Younger brothers and sisters often want to imitate their older siblings’ activities. Where video games are concerned, this can be hard for parents to accommodate. Sometimes the content of the video game is just not suitable for younger audiences, and many times the controls are too complex for little hands and minds to master enough to enjoy the gameplay. The Lego Company, long known for making its toys accessible and fun across the ages, have made video games for years that appeal to all, but most importantly are easier for younger or inexperienced gamers to play.
The library’s latest Lego related video game is Lego: Lord of the Rings for the Xbox 360 game console. As a player you’ll follow the storyline of the movies, but everything you see and do is Lego-fied. Characters appear in the iconic brick form with cylindrical heads and blocky bodies. All the scenes are built out of Lego blocks. And when you “kill” an enemy he simply breaks apart into his component brick pieces. After accomplishing a task to move the storyline along, the game usually has a “cut scene” featuring a short animation, usually involving classic slapstick Lego humor.
At its most simple, the player has only two main controls to master: the joystick to walk around and one button to smash things. After that there are one or two buttons to learn to build items, or pick them up. As an added bonus, two people can play at a time. This is a great game for a parent or grandparent to play with a child. And don’t forget you can return video games in the media side of our book drop, located on the outside front of the building, to the western end.
You can get the video game reviewed here and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library at 1718 N. Hersey in Beloit, on the North Campus. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”
Lego: Lord of the Rings published by Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment
1 disc, XBox360 platform
Video games