Another Lego game released means you can expect another review from me. I got so excited when I heard that TT Games was giving Lord of the Rings the Lego treatment that I went out and preordered it. That is a big deal since I haven’t preordered a game since that disappointing Guitar Hero III. But that trailer that had actual movie dialogue in it sold me from day one. And now here it is a few days later and I have a review for you all. How does this game compare to the other recent Lego game, Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes? Here’s a hint, it is better.
I suppose that isn’t fair to compare the two that closely. After all, I like Batman as much as the next person but I like Lord of the Rings a lot more. So naturally I will find more enjoyment in this title. But after saying that, Lego Lord of the Rings is the more fully realized game. Like the dev team does with all of their Lego games, they try new things and make a few tweaks here or there in each game and take the things that work on to the next title. The two biggest things that were taken from Lego Batman 2 were the “open world” (which was not much more than a level hub itself) and the voice acting. This time around we have an honest to goodness open world complete with side quests. And as for the voice acting, it is ripped straight from the movies so that is top shelf talent all the way.
I suppose I should call out the dialogue for a moment though. When you take sound from one thing and paste it into something else, it usually doesn’t sync up completely. Like watching a dubbed movie. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great what they did. I do feel however that I should mention the voice acting doesn’t always sound perfect. But it is not worth complaining about. Other than that, there are still some bugs that keep this from being the perfect game. Texture pop-in from a low draw distance, gameplay twitchiness, and other minor bugs continue to be an issue as they have always been in the Lego games from the past. As I said though, this is a more realized game all around and that continues to raise the bar for future Lego games to come.
Lego Lord of the Rings is probably one of Traverller’s Tales most ambitious games thus far. You have the whole of Middle Earth to explore. I commend them for taking those three expansive movies and finding a way to condense them down into one game. They could have just as easily made them each into separate games. At the end of the day, this is probably my favorite Lego game thus far. I was very fond of the original two Star Wars games but this one is so deep with content that it is incredibly fulfilling. As every game before, they will take the advancements they have made here and incorporate those into the next Lego inspired game. When I played the last Lego game I was feeling as though the franchise is becoming fatigued, after playing this however, I can honestly say my interest is renewed for at least one more game.