With The Desolation of Smaug now in cinemas, Warner Bros. Interactive and TT Games have released the first trailer for the LEGO: The Hobbit video game.
This new game based on the famous Danish bricks will cover only the first two films, so we will probably have to wait for a sequel to experience the complete journey—or for additional downloadable content.
Those who have no problem with a game that ends two-thirds of the way through can pick it up sometime next year on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Voir la vidéo sur YouTube
Since this isn't the first time I've written about a LEGO game, let's begin by speculating rather than summarizing. So, before LEGO Simpsons, LEGO Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and LEGO Ghostbusters, it is LEGO The Hobbit that is expected in the first quarter of 2014 on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii U and 3DS—and it was on Sony's new console that we got our first glimpse of Bilbo Baggins and his fine (short, actually) company.
While Tolkien's The Hobbit was violently stretched into three films for the cinema, LEGO The Hobbit takes on Jackson's first two movies. As usual with TT Games' titles, the adaptation is completely faithful to the original work, with extra bricks and humor thrown in.
We were shown the iconic scene in which the dwarves arrive at Bilbo's house. Alongside the familiar quest, they also bring some new gameplay features in their bags. During this introduction, we discovered that, much as in previous LEGO games, certain actions depend on the character being controlled. We therefore needed the dwarf with the large hammer to destroy a cabinet and enter poor Bilbo's pantry. Weapons and items are still selected using a small wheel that appears above the head of the player's LEGO character. More surprisingly, the film's—and therefore the book's—singing scene was recreated here through a series of rhythmic QTEs. It was neither particularly exciting nor inspired, but this kind of sequence can provide a brief change of pace from the game's "classic" gameplay.
Did you spot the weak point?
Like the five fingers of a Dwarf
Our hands-on session took us into the goblins' lair! Once again, this gave us the chance to see that cooperation remains the watchword in this new LEGO game. The dwarves can link arms to become more effective in combat, move more nimbly and perform special attacks—for example, against the giant Goblin King.
Voir la vidéo sur YouTube
Their individual abilities—ranged weapon, grappling hook and hammer—must also be used in coordination to unlock certain situations and mechanisms, sometimes by responding to color codes, for example. But the major new feature that raises questions about LEGO The Hobbit's accessibility—let's remember that LEGO The Lord of the Rings and LEGO Marvel are perfect games to play with a child—is that large scenery elements are no longer built automatically when you approach them. You now enter a sort of construction mode in which you have to find the right pieces to assemble the object.
That may not sound very clear, but it is much easier to understand on screen. We still wonder whether it might confuse younger players, much like certain unintuitive gameplay actions that required bringing in several dwarves one after another. In terms of pacing, the flow of actions and presentation, LEGO The Lord of the Rings seemed more polished at this stage. Graphically, LEGO Marvel on PS4 also made a stronger impression. Finally, this was only a preview, confirming that the film's actors will provide the voices for the game, which is expected to feature around eighty characters and launch in the first quarter of 2014.
Gandalf is, of course, also part of the adventure.
WE'RE WAITING FOR IT: A LITTLE
The LEGO series is always very enjoyable, but after this first look at The Hobbit, we are a little less enthusiastic. The new mechanics are not particularly convincing, and the epic character of one of the film's major scenes was largely missing from what we saw—in this case, the sequence in the Goblins' lair. Let's hope the sense of rhythm is more convincing in the final version; the humor and family-friendly atmosphere are still very much present.
We were shown the iconic scene in which the dwarves arrive at Bilbo's house. Alongside the familiar quest, they also bring some new gameplay features in their bags. During this introduction, we discovered that, much as in previous LEGO games, certain actions depend on the character being controlled. We therefore needed the dwarf with the large hammer to destroy a cabinet and enter poor Bilbo's pantry. Weapons and items are still selected using a small wheel that appears above the head of the player's LEGO character. More surprisingly, the film's—and therefore the book's—singing scene was recreated here through a series of rhythmic QTEs. It was neither particularly exciting nor inspired, but this kind of sequence can provide a brief change of pace from the game's "classic" gameplay.
Did you spot the weak point?
Like the five fingers of a Dwarf
Our hands-on session took us into the goblins' lair! Once again, this gave us the chance to see that cooperation remains the watchword in this new LEGO game. The dwarves can link arms to become more effective in combat, move more nimbly and perform special attacks—for example, against the giant Goblin King.
Their individual abilities—ranged weapon, grappling hook and hammer—must also be used in coordination to unlock certain situations and mechanisms, sometimes by responding to color codes, for example. But the major new feature that raises questions about LEGO The Hobbit's accessibility—let's remember that LEGO The Lord of the Rings and LEGO Marvel are perfect games to play with a child—is that large scenery elements are no longer built automatically when you approach them. You now enter a sort of construction mode in which you have to find the right pieces to assemble the object.
That may not sound very clear, but it is much easier to understand on screen. We still wonder whether it might confuse younger players, much like certain unintuitive gameplay actions that required bringing in several dwarves one after another. In terms of pacing, the flow of actions and presentation, LEGO The Lord of the Rings seemed more polished at this stage. Graphically, LEGO Marvel on PS4 also made a stronger impression. Finally, this was only a preview, confirming that the film's actors will provide the voices for the game, which is expected to feature around eighty characters and launch in the first quarter of 2014.
Gandalf is, of course, also part of the adventure.
WE'RE WAITING FOR IT: A LITTLE
The LEGO series is always very enjoyable, but after this first look at The Hobbit, we are a little less enthusiastic. The new mechanics are not particularly convincing, and the epic character of one of the film's major scenes was largely missing from what we saw—in this case, the sequence in the Goblins' lair. Let's hope the sense of rhythm is more convincing in the final version; the humor and family-friendly atmosphere are still very much present. 
