Video Game Review: Lego The Hobbit

This evening I decided to go through my blog entries for the past year and realize that I never provided a video game review for "Lego The Hobbit" that I played on my PlayStation Vita earlier this year. I know that a lot of people are looking for video games as Christmas gifts and so I thought I would share my impressions on this fun little game.

Lego games are great for video game players of all ages. Any violence is no more graphic than when a child drops his Lego creation and blocks scatter. Contrast that with a first-person shooter that can be rather graphic. One nice thing about the video game is that you don't have all the little plastic blocks to pick up afterwards and it is a win-win situation for parents. I played the Traveller's Tale game on my hand-held and I understand they changed some of the game play to be a bit more customized for the portable format. However I highly recommend it for all platforms including the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or any of the previous console versions.

The game follows the movie very closely and even uses dialog taken directly from the film. While not everything matches perfectly, I preferred that to having different voice actors narrate the game. You also have the ability to take somewhat different paths through the game and play things out of the order you would expect. I really enjoyed this after I finished the game and could go back to complete scenes I skipped the first time through.

I had an enjoyable time throughout most of the game. Of course I did encounter one or two parts of the game that seemed a bit more difficult than usual and found myself grinding through those sections. With a bit of effort and the lack of anything else to do on my plane rides, I got through them and continued the game.

I can easily recommend this game to anyone that loves either Lego toys or "The Hobbit." For the later it doesn't matter if you are a fan of the book or the movies. The game has an ESRB rating of E for everyone and can be found in most stores for around $20. It is well worth that price.

Entertaining Video Games

I am sitting at the airport in San Diego getting ready to play a video game on my PS Vita and I have a couple of choices. I have been trying to get through Sly Cooper but find myself grinding through the various levels and it has stopped being fun. Given the choice of continuing the game or watching paint dry, I am leaning towards the latter. Others may disagree but that is how I feel. Knowing this, I threw in another game in my computer bag before leaving home: Lego The Hobbit.

I have never played a Lego video game for more than a few minutes but find them hilarious. When your character blows up or is killed, there is no blood nor gore. Just Lego blocks being broken down into their individual components. It always makes me laugh.

So what makes one video game more entertaining than another? That is the all-important question and I wish I had a complete answer. I do know that there are a number of games that I have played that are like abusive relationships. The game is difficult and you only continue because you have invested time in the relationship and want to see it all the way to the end. Rather than feeling good because things are going well, you feel good because you didn't get the crap kicked out of you. I hate those types of games and that is what Sly Cooper is turning into.

Contrast that with Tomb Raider or Red Dead Redemption where I got totally involved in the game and looked forward to playing them on a daily basis. Some parts of the games seemed difficult but then they got easier for a time and the story built, allowing me to reinvest in my relationship with the characters.

Sly Cooper was amazing when it first hit the market. Since then games have evolved and it makes it difficult to go back to that style of game. I may eventually go back to it but right now I need something else to entertain me. Hopefully Lego The Hobbit is it.