The Fellowship Of The Lego Ring

Lego Lord of the Rings is a great game. How can i say it any clearer? You should all play this game, no matter what console you play it on. I personally play it on the Wii, which probably is the "worst" of the available consoles, but i still really love the game. The Wii version features HD compatibility, so the picture is actually a lot clearer than most Wii games adapted from PS3/Xbox titles from the past. My only issue with the Wii version, however, is that the frame-rate is quite bad sometimes when playing multiplayer (and watch out, 'cos the Wii version is full of glitches). Nevertheless i love this game, and every time i leave it, i start missing it about 1 hour later.

One of the really great sides of the Lego game series (Star Wars, Batman, Pirates and so on...), is that they all have very nice multiplay accessible gameplay. The battle sequences are thrilling, the puzzles creative and challenging, and the team-work in multiplay is really rewarding and it feels awesome to achieve a goal with your friend. I also like the minor PvP element in this game where you can either race through the re-playable levels for the highest point score, or simply try to kill one another (friendly fire is constantly on in this game). When playing, me and my friend usually at some point end up just fighting for like 10 minutes.

Another great detail that makes this game good is the humour that is so classically Lego styled. From Gandalf hiding Saruman's orb under his beard to riding goats through the shire, this game is packed with laughter and fun. And fun is what its all about in the end, right? I also laughed pretty hard at several occasions where i was able to literarily buy people off the street. Bilbo would come walking up to me, and i'd be all "Buy Bilbo? Sweet, i love buying folks!". No, but seriously! I mean, yeah, i'm a terrible person, and human trade is WRONG... in the real world. But for all of us who know the difference between a game and reality, this detail is just plain funny.

Game-play wise this game is good. The reason why i'm not saying great is that there are some off-putting features that could have been avoided. The dynamic split screen is often confusing, and although you get used to it in time, it often forces you to jump off ledges to see what you need to find (yes i know that the dynamic split is optional, but i don't feel like i'm fully embracing the game if i disable it). Another point is that during split screen, you can't aim at your teammate's screen. This is understandable when the two players are far away from each other, but when the distance is a couple of metres it just annoys me a bit. But despite all that i still love the game, don't get me wrong.

I could go into detail about how the story is great, but... come on! It's Lord of the Rings, of course the story is amazing. Technically it might be one of the worlds best game stories, but as it is based of a film based on a book, i don't really think it counts. Anyways i had a lot of fun with this game, and i highly suggest anyone who reads this to try it out!

My Personal Top 6 Wii U Launch Games

I just want to say two things before i begin this post: 1. I have not played all those games, and for said games i will base my reasons on impressions, screenshots and gameplay footage I have seen on YouTube and such. 2. These are my personal favourites, so they will probably differ for yours. Ok, lets get started with some geeky, gamer goodness.

6. Trine 2

 This game is just beautiful. The visual style and charming character design is just amazingly well done, and the game has a real hook to it; you simply want to play this game. I have only gotten around to a PC demo of the game, but i imagine playing it on the U to be pretty damn amazing. I really like the side-scrolling platformer element added to an otherwise quite normal RPG, which also pretty much brings together my two favourite game genres.

5. Nintendo Land

The reason this game isn't higher (which, believe me, it could've been) is that it is so dependent on the players. If the attitude is bad in your group, the game is bad too. On the other hand, if your group is open for the idea of a "childish-ish" party game joy ride then the game will be absolutely mind-blowing. I had such low expectations for this game, but the first time i got together a full five person game and played Mario chase... Instantly hooked! I also like that there are multiple single player minis in the game that are multi-playable through the tour train mode, which is the ultimate party mode of the game. All in all i love this game, although it is not better that the next titles to come.

4. Assassin's Creed 3
Do i really need to tell you why this game kicks ass? I mean come on! You got historical precision, visual brilliance, wonderfully beautiful gameplay, great open-world exploration, long story, good story, intuitive objectives and so on. I must admit i haven't gotten around to this title yet, but i've seen plenty of footage and reviews and so on, and it is just mind-blowing. Why is it not on the top? I have simply not played this, and as this is my personal favourites, i guess that wouldn't be quite right. Moving on.

3. ZombiU
This game terrified me in many ways, but my main problem is that the game is soo fun, yet soo scary. This is probably the reason why its not on a higher ranking, simply the fact that i couldn't play it for too long because the fear made me exhausted. Nevertheless i loved this title. It fulfils its purpose as a survival horror game by being truly scary and stressful and with plenty of obstacles that require a bit of brain-cracking. I also love the perma-death system where you have to kill your infected, former self when you die to get your gear back... Another great point is the multiplay on ZombiU. The gameplay is so addicting, and it has depth to it so you can build strategies and become a better shooter/ zombie king.

2. New Mario Bros U
Oh Mario... You never seem to disappoint me, and nor you did this time around. New Mario Bros U has everything the previous titles in the series but with several additions. These include Baby Yoshi with special powers, such as granting light to a pitch black cavern or spraying bubbles to jump higher or trap enemies within, and an acorn power-up that allows Mario to glide through the air and do an extra jump mid air. In my opinion, Mario Bros U is more creative, the level design bolder and the story line finally with a twist (in stead of fighting towards bowsers lair, you now fight towards Peach's castle that has be overrun by Bowser and his gang). Also the GamePad mirroring mode brings flexibility to the game, as it can be brought into the next room or continued while others use the TV screen.

1. Batman Arkham City: Armoured Edition
I could not stop playing once i started. During christmas holidays (I got the game for christmas) i would stay up to eight in the morning just hiding under my blanket in my bedroom with the GamePad only mode activated. I legitimately completed the game in a matter of 4-6 days, and when the story was over i almost cried. The story was amazing, graphics really sweet, characters memorable and powerful, but one thing stood out the most for me... The boss fights. Bosses in this game were so amazingly complex, fun to play yet strategically difficult to beat. The difficulty progression was not parallel with the story (the final boss was very easy), but it usually isn't in this type of game. The trial of the demon also spoke to me, as i love seeing fantasy impulses in these sorts of games. The Catwoman stealth sequences were also extremely intuitive and fun, in addition to the bonus of her being super hot of course. Altogether i would rate this game 10/10, and as for console games i have played before, only the Zelda franchise beats this game. I only wish they would make a "Arkham Asylum: Armoured Edition" as well...