Quick Facts:

Publisher: Universal Interactive

Developer:WXP

Format -XBox - Buy Now

Price - $49.99

Release Date - 24/09/02

Universal Interactive has released the X-Box version of "The Fellowship of the Ring." Our new Gaming Editor; SirRyktor has completed the game and has provided the following review:

Everyone knows the basic story of the Fellowship of the Ring thanks largely in part to the movie; however there's more to the books that made it into the movie, and this game focuses on those parts. Everything the fans missed from Old Man Willow and Tom Bombadil to the blindfolded Lothlorien entrance is included. There are a couple week points however:

First off, the script is all very badly abbreviated and barely resembles anything Tolkien would have written.

Secondly, there are way to many plot changes/cuts. Bilbo's party and The Argonath are among the list of great scenes that got scrapped. The story ends where it should right before Boromir's death. Though there is no mention of Frodo and Sam splitting from the fellowship.

This game is a very flashy game. The interiors are very detailed and the color is rich. X-box is capable of beautiful water effects that are used often in this game. There are semi-open lands to explore and enemies to kill in the 3D world of Middle Earth. Regions such as the Shire, Bree, and Moria are beautiful, and there is great lighting and little details all around. However, this all comes at a price of a very jumpy/annoying camera.

Definitely the weakest point of this game is the game play itself. Even though you get to control three characters, the game play is just not interesting. Each character has two overall moves, which are distance and melee. When your not running from point a to point b your slashing away or shooting projectiles at your enemies. There are a couple puzzles but they are barely interesting enough to make you want more. Your characters move list stays through the whole game. Areas such as Rivendell and Lothlorien were way too restricting, and need to be expanded on. I mean come on! I want to walk through the house of Elrond! On the other hand, Moria is pulled off very nicely in the game. It's long and all three characters have a level of their own with obstacles that suit their character.

A fault in the game is the fact that you have no control over whom you play. While this is expected because the levels are designed for certain characters, it greatly lowers replay value, which this game needs. By the end I had played for 5 and a half hours, that's not anywhere near the original 20-30 hours planned. Also there is also no real reward for beating the game. You get a recap of the opening video and two cheat codes and that's it!

The sound in this game is right on the money. The sound effects aren't exactly award winning, but the music is great. Each area has its own mood/ambiance that is established very nicely. Misc. birds and monsters can be heard in the stereo effects and not one section of sound (Music, Effects...) overpowers the other. This was very nicely done!

I remember when Universal used to make a big deal over acquiring book copyrights and how accurate to the books they planned to stay. What happened to that? First you kill Bill Ferny, and then you run into a dying dwarf in Moria that accompanied Bilbo and Gandalf in the Hobbit, also a winged Nazgul abducts Sam! And to top it all off, the parts from the book they kept are re-written by what seemed to be a children's book author. While there is a bunch of eye candy in the game no one can argue that the story is the most important part to the fans, and very disappointingly this game just doesn't stay close enough to the original material. If you haven't already read the book and this game hasn't scared you away for good, then read it!

Overall I can't help but feel a disappointed with this game. I was looking forward to stepping into Middle Earth and all I got was a brief glimpse. Even worse is the fact that it was a boring glimpse that I had to almost force myself to take. While I am glad to see and hear little things I loved from the book that didn't make it into the movie, I cant say this game is worth dropping $50 and 6 hours for when I could read the books again for free. Having read the books and watched the movie numerous times, I think the movie is a much better representation of The Fellowship of The Ring than this game.

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