LEGO Lord of the Rings to be a blocky retelling of all three movies

The fellowship reforms for the next LEGO game, coming later this year.

Just about every major science fiction and fantasy franchise has gotten its own LEGO game, but so far we've been deprived of one of the most popular franchises ever: Lord of the Rings. Warner Bros. and Traveller's Tales intend to remedy that later this year with the release of LEGO: Lord of the Rings, a game that will span all three books/movies, from Bilbo's hobbit hole to the fires of Mount Doom.

Traveller's Tales LEGO games always remain true to several aspects, and Lord of the Rings will be no different. It's still a family-friendly take on the franchise, with famous scenes reenacted by minifigs. There's still an emphasis on co-op play, bashing random objects scattered throughout the world and character-specific abilities. A few changes have been made to the formula, though.

The most obvious one: Instead of mute minifigs, LEGO: Lord of the Rings will use dialog taken directly from the movie. Which means, when the little yellow Gandalf marches out to fight the balrog, it'll be Ian McKellen's voice booming out, "YOU... SHALL NOT... PASS!" There's some concern that this will ruin some of the playfulness of the LEGO games, whose mute cutscenes were always hugely entertaining, but for fans of the films, having the actual voices will be a big draw.

Gameplay-wise LEGO: Lord of the Rings doesn't seem to stray too far from past LEGO games. At a recent press event, Warner showed off the troll scene from the mines of Moria. All nine members of the fellowship were on-screen at once, each playable with a tap of a button. They all have their own abilities, and LEGOlas was seen firing arrows and running up the body of the troll before delivering a final blow. Characters can also use one another to solve puzzles. For example, you can pick up Gimli and toss him into a wall, opening up a secret passage. This is not recommended.

Hard to imagine Lord of the Rings fans coming away disappointed by the news that the series will be getting LEGOfied in video game form, especially given the popularity of the LotR figures that have already been announced. We hope to see more of LEGO: Lord of the Rings at E3 next week.