''Lego The Hobbit'' is a

Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...

-themed

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developed by

Traveller's Tales Traveller's Tales is a British video game developer and a subsidiary of TT Games. Traveller's Tales was founded in 1989 by Jon Burton and Andy Ingram. Initially a small company focused on its own games, it grew in profile through developing game ...

. The game was released by

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Warner Bros. Games (formerly Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California. The publisher was founded as a division of Warner Bros. on January 14, 2004, as well as the WB Games brand. ...

on 8 April 2014 in North America, and 11 April in Europe. The game is a follow-up to '' Lego The Lord of the Rings'' based on the first two ''Hobbit'' films; '' An Unexpected Journey'' and '' The Desolation of Smaug''. It was released on

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and

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. On 1 January 2019, all digital sales of the PS3 and Xbox 360 version of the game were halted. This was confirmed a few days later by publisher Warner Bros. Interactive. The game was later re-added to

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on 27 April 2020 and on console stores on 6 May 2020.

Gameplay

The game shows several features from the previous games, including a feature where the user should locate specific materials to build a big Lego object. When the user selects and input the correct materials a screen is displayed where the Lego machine is built and the player should select the correct pieces in exchange for studs. Also the characters have different actions to perform, making the Dwarf Company a group with different capabilities during the mission, including someone with archery abilities, another that uses a big hammer that can move big objects, another with the ability to extract minerals from stones, and so on. Bilbo improves his abilities as the game advances: when he gains Sting he has the ability to be a more skilled fighter; and when he gets the One Ring he can disappear and build invisible Lego structures. The game, similar to the latest Lego video games, is composed on a large map, rather than a single hub. The player can move among different events where different characters ask the player to retain a specific material from a mission or to exchange materials.

Plot

Much like its predecessors, the game presents storylines from ''The Hobbit'' films: ''An Unexpected Journey'' and ''Desolation of Smaug''. However, the developers modified the storylines to fit the events into a number of game chapters per film, as well as adding the humour the series has become known for.

DLC

There are 4 DLCs that are included with this game. They are The Big Little Character Pack, Side Quest Character Pack, The Armory Pack and The Battle Pack.

Cancelled ''The Battle of the Five Armies'' DLC

It was reported at the London Toy Fair in January 2014 that a DLC would be released covering the events of the final film in ''The Hobbit'' series, to be released around the time of the film at the end of that year. However, no DLC was released. Over a year later, in a correspondence with

GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...

it was revealed that, despite no actual cancellation of the DLC, there were no longer any plans to adapt the film as a DLC, nor to adapt it as another game.

Audio

Similar to ''Lego The Lord of the Rings'', ''Lego The Hobbit'' features talking minifigures, with their dialogue taken directly from the films. Additional voices were provided by

Tim Bentinck Timothy Charles Robert Noel Bentinck, 12th Earl of Portland, Count Bentinck of Waldeck Limpurg (born 1 June 1953), commonly known as Tim Bentinck, is an Australian-born British actor and writer, known for his long-running role as David Arche ...

Liz May Brice Elizabeth May Brice (born 8 September 1975) is an English actress. She is known for roles such as the convicted murderess Pat Kerrigan on ITV1's '' Bad Girls'', and Agent Johnson in '' Torchwood: Children of Earth''. Career Brice was born in ...

, Clare Corbett, Duncan Duff, Daniel Fine, Joel Fry, Jenny Galloway, Andy Gathergood, Anna Koval, Jonathan Kydd, Steve Kynman, Jamie Lee, Andy Linden, Sara Beck Mather, James Naylor,

Emma Pierson Emma Jane Pierson (born 30 April 1981) is an English actress. Her appearances in television programmes include the role of Anna Thornton-Wilton in the BBC television drama ''Hotel Babylon (BBC series), Hotel Babylon'', and ''SunTrap'', ''Day ...

, Jason Pitt, Richard Ridings, Emma Tate, and Marcia Warren.

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

, who played

Saruman Saruman, also called Saruman the White, later Saruman of Many Colours, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy novel ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is the leader of the Istari, wizards sent to Middle-earth in human form by the go ...

in the film series, has an uncredited role as the game's narrator.

Reception

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lego Hobbit (video game), The 2014 video games 3D platformers Action role-playing video games Action-adventure games Feral Interactive games The Hobbit (film series) Hobbit (video game), The MGM Interactive games Middle-earth (film franchise) video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo 3DS games Open-world video games PlayStation 3 games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation Vita games Role-playing video games Video games about sentient toys Split-screen multiplayer games Traveller's Tales games Video game prequels Video games based on adaptations Video games developed in the United Kingdom Warner Bros. video games Wii U eShop games Wii U games Windows games Works based on The Hobbit Xbox 360 games Xbox One games