LEGO LORD OF THE RINGS

Yes, Lord of the Rings finally got its LEGO debut last year.  I used to be a serious die-hard fan of the film trilogy before I was introduced to the vocal abilities of folks like Juan Diego Florez and Dmitri Hvorostovsky.  All right, I was an Orlando Bloom fangirl, now I'm a Juan Diego Florez fangirl.  Anyways, I'm getting off track here.  

       This game is awesome on so many levels (please forgive the pun; I did not intend it).  For one thing, it goes beyond just having the usual launch-pad hub level.  As with LEGO Batman: DC Superheros, LEGO LOTR has a much larger explorable hub-level.  And that's an understatement.  You don't launch from home base and explore the city; you go from one end of Middle-Earth to another in this game.  What's really awesome is that the game manages to keep the story epic while at the same time throwing in the goofiness that LEGO is famous for.  
       In order to keep the game co-op friendly, some scenes actually have you fighting alongside other characters when it didn't happen in either the book or the movie.  Example: In the scene where Samwise fights the evil spider Shelob, the Orc captain Shagrat is fighting as well, and can actually wield Sting and the Phial of Galadriel!  
       Instead of gold bricks, you have Mithril bricks, which can be used to make various items, ranging from the logical (Mithril sword) to the interesting (Mithril hairbrush) to the downright funny (Mithril disco phial that plays a dance mix and has colored lights!).  The mini-kits are statues of various places, creature, or objects in Middle-Earth.  Oh, and did I mention that there is actually a treasure list of things you can get during gameplay?  Many of them are items in these various side-quests.  Someone in Middle-Earth needs or wants something, and you either forge it or find it during the game. 

The characters are unlocked in the usual manner, but some require a fair bit of tussling before you can unlock them.  I think one of the hardest to unlock is the Witch King because you have to go to Minas Morgul and fight him in a tight corner.  

The only problem I have with the game is the fact that you can't access the interior of Moria in the hub level, but that might be due the Watcher pulling down the door in it's rage.  There are also issues with trying to reach items in some of the levels.  

If you want epic and funny at the same time, this game is for you.