Perhaps most impressive though is the level of polish found here...characters are quick to bounce back if they do happen to get stuck on the destructible environment, and the environmental and level design has been tweaked to perfection, eliminating a lot of the series' problems.
Where other LEGO games already did really well, this game tops all of them. The story is told like it is, but with a lot of funny moments. The game looks great and the open world it offers only adds to the fun. This is truly one brick to rule them all.
A handful of technical stumbles can't keep Lego Lord of the Rings from being the best Lego game so far. Finding a great compromise between the linear installments and the sprawling open world of Lego Batman 2, Traveller's tales hits sweet spots in the structure and gameplay, constantly giving players new goals and new places to explore.
If there are no big changes in the way Traveller's Tales develop their games, LEGO The Lord of the Rings remains a great adventure game that offers enough innovations such as its new cinematographic approach or a new open-world, the Middle-Earth, that proposes lots of side quests, to entertain players for hours. Hopefully, the use of unofficial voices, less humor and the repetitiveness of some action sequences won't weaken the game experience.
Lego TLOTR is, despite its many flaws, still broadly enjoyable. It has charm, it has its moments and the series holds an undeniable attraction for kids both actual and inner. It's a Lego game, in other words. But it's bloated, too, full of half-formed, shoddily executed ideas and frustrating glitches.