LEGO The Hobbit Reviews
A fun and charming extension of the film that nevertheless suffers from some disjointed story problems and some sameness of characters.
It may be incomplete, narratively speaking, but Lego The Hobbit is just as content-packed as any other game in the series, and is a great experience for Lego and Middle-earth diehards alike.
Lego The Hobbit brings the first two Hobbit films to life in TT Games' great, family-friendly style. On PlayStation 4, the game looks absolutely amazing, especially in the cutscenes and major battles when it matters most. Unfortunately, the source material lets down TT Games here; the dwarves just aren't very distinct when compared to the cast of Lego Marvel and The Lego Movie. All told, Lego The Hobbit is very good, but it doesn't reach the best of those previous titles.
It's very faithful to the movie and manages to embellish enough so as to not be a simple retelling, yet doesn't quite cover enough ground to be anything other than a companion to the films. It's probably the best Hobbit game you're going to get – just don't expect a massive deviation from the LEGO formula.
Although a decent jaunt for fans of either franchise, this is an example of a game created purely because the developers had the means to create it. This franchise is no longer essential, and there is serious work to be done if TT want their over-fed baby to remain fresh and current, and not merely soullessly lucrative. An enjoyable romp in of itself then, but by this point no one but kids and fans need really apply.
Fans of Tolkien's work or the recent movies are sure to enjoy the journey there, and back again. For everyone else, this is another LEGO title. For better or worse, the series keeps on chugging. Thankfully it is always of high quality.
Travellers Tales have created another sterling example of how to make a family-friendly platformer. There are challenges and puzzles that will test older gamers, and plenty of action for casual and younger audiences. While some of the maps aren't very well planned out, often leading to random running around until you see the way forward, LEGO The Hobbit is still accessible and fun. However for those who already own LEGO Marvel Super Heroes, or the recently released LEGO The Movie - there is nothing special on offer here, except perhaps for die-hard fans of the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings.
LEGO The Hobbit is a fun little game that serves its purpose well. It's a good game for kids to play and fans of Peter Jackson's film trilogy will get a kick out of it. It would have been nice if Traveller's Tales strived to innovate its LEGO formula and included content from The Hobbit: There and Back Again. It's a fun game, yes, but never escapes the shadow of better LEGO games.
As with anything, you can have too much of a good thing. Standing on its own two feet this would be a fantastic game, but off the back of its predecessors it's a tiny step rather than any form of giant leap. If you like Lego games then you'll no doubt lack them up, but akin to go on a rollercoaster for the umpteenth time, it feels like it might beginning to lose its thrill.
I felt like this was one of the weaker LEGO titles to have been released. A lot of the time I was thinking "If you've played one or two LEGO games then you have pretty much played them all." The game is still good, and can be very fun, but the lack of change became much more noticeable this time round. Would I recommend this game? Maybe at a later date when the rumored DLC for the 3rd movie comes out or a "complete edition" is released next year.
You can debate whether the formula is old or simply tried and true, but for me it was a great way to spend some time with one of my favourite stories.
LEGO The Hobbit is yet another LEGO game. It does a great job of presenting the world and characters, but the mechanics and gameplay have seen very little in the way of touching up. If you've played previous LEGO games, you have a good idea of what to expect here, and if you haven't, it is perfectly accessible to newcomers. As usual, the selling point is the setting tied to the game. If you (or your kids) are big fans of "The Hobbit," then they'll enjoy the game. If not, it'd be better to look at one of the many other franchise tie-ins that have received the LEGO treatment.
The similarity of the various dwarf characters can prove to be a challenge. The sheer number of dwarves in Thoromir's party and their similarities in Lego form makes finding the right character with the right ability for any particular task more difficult than it probably should be. I do not discount my unfamiliarity with the movies being a contributing factor here but in the other Lego games I've played, character designs are varied enough for this not to be an issue. There's really only so much detail you can put on a Lego character yet there's no mistaking R2D2 with an Ewok, is there?
Lego The Hobbit is a handsome game, but it's also proof that the formula Traveller's Tales employs for most of its Lego titles simply doesn't work for everything it adapts.
One of the weakest Lego games of recent times, and not just because the formula is getting old but because The Hobbit isn't a particularly good fit for it.
Despite its sudden conclusion and its familiar gameplay, LEGO The Hobbit is a fitting adventure, adapting the films for younger and older players alike.
After the impressive voice acting and general spectacle of the main adventure starts to fade, you're left with an altogether dull world in which to roam.
In the pantheon of LEGO games, LEGO The Hobbit isn't the worst by a long shot – but the formula's certainly getting tired. While the decision to release the game with only two-thirds of the story complete is an odd one, there's still more than enough content to keep you occupied for a good while, and the presentation is still as charming as ever.
LEGO The Hobbit is a tried-and-true LEGO game that could've been better. Still, it's worth checking out if you're a fan of the fiction and/or TT Games' familiar interactive formula.
It's arguably not fair to criticise a Lego game for being a Lego game but having seen three on the Xbox One (or PS4) since its launch, it is becoming more and more difficult to hold back the feeling of repetition. Lego The Hobbit is better than The Lego Movie Videogame but that's not a massive accomplishment and sadly neither are as good as Lego Marvel.