Warner Bros. has announced that it will release a Lego: The Hobbit game in Spring 2014, several months prior to the trilogy’s last film, There and Back Again — due out December 17, 2014.
TT Games (Lego Marvel Super Heroes) is headlining development and will pick up where they last left off in Tolkein’s universe with Lego The Lord of the Rings.
Lego: The Hobbit will combine the storyline and action from the first two Hobbit films, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug.
Gamers can take control of all principle characters in Bilbo’s party including Gandalf, all 13 dwarves, and Mr. Baggins himself. Warner Bros. mentions that each dwarf has his own special abilities — perhaps most notably Bombur using his belly as a trampoline to launch his comrades out of danger — and we can assume Gandalf can pull the occasional spell out of his hat.
The official press release notes that the game introduces new action RPG elements to the Lego games series including mining gems, collecting loot from enemies, item crafting, and even building Lego structures.
In line with the trilogy’s first two films, players will romp through the Hobbit regions of Bag End, Hobbiton, the Misty Mountains, Goblin-town, Mirkwood, and Rivendell. Whether or not the journey includes a stop in the Shire for some dwarfing pints at the Green Dragon remains to be revealed.
Lego: The Hobbit will be available on all mainstream gaming platforms: 3DS, Wii U, PS Vita, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, and Mac.
Warner Bros. has not confirmed a specific release date, and it has not commented on its plans to release a game based on There and Back Again.
News source and image credits to Gamespot.com.