Review:LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game/Irnakk

Irnakk
Gender: Male
Joined: November 1st, 2011   № of Reviews: 3   № of Featured reviews: 0

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Well. This is my third review so far. Haha. Anyways, this time it's mah first review on a a videogame. I might not be able to upload it in 1 time, so I'm just gonna guess I need to edit several times.

So. Here is a poll for the game.

Gameplay

The gameplay is pretty much like another game, because of open-world hub and voices instead of grunts. Only this time, the voices are from the movies and thus LEGO did not voice the characters themselves like in LB2 (there are several grunts and laughs however voiced by LEGO for some reason though). The game is really fun but after storymode and the bonus level are done, there's not really much to do except free-play and getting the Mithril bricks. So that's it in general. And you can use Mithril bricks to make items (most of the items are ridicilously stupid and often include rotten drumsticks or diving glasses). You can't really make your own items. You just need to find a design somewhere in the world or in levels.

Open-world hub

This is really cool like in LB2, but only this time it's bigger. And sadly actually worse. Most of the locations you cannot enter. And with Minas Tirith (possibly biggest dissapointment of the open-world for me) is barely accesable. You can only go to the upper level, you can't enter the citadel, the beacon of Amon-Dîn is removed and instead the beacon is on the White Tower for some reason. Also the tomb where Denethor puts himself on fire is not there. Sadly. Helm's Deep has most of it's stuff it has in the movies (you can't enter the keep sadly too...) but it's really cool. Edoras is really awesome, though you can't enter the Golden Hall of Meduseld and it would be nice if there were stables with horses that won't kick you off all the time. But the most annoying thing possibly is, Barad-dûr is in ruins. It lacks the tower. *facepalm*. People who do not know the name "Barad-dûr" might wonder if LEGO forgot about adding "the tower with the eye". Another thing is, on the map, the locations are mis-placed. The Shire is in the actual story in Arnor, but the game lists it in Eriador. Those who do not know, The north of the west of Middle-earth is pretty much Arnor, and the south is Eriador (Enedwaith and Dunland are in Eriador for example, both of which the locations are absent in the game). There are many locations on the map that are not able to go to. Examples are; Harlindon, Mithlond, Mirkwood, Harad, Rhûn (the entire realm), Dol guldur, Erebor and Iron Hills. A cool thing is, there is also the Trollshaws from The Hobbit, though there is no mapstone for that location sadly. The location with almost all of it's contents from the movies is Rivendell.

Characters

These are the characters with a small review for each of them. Note that they are not in order of character list.

1. Elendil -- Great character, looks pretty much like he looks in the movie. And he has Narsíl. :D
2. Isildur -- Awesome. Has broken Narsíl.
3. Aragorn -- Awesome but. Seriously? I mean it. Seriously? only a sword? Where's his bow and his dagger? I bet LEGO knew he has them but they cut them out because they are lazy. ...
4. Aragorn (Gondor Armor) -- Has Andúril. Awesome. Where is his dagger, again?
5. Aragorn (Royal Armor) -- looks kinda awkward with the crown. has Andúril and a shield that he never used.
6. Frodo Baggins -- Has pretty much everything like the movie Frodo. Sting (GLOWS WHEN ORCS ARE CLOSE!), Light of Eärendil, Elven cloak (bad LEGO humor sadly used for this one though), and in the Weathertop level he has a Barrow-blade.
7. Frodo Baggins (Shire) -- Nothing special. Fun to play as though.
8. Frodo Baggins (Weary) -- It's Frodo without a cloak and coat, and has dirt on his face. Has the same stuff as regular Frodo.
9. Samwise Gamgee -- Has a lot of stuff. Frying Pan, Shovel, Elven Rope, and a Tinderbox. He should have his Barrow-blade, but I think LEGO didn't gave him one since he has too many items already.
10. Samwise Gamgee]] (Weary) -- Same as with weary Frodo. Should have Sting though.
11. Merry -- Has Barrow-blade and fishing rod (for some reason).
12. Merry (Rohirrim Squire) -- Has Barrow-blade. He should have a cloak because he had his elven cloak on with the armour. He should have a Rohirrim sword also like in the movie, since he lost his Barrow-blade after Amon-hen.
13. Pippin -- Has Barrow-blade and bucket (again, for some reason).
14. Pippin (Gondor Armor) -- Has Barrow-blade. Should have a Gondorian sword like in the movie though. And he should have his cloak on too.
15. Gandalf the Grey -- Staff and Glamdring. Yay!
16. Gandalf the Grey (no hat, story mode only) -- Same as regular Gandalf, but with hair instead of hat. yay.
17. Gandalf the White -- Staff and Glamdring!
18. Radagast the Brown -- cool green/brown staff. yay. Looks nothing like the Radagast we see in The Hobbit.
19. Saruman the White -- Possibly the most accurate figure. Looks alot like the movie Saruman. YAY!
20. Tom Bombadil -- Merry dol Tom Bombadillo! ... You can play as Tom Bombadil but not as Goldberry. What the heck...
21. Glóin -- Has unique axe. YAY! Should have a tinderbox though.
22. Gimli -- Yay but. 1 axe? Seriously? He has 5 in the movies. The character model should like upgrade with a cloak after going to Lothlórien though.
23. Legolas -- Same as with the cloak thing with Gimli.
24. Haldir -- Awesome! 1 of my 3 favorite elves (Arwen and Elrond are my other 2 favorites). Too bad you can't play the Lothlórien elf guard version. :( He should have a sword like Hadhafang like in the movie, instead of the spear Lhang thing.
25. Lothlórien Elf -- Awesome! He needs a Bow of the Galadhrim though.
26. Elrond (Third Age) -- Looks alot like the movie version. And he has Hadhafang. :P
27. Elrond (Second Age) -- Same as above ^. Awesome!
28. Arwen Evenstar (Ranger) -- Again, ^. You can't play the dress version though.
29. Grishnákh -- What about their legs? They don't need them! Oh they sure look tasty!
30. Lurtz -- Awesome dude. Just awesome. Though I would very much like it if his armour color didn't look so much like his skin color.
31. Newborn Lurtz -- No opinion. Haven't unlocked the character yet. :P
32. Uruk-hai -- You can only play this one without a helmet. Cool character though.
33. Mordor Orc -- Awesome. You can't play the hairless one. Haha.
34. Moria Orc -- AWESOME! I was afraid this character would be playable without his helmet D:. Thank you LEGO!
35. Galadriel -- ... Not really a fan of her. She has no weapons/tools whatsoever.
36. Celeborn -- Same as above. ^
37. Rosie Cotton -- Has frying pan. :P Does not really look like the real Rosie Cotton.
38. Bilbo Baggins -- Looks a lot like the real Mr. Bilbo! :D
39. Bilbo Baggins (Old) -- How he looks like in Rivendell. When he does the HAAAARGH! zombie thing. :P
40. Boromir -- One Does Not Simply Include Boromir's Throwing Knife.
41. Boromir (Gondor Captain) -- One Does Not Simply Include Boromir's Throwing Knife.
42. Sauron -- I seeeezzzz you!
43. King Théoden -- Awesome.
44. King Théoden (Armour) -- Awesome.
45. King Théoden (Big Fat Meanie AKA Cursed) -- D:
46. Éowyn -- My favorite female character and one of my favorites overall.
47. Éowyn (Awesome AKA Dernhelm) -- Awesome!
48. Éomer (version without helmet is not in the game at all :|) -- LEGO apparently does not know his sword is called Gúthwïne.
49. Gamling -- AWESOME! I was almost afraid this character wasn't going to be in the game! I'm so glad he is in it!
50. Háma -- AKA the Fat Captain of Meduseld.
51. Faramir -- One of my favorite characters. YAY! HE'S IN IT! :D
52. Gondorian Ranger -- Uh... Doesn't really look like the rangers from the film. Looks more like smiley-men.
53. Denethor II -- Boromir would've given me a cool gift! A major character in Return of the King. HE'S NOT IN ANY CUTSCENE. :| I was almost afraid you can't play as him, but LEGO didn't forget about him at all. I think he was not in any cutscene due to violence with his death.
54. Rohan Soldier -- Nothing much to say. Cool character. :P
55. Gondorian Soldier -- Ya sure cool.
56. Madril -- Awesome! I had a strange feeling he wasn't going to be in the game though.
57. Corsair Pirate -- Um. Looks to young. Should be bearded. Doesn't look like any of the Corsairs from the movie.
58. Mouth of Sauron -- AKA That Awesome Guy With The Awesome Laugh.
59. Blacksmith -- Haven't unlocked him yet. :P
60. Nazgûl -- BEHOLD We are the nine! Come now the Ring, the Ring, to Mordor we take you! Come now! The Ring, the Ring!
61. The Witch-King of Angmar -- You not know death when you see it da old man! This is mah hour!
62. Gríma Wormtongue -- Seriously. Not accurate at all. Weird eyes... looks really old.
63. Gil-galad -- awesome! He is really epic!
64. Haradrim Warrior -- NINJA SEARCH!
65. Gothmog -- Form ranks you maggots! Form ranks! Pikes in front! Archers behind!
66. Easterling -- Easter Egg Pizza Guy.
67. Gollum -- MUST GO THAT WAY! MUSN'T HURT THE PRECIOUS!
68. Shagrat -- Hey. Why can't I play my favorite orc?

DLC pack 3 characters

1. Faramir (Gondor Armour) -- As seen when he goes on the suicidal mission to reclaim Osgilliath.
2. Barrow-wight -- ... I would be sooooooooooooooooooooooo happy if he looked like the Wights from War in the North. This looks like some sort of zombie. And he has no weapons... :|

(I'm gonna take a break now)

Mounts

The worst thing about the game is possibly the fact that you can't use vechicles or mounts. It would be cool if there was this thing like in LB2 that shows the vechicles you have and you can choose which one you wanna use. Like Eagles and Fell beasts as flying, and Ents, Trolls, Horses, Ballista's, Catapults, and maybe for da fun Sauron. My point is, that is all impossible. There are only mounts that wont kick you off if you haven't beaten story-mode yet. Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Théoden, and Gandalf would have their own horses. This is awesome. If you beat story-mode, you might kinda wish you didn't finish it. After that, those mounts are gone. They vanished. They are in ImaginationLand. There are mounts in open-world, but these will kick you off every time. You can escape this by keep jumping while you are riding your mount, but they will vanish if you go to certain locations. These locations include Edoras, Rivendell, Fangorn Forest, and The Dead Marshes. (I might make the review sound like the game is bad, it isn't, I just wish there were fully control-able mounts :P ).

Levels

Haha. The levels! Ofcourse!

the levels are these (I will say if it's good or bad).

1. Prologue -- Good!
2. The Black Rider -- Ya sure fun, but only because of the Wizard battle and running to Bucklebury. It's kinda lame to walk so slow and can't get seen for most of the level.
3. Weathertop -- Good but... why the heck did Sam throw away his very own sword he uses a lot in the movies?
4. The Pass of Caradhas -- uh okay, it's really fun but it's so random to make a level for it. I'd prefer if they did bilbo's birthday party instead of this.
5. Da Mines of Moria -- I gotta admit, my favorite level in the entire game along with Helm's Deep and the bonus level.
6. Amon-hen -- I love this level but... Boromir left his shield at the encampment, and suddenly he he has it again in the fight. O_O
7. Taming Gollum -- I think this is the first level for Two Towers, it could be Track hobbits but who cares? :P It's fun. heh.
8. The Dead Marshes -- ... I had to use a walkthrough to get past this level. It gets fun in the Mumakil part though.
9. Track Hobbits -- Exciting level. I love it.
10. Warg Attack -- really fun! You need to cure Théoden first, then go to the Warg Attack. Too bad that they cut out Théoden kicking Gríma off the stairs. that was a really funny part! :O
11. Helm's Deep -- Dun Dun dun! De de dun, da de dun dun! Dun dun dun dun-de-dun! That's how that song goes. :P Great level.
12. Osgilliath -- at first you go to Osgilliath. ya okay cool. But then you go to Isengard! and you play as Treebeard and some unnamed ent! :D
13. Paths of the Dead -- This is confusing. I think this is the first level. It seems it's not though. Hah. I had to quit and re-enter the level once because I did something in the wrong order which caused me to be unable to finish the level.
14. The Fields of Pelennor -- Éomer, take your éored down to the left side, Gamling, follow the King's banner down the center, Grimbold, take your company right after you pass the wall! I love this level. But did they HAD to get rid off the early events of the battle and Denethor and Faramir?
15. The Secret Stairs -- Um... They could've done the early stages of the Battle of Minas Tirith instead of this.
16. Shelob's Lair -- Ya okay fun.
17. Cirith Ungol -- First you fight Shelob (Shagrat aids you cuz of co-op thing) then you go to the tower of Cirith Ungol. You need disguises too. That's the fun part about the level.
18. The Black Gate -- :( Where is The Mouth of Sauron? Anyways, fun level. a bit short though.
19. Mount Doom -- yay. You need to fight Gollum for DA PRECIOUS!

So. I'm gonna take a break again.

Custom Characters

I believe there are atleast 10 custom characters. I'm not sure though. Look, this issue is with pretty much every LEGO game. Lack of pieces. It's so annoying. Lack of hair cuts usually. It's so freaking annoying! I suppose this is worse than the mounts issue, but this has been in every LEGO video game. Huh. You can customize them at Bag-end.

"Voices directly taken from the films"

Sure this was cool, but they made it kindof disturbing. You know why? They shortened every line a character had said, which makes it sound extremely annoying/disturbing. More annoying is that, ANNOYING GRUNTS WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE GOTTEN RID OF ARE IN THE GAME. Well, in the DS version of LB2 there are only subtitles, and they spoke in foreign language so I'm guessing this would be the case with the LoTR DS version too. whatever. The actual review is of the Xbox/PC/Wii/PS3. So DS doesn't have much to do with it. Now back to the topic. ANNOYING GRUNTS WE ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE GOTTEN RID OF IN THE GAME. This may sound like it doesn't matter, but the LEGO voice-overs sound nothing like the actors. Especially with Merry and Pippin for example. In LEGO's grunts things that we are supposed to have gotten rid of they sound like little 5 year olds while they are actually adults. I facepalmed so hard then. 1 of the times this happens to be the case with Merry and Pippin is at Bucklebury, and I believe several times in Fangorn. These unnecesary grunts are in the console versions. I don't know if they are in the DS version, probably yes, but for the time being I cannot say.

Gonna take another break.