LEGO Lord of The Rings Announced

[EddieA]

I've been hoping this was coming.  The game will be out in the fall, and like LEGO Batman 2, it will feature real voices for the characters.

[Gratch]

I've generally been rather 'meh' on these Lego games, but that looks pretty awesome.

[Bullwinkle]

I've liked the Lego games, but they only very recently clicked for me (it was the realization that using the red brick "cheats" weren't actually cheating and were in fact an intended part of gameplay).

I'd heard this one was probably coming, and I can't wait!

[Scraper]

Looks like they are no longer "Legolus". 

[The Grue]

IN!  Can't get enough of these Lego games.  Although, for some reason I haven't played the Harry Potter ones.  Need to rectify that.

[EngineNo9]

I was super excited for this one when I first heard about it, but I really dislike how they are using the voices from the movies in the trailer (and I'm assuming in the game).  That serious acting doesn't fit well with the normal TT Games slapstick LEGO take on the property to me.

[Bullwinkle]

IN!  Can't get enough of these Lego games.  Although, for some reason I haven't played the Harry Potter ones.  Need to rectify that.

The Harry Potter ones are my favorites.

I was super excited for this one when I first heard about it, but I really dislike how they are using the voices from the movies in the trailer (and I'm assuming in the game).  That serious acting doesn't fit well with the normal TT Games slapstick LEGO take on the property to me.

I find it a little jarring, too.  The trailer is also light on humor and the quirky lightheartedness that the games are known for (I think there's only one moment, actually).

[EddieA]

Mixing dramatic, serious voice acting and slapstick humor could be great if they do it well.

[EddieA]

There's a demo available now for PC and XBox, and it covers the battle of Helm's Deep.  It plays pretty much how you'd expect, and it looks really nice, but I was surprised by how serious it is.  The demo was a pretty faithful recreation of the movie, with only a few attempts at humor.  It wasn't what I was expecting, but it was still great fun to play.  It's oddly thrilling to see huge armies of LEGO characters fight in epic battles.

[Reemul]

I found the speech in Batman 2 really enhanced the game as I played Batman 1 after and the missing speech really made a difference.

Looking forward to Lego Lotr

[Jarrodhk]

Looked for the demo on 360... can't find it. Found a page for it on xbox.com, but no link for downloading.

[EddieA]

Looked for the demo on 360... can't find it. Found a page for it on xbox.com, but no link for downloading.

I played the PC version.  When I saw the xbox.com link, I assumed it was available there too.  It should be coming soon, though.

[Hetz]

It sucks that this was delayed until Nov 13th for the Xbox/PS3/Wii and PC.

It did come out today for the Vita, DS and 3DS. I got the Vita version and it is pretty cool. It has the free-roam world just like the console/PC version. I don't know if the 3DS and DS versions have that though.

[metallicorphan]

if you are buying this game for Xbox 360,make sure that the proper disc is in the box,some copies are being sold with the demo disc inside

http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/11/13/lego-the-lord-of-the-rings-recalled.aspx

If you're picking up Lego The Lord of the Rings today for the Xbox 360, you're going to want to open the case before you leave the store. It appears that some of the game boxes contain a demo disc for the game instead of the actual game.

Our own Andrew Reiner went to buy the game this morning, and he was told by the clerk that it had been recalled. He headed to another store, and the case did indeed contain the demo disc. The clerk there then opened the cases for the entire shipment and they were all the same.

The issue doesn't seem to be affecting the PS3 version of Lego The Lord of the Rings.

We've reached out to Warner Bros. Interactive to see if this issue affects the entire pressing, or if it was caught before then. In the meantime, be sure to crack open the box and check before you head home.

[EddieA]

It looks like the disc may be the full game and only the label is wrong.  Also, the PC download version has been delayed.  It's not yet up on Steam and Greenman Gaming doesn't know when they'll get their keys

[Gratch]

Strange, theres not a single review of this on Metacritic so far, and I've heard nothing about it other than the disc issue.  Is it awful or something?

[Bullwinkle]

Strange, theres not a single review of this on Metacritic so far, and I've heard nothing about it other than the disc issue.  Is it awful or something?

I've played up through Rivendell (till just after "And my axe"), and I think it is absolutely fantastic so far.  Gorgeous to look at, and it has some surprising depth, too, for a Lego game.  Not to say it has an incredible combat system or a tiered leveling system or anything.  It's still a Lego game, but, for example,  there are quests that pop up in the open world that look like they need you to replay missions to finish.  Normally, that would bother me, but Lego games basically require insane completionists like me to play every level at least twice anyway, so this adds a more compelling reason to do so.

I think part of the reason for the delayed reviews (apart from the time of year and people more anxious to see BLOPS and Halo reviews) is that this game is massive.   One incredible thing is that so far I can walk from Hobbiton to Rivendell. As you're walking in-game you trigger cut-scenes and levels, of course, but afterwards you can head forward or back the way you came.  This may well mean that, from The Shire, one can simply walk into Mordor.  

And along the way, there is just a shit-ton to do.  Things to collect, stuff to open and find and unlock, many of which you can't until you have a certain character or item.  All of it enticing you to come back as soon as you can.  Honestly, my party just expanded exponentially after Rivendell (all 9 in the Fellowhip), and having Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf means that I have a lot to go back and pick through.  I had to stop before heading back and scratching that collection itch or I would have been at it for hours.

The dialogue seems to be lifted directly from the movies, so there's some background noise that cuts in and out at times.  The humor is still present, too, but not to the same degree as in previous games.  I was worried about this, but so far, I haven't been disappointed.

There are an incredible amount of games out now, as we all know.  I have found myself putting Halo, BLOPS, AssCreed and others on hold as I keep wanting to get back to this game.  It's a more time-consuming than previous ones, so I've had to take breaks, which'll give me a better balance, but it doesn't change the fact that I keep coming back to it.

[EddieA]

Between the mislabeled XBox 360 discs, the last-minute indefinite delay of the PC version, and the lack of reviews, this has been one of the worst game launches I've ever seen.  The 3DS and Vita versions came out a few weeks ago, and even they don't have any reviews listed on Metacritic.  It's not like the game is bad either, which makes this ninja-like stealth release seem even stranger.

[metallicorphan]

Eurogamer review-9/10

[Gratch]

Thanks Eddie.  I'd held off simply because the lack of any feedback on the game in the media seemed rather ominous, but I think I'll give it a shot.

[Bullwinkle]

Eurogamer review-9/10

GamesRadar 4/5

[Gratch]

Crawley posted about his first impressions here, and they're pretty similar to my own, although I'm playing single player.  I wasn't crazy about the opening sequence of running around aimlessly hitting things until a cutscene started.  When I got to The Shire, I wandered around aimlessly and it took me forever to figure out how to progress to an actual quest.  Still a little confused by the map system, but that probably just takes some getting used to.

Maybe it's because I'm so familiar with the films, but all the transitions to the voiced cutscenes feel incredibly awkward (going from sneaking hobbits to Gandalf vs. Saruman was particularly jarring), as do the way they've edited them   I think I liked it better when the characters were simply grumbling incoherently. 

May stick this one on the back burner until I finish a couple other things.

[Bullwinkle]

Eurogamer review-9/10

GamesRadar 4/5

Gamespot 8.5/10
GameInformer 8.5/10

The humor and gameplay mix well with the setting, making the most impressive Lego game to date

[EddieA]

The PC version is now available on Steam if you have a key.  I'm assuming it will go on sale on Tuesday once the big sale is over.

[Greggy_D]

The PC digital version is $7.50 today on Amazon.

Key allows you to download from Steam.