The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

"One game to rule them all... Well, not exactly all..."

Well it’s finally happened. A good Lord of the Rings game has been made. But will it measure up to your expectations from the license? I have to say I’m glad that they went with an RPG, I always thought it’d be cool to make an RPG from the characters of FotR (I’m not counting the SNES “game”). The game follows the story well, even though it is a bit choppy in the text.

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics capture the look and feel of the film. They could have done with a bit more detail, though. Done from a top-down perspective, so they could actually put in full environments to wander. Every character has their own sprite, and it’s relatively easy to tell them apart. The environments look good, but in dark areas they can be rather drab. In some houses, you don’t notice some hallways that you need to go down. This is especially noticeable in the beginning when you need to find Pippin. The characters aren’t too terribly detailed, and sad to say, so much more could have been done. The closest thing I could compare these graphics to are those in Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone. While that game was horrible, no way around it, it had decent graphics.

Sound: 4/10
Nothing you’ll remember. However, the reason it’s so low is because it’s something you really won’t even notice. They play the same music clip over and over, only changing in new areas. That’s not as bad as the battle sounds, though. Why? There are none. No sound to let you know if you made a hit. Oh well, though. This isn’t one of those games where sound is important, so this weighs very little in the long run.

Story: 9/10
Lord of the Rings is one of the greatest stories ever told, and is definitely my favorite. The only reason this didn’t get a perfect score is because at points, especially in the beginning, the game is a bit choppy. Though if you didn’t already know the story, why are you playing this game?

Gameplay: 10/10
RPG fun with the whole Fellowship! Yeah! It’s a standard RPG with a turn based system, where your enemies attack, and then you attack back. You choose on of two weapons and move that weapon to the enemy you want to attack. Also, there appears to be a hint of a Dungeons and Dragons system, with the weapons having a minimum and maximum damage, and your ability to hit is based on your experience with weapons. Also, as far as I’ve been able to tell, there are no experience points. Your abilities rise when you complete certain objectives. If there is experience, it doesn’t tell you what you get, and it takes A LOT to level up. I don’t mind though, it’s still fun.

Play Control: 6/10
Here’s a killer. When not in battle and wandering the outside world, the fellowship handles like a beat up truck. It also takes the perfect angle to get someone to talk to you. You’ll get used to this, however, and that saves this from a worse score.
In terms of buttons, A is talk and confirm, B is cancel or, in battles, bring up a subscreen. Start is a save menu, L is switch leader, R is Inventory. It’s easy enough to learn, just hard to control.

Total Score: 8/10
Despite the fact that the scores should probably average to less, I give this game 8/10. Don’t let the above info discourage you, despite the many flaws, it’s still a solid and fun RPG. I like that they went with the book story over the movie (they retained stuff like meeting the elves in the Shire and Tom Bombadil). Overall, it’s worth buying. Besides, you get a rebate with the movie, and I also give that 10/10. It’s a nice package for any Tolkien fan.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/02, Updated 10/01/02