Here at Everybody Plays, it doesn't take long after we've finished one LEGO game for our minds to start drifting to the future, as we try to figure out what the next set of films to get a customary brick-over is going to be. With Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Batman all having already been well and truly LEGOed, it was beginning to feel like developers Travellers Tales were running out of material - but then news hit the internet of some LEGO sets based around the Lord of the Rings, and a few weeks later, it was confirmed that Frodo and friends would be the next to be immortalised in digital plastic.
With the game's launch now mere weeks away (a vague "October" is all we've heard so far), we thought it'd be nice to take a look at what we know so far about the LEGOy incarnation of Lord of the Rings, as we'd imagine most of you are every bit as excited as we are. If you've played more than one LEGO game before, you probably won't be too surprised to find that, as far as the basic formula goes, not too much has changed. Jumping into the hairy, hobbity feet of the main characters from the films, you'll play through each of the three stories in turn - The Fellowship of the Ring, the Two Towers, and the Return of the King, with slapstick cutscenes punctuating the action to tell the story. With the book being rather hard to follow, thanks to the thousands of characters it introduces in the first few pages, we're hoping the game will at least be easier to understand if you haven't seen the films - and much like LEGO Batman 2 before it, the cutscenes will be fully voiced.
Usually, only a few designated short characters can squeeze through these hatches - but in a world full of hobbits and dwarves, we'd imagine it'll be rare to find someone who won't fit...
The gameplay, meanwhile, seems to stick firmly to what we've come to know and love - with two player drop-in, drop-out co-op, you'll be running around a brick-based Middle Earth, solving rudimentary puzzles, smashing things up and then rebuilding them into crazy contraptions to progress through the levels, and scouring every last inch of the land looking for a well hidden collectible. As always, there'll be a cavalcade of characters to choose from (although hopefully not as many as in the books), each lovingly crafted plastic version of themselves, with oodles of personality, and their own special skill for you to make use of on your journey. Beginning with the quintessential Hobbit, Frodo Baggins is capable of lighting up dark places with his Phial of Galandriel, as well as entering the Wraith-world by wearing the One Ring - although it's not yet clear what this will involve in the game, while the wise wizard Gandalf is able to lift and build Lego objects with his magical staff. Legolas, the elven prince has a special sword that can uncover the tracks left by friends and foes alike, while young Sam, being the pyromaniac that he is, carries a tinderbox, with which he can start fires. As always, solving the puzzles in the game will usually require clever combinations of several characters' skills - which at least part of the reason why they always work so well in co-op.
Much like Lego Batman 2, Lego Lord of the Rings is a much more open game than those that came before it, letting you stroll from one end of Middle Earth to the other almost freely as you progress through the game, adding even more of an exploration element to the proceedings. Much larger than the land of Batman 2, you and your fellowship can freely trot from the Shire to the mines of Moria before heading into the green splendour of Rivendell, meaning there's going to be plenty to explore.
Not ones to stick solely to what they know, though, Traveller's Tales often like to try something new out with each new Lego-isation, and Lord of the Rings is no different. Given the more free form fantasy setting of the series, characters will now have their own inventories, letting you store items you find that may come in useful later - so that blue key you picked up at the beginning of your adventure may become essential to your progress hours down the line. You'll also have the chance to visit a blacksmith to upgrade your existing weapons and forge new ones - you could even turn one of your favourite characters into a veritable Swiss army knife, as the skills and weapons stack. For example, teaching Gimli the dwarf to use a bow not only lets him attack enemies from afar, but he also keeps his block-breaking axe, and traditional small person skill of being able to fit into gaps others can't.
With the music and narration being lifted directly from the films, and a hefty dose of LEGO style humour injected to make things a little less po-faced, LEGO Lord of the Rings is shaping up to be yet authentic-yet-accessible LEGO game that'll become a favourite of families everywhere - and in plenty of time for Christmas, too. With LEGO City Undercover on the way for the Wii U, and LEGO: Lord of the Rings shipping on pretty much every other platform known to mankind (Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Wii, DS, 3DS and Vita), it's going to be a very busy few months at Outcyders HQ. Until then, we'll leave you with one trailer to rule them all:
