The LEGO series of games by developer Traveller's Tales, set in realms from super-popular film and book franchises, somewhat surprisingly took the market by storm when LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game was released in 2005.
The series is returning to Middle Earth with LEGO: The Hobbit, focusing on the new film prequels to the famous trilogy, and we now know the release date will be April 11, 2014. The series has gone through the Star Wars movies, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Marvel, and a few others.
Games that use licensed worlds don't usually turn out to be very good unfortunately, but the LEGO series turned that stigma on its head with surprising humor, style and most importantly, fun. And it did it with not one, but two (LEGO, and whichever franchise it was using) licenses.
The games have some real unexpected charm, fun levels to play through, and dozens of characters you can collect and play as from whichever famous world you were adventuring in. They're witty, which is especially impressive considering there isn't really any dialogue (LotR used voice from the films, The Hobbit looks like it might be doing the same), guiding you through the events of the movies using pantomime cutscenes.
LEGO: The Hobbit is set to cover the events in the first two The Hobbit movies that have been released already. Perhaps an additional LEGO The Hobbit game will depict the events in the not-yet-released third part of the film trilogy.
The game will be available on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Vita, 3DS, PC and Mac (so just a few platforms, then) on April 11. A LEGO: The Hobbit PS3 bundle has been announced as well, which includes the game and a 500GB PS3 console, available this spring for $269.
Check out the announcement trailer for the game below, becuase it's as awesome as the rest of the franchise.
