Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Legos have come a long way since I was but a naive youth who could still play with colorful blocks and not fear the judgmental scorn of my peers. Back then, I’d crack open a fresh bucket and let my unbridled child imagination craft epic dreamscapes that… well, they mostly ended up looking like boxes. Sometimes I put wheels on them. OK, so maybe what I imagined didn’t quite end up sticking the landing in reality. Lego Lord Of The Rings, on the other hand, looks pretty much a perfect reproduction of Peter Jackson’s take on Tolkien’s genre-birthing opus – except that Vigo Mortensen’s rugged handsomeness is slightly diminished by the transition into pudgy-block-person-hood.

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Business horses! With suits and briefcases and stuff! That’s completely not what I’m talking about. And as much as I wish it was, an in-depth look at Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan‘s mounted combat’s not a bad consolation. Now, obviously, any game could put you in a saddle, hand you some variety of pointy stick, and send you haphazardly swinging on your way, but LOTRO’s basing an entire expansion around hard-charging equine-fu. Classes will have unique skills, playstyles, and – hopefully – /dance options. Ride past the break to watch some nice people explain the real horsepower behind your newfound horse powers.

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No signal shone in the sky to announce the presence of a PC demo for Lego Batman 2 but I found it anyway, lurking over at the official website. The portion contained is the beginning of the game which means there’s no chance to explore the Gotham hub, just a brick-bopping jaunt through the Man of the Year ceremony, where Bruce Wayne beats “some bald guy from Metropolis”. Release is today in the US, the 22nd in the EU and the 27th in Australia. Obviously. We’ll take a look as soon as possible. Here’s the demo.

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I think I may actually mean that. The latest (and probably final, given the brick-based behemoth’s impending June 22 release date) Lego Batman 2 trailer might just have all of the things. You, for instance, might play games for outlandish vehicles. Well, this one has those too. Or you might enjoy kung-fu fighting – perhaps even of the “fast as lightning” variety. Lego The Flash’s tiny, c-shaped fists of fury say hello. And then, of course, there’s the giant robot. Yep, that’s a thing for some probably wonderful reason. But then, I suppose you’d need all of the things to fill all of the space, so here we are. Now let us move elsewhere to watch the trailer. After the break, perhaps?

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It’s the moment of truth. Sticks and stones and Bane can break my bones, but can words commit the most insidious crime of all by sapping the charm from Legos? Are these tiny torch-bearers of the mantra “actions speak louder than words” truly meant to sprout tiny, block-shaped vocal cords? Perhaps, I fear, we’ve gone too far. Maybe Lego Batman 2 should be a series of text prompts and color-coded meters. Or maybe it should take the form of a bucket filled with tiny plastic bricks and imagination. There is, however, no turning back now. I can see the trailer signal shining from just beyond the break. I suppose it’s time.

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I must admit to having never owned any of the Lego <Insert Crucial Portion Of Your Childhood Here> games, but goodness, this Lego Batman 2 trailer makes a persuasive argument – and not in the traditional Batmanner of hurling me off a two story building and breaking my legs, either. Score! Among other things, it touts a rather astounding 500 square mile open-world city, which looks suitably drenched in rain and atmosphere, given the subject matter. But then a man gets hit with a pie, allowing me to handily sum up everything these games stand for in two sentences. Also on display: Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and the greatest hero of all: spoken words. Also, Superman. Traverse significantly less than 500 square miles to reach the shockingly enticing trailer after the break.

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All the heroes and villains are coming out to play in the cumbersomely titled Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, or at least a great deal of the heroes and villains created or legally owned by one major comic book publisher. I’d go through the trailer and try to identify as many as I can but I’m already confused as to whether there are several Robins running around or whether it’s the same Robin wearing different puzzle-solving costumes. Wonder Woman and Green Lantern are the only heroes known to be included beyond what we see here but it’s the villains I’m more interested in. Watch the first footage below, enjoy the reassuringly familiar musical themes, and see who you can spot.

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LEGO Batman 2 was announced very quietly and a few months later an image appeared to semi-prove that it definitely existed. Now a press release has arrived to tell us that it’s real, although without confirming that it was previously announced. Exciting stuff but what does it all mean? I choose to believe that a game starring Batman, Robin and several other DC chaps and chapettes will be available in Summer 2012. More below.

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Electronic Arts’ digital storefront is expanding next month, with the news that Warner Bros., THQ and Capcom will begin offering some of their releases through Origin. Batman: Arkham City and Saints Row: The Third are the only games mentioned by name but more will be available and “additional titles” are promised in the coming months. Both of those games will still be available elsewhere so this is a case of choice rather than exclusivity. Maybe it will lead to discount wars, maybe it’ll lead to people shrugging and continuing to purchase games from their preferred distributor, but it does feel like a significant step for Origin. The future looks increasingly competitive. EA-speak below.

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In anticipation of its release at the beginning of November (though apparently the end of November for us UK folk), Snowblind have released three new trailers for action RPG Lord of the Rings: War In The North. Each trailer focuses on a different hero: a dwarf champion, an elf lore-master and a human ranger. I always think of elves as ranging, so I was a little confused for a moment, but then I remembered that human rangers are quite the notables in Middle Earth. So, videos of ranged combat, close combat, lots of dodge-rolling and horrid hairy spiders below.

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