licenses and whatnot, Lego The Lord Of The Rings and Lego The Hobbit seem to have been pulled from sale on digital stores including Steam without warning or explanation. Folks who already own them can continue to download and play them on Steam, but newcomers will need to track down a boxed copy or download code from another store if they want 'em. I know what you're thinking--that the LOTR and Hobbit movies were boring empty spectacles of "and then... and then... and then..." so w/e--but the plasticised adaptations from Traveller's Tales are fun, and it sucks that this keeps happening.
]]>Someday, we will all probably be made of Lego bricks. Based on the ceaseless, inevitable march of Traveler's Tales' "Lego The Thing" (not a Lego version of The Thing, which is something that absolutely needs to happen) franchise, it's only a matter of time. We may as well cherish what little time we have left as easily popped flesh balloons, given that we will soon be born again in jaundiced plastic. For now, though, The Hobbit is next under the Legofication Ray, and it's looking, well, like The Hobbit, only sillier and made of blocks. Watch the first trailer of Lego The Hobbit below.
]]>Lego Lord of the Rings has been out for a while but I've only just managed to walk into Mordor. It was quite simple in the end. I also tossed a dwarf, loads of times, and I avoided being Legolas as much as possible because something about the cut of his jib irritates me. I undertook the Quest for Mount Doom and, eventually, I saved Middle Earth from evil. But I also broke every piece of furniture in Rivendell, spent ages looking for a lost hat and generally made a nuisance out of myself. Here's wot I think of the whole adventure.
]]>Edit - whoops, Nathan already posted this. I blame Sauron.
Warner are pretty canny at getting a companion Lego game out when their tentpole movies arrive, and with The Hobbit: An Unexpectedly And Cynically Long Three-Part Journey arriving in cinemas very soon, so it is that the first Lego Lord of the Rings game is on its way. I am prepared to state, on the record, my belief that it will be Quite Nice but overwhelmingly similar to the nineteen hundred other Lego: Franchise games released to date. But you shouldn't take my lazy prophecies on face value - not when there's a demo available now.
]]>Lego Lord of the Rings is still a few weeks from building a bridge to our machines (and hopefully, using its quirky brand of Lego charm, our hearts), but Traveler's Tales has seen fit to release one mythical creature from its grasp early: an honest-to-goodness, flesh-and-brick pre-release demo. In the modern age of un-middle Earth, these poor things are all but extinct, so treat it with care. Unless you find it to be kind of sub-par, anyway. Then feel free to scold it for not quite living up to the expectations set by its made-of-plastic, nearly fantastic brothers and sisters as I'm about to after the break.
]]>Our world was not built with Lego figurines in mind. They are small, plasticine, and worrisomely edible, while we are almighty giants with colossal living rooms and all-consuming sofa cushions to match. In other words, pretty much everything dwarfs our favorite race of jaundiced, ear-less architects - regardless of mundanity. Tables, chairs, lamps - you name it. So what happens when we fling them into a world that even made cave trolls and gigantic tree people seem insignificant? Well, then we get Lego Lord of the Rings. It's something of a jarring mix, to say the least. But it also kinda, sorta somehow works. Venture past the break to see how.
]]>Legos have come a long way since I was but a naive youth who could still play with colorful blocks and not fear the judgmental scorn of my peers. Back then, I'd crack open a fresh bucket and let my unbridled child imagination craft epic dreamscapes that... well, they mostly ended up looking like boxes. Sometimes I put wheels on them. OK, so maybe what I imagined didn't quite end up sticking the landing in reality. Lego Lord Of The Rings, on the other hand, looks pretty much a perfect reproduction of Peter Jackson's take on Tolkien's genre-birthing opus - except that Vigo Mortensen's rugged handsomeness is slightly diminished by the transition into pudgy-block-person-hood.
]]>This is no surprise but confirmation comes that Lego Lord of the Rings will be released in the Autumnal phase of 2012. I was quite disconcerted when the Joker started talking in a video for the next Lego Batman, which looks quite superb, but the trailer for Lego of That Ring goes even further, re-enacting scenes from the film and using the dialogue right in there. I'm not sure I like it and I hope it's just for the trailer. I like the comedic and intentionally stripped back take on the source material the previous games have presented. Watch and see what you make of it all.
]]>While this isn't actually a game announcement as such, the confirmation that next summer is the summer of Lego Lord Of The Rings does rather suggest that there will be a Lego LOTR game. I'll be looking forward to Lego Ents, Lego Balrog, Lego Orks, Lego Eye Of Mordor, and, of course, Legolas. It also strikes me that the minifigs will need to be extra-mini for Lego Hobbits and dwarves. Hmm.
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