Of all the film franchises that Lego doesn't currently hold a license for, this is probably the biggest no-brainer for Lego conversion. It's a trilogy (Traveller's Tales seems to like three-part stories), it's insanely popular among gamers and it's filled with memorable locations and cool action set-pieces that could easily translate into a great, hacky-slashy platformer.

Taking control of Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Frodo, Gandalf, Pippin, Boromir, Merry, Sam or whoever else the current level demanded, you could hop, shoot and slash your way through the entire trilogy, from the first journey out of the Shire to the siege of Mordor. As unlikely as it sounds. a Lego take on the story could be its most complete, in-depth game adaptation to date - or at least a hell of a lot better than the 2003 Return of the King game.


The Lego angle: Simple-looking characters and current-gen processing power mean that battles like Helm's Deep and Pelennor Fields might finally approach the grand scale seen in the movies. And the series' diverse cast of heroes and distinct villains is big enough to fill out Free Play squads that could dwarf anything seen in Lego Star Wars.

Also, Legolas' name would take on added significance. We're just saying.

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GH!!!!!!!!!! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!

Gears may be grim and darkly ultraviolent, but push that aside and you've got a story and buddy dynamic that could be turned into a Lego game with minimal effort. Marcus and Dom are perfect candidates for the Lego franchise's signature two-player tag-team play, and they could be switched out as needed with other members of Delta squad, who would presumably all have unique and complementary abilities. And because the third-person action in Gears is so straightforward, it could be switched over to a platform-hopping model with little lost in the translation.



It wouldn't have to lose much of its moodiness, either. As you make your way through the ruined Lego world, your attention could occasionally be drawn to heartbreaking scenes of cruelly twisted plastic and ravaged beauty. Ask yourself: what could possibly be sadder than a broken toy? To a six-year-old, we mean.

The Lego angle: All those little red studs mean that a Lego Gears of War could be ridiculously bloody without technically featuring any blood.



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