The Fellowship of the Ring : Web Wombat: Games

Taking a novel and using it as the sole basis for a screenplay probably wouldn't work too well, though there are a few writers (Bernard Cornwell and his Warlord Chronicles spring to mind) whose scribblings would work.

In the case of the Lord of the Rings, New Zealand-born director Peter Jackson had to make many changes to the legendary trilogy to make it fit into three movies covering roughly nine hours.

As a result, some parts had to be left out, while in this humble geeks opinion, I reckon the first movie rocks hard. Anyway, the first Lord of the Rings title to arrive in eight long years (anyone remember SNES game?) is here, but it ain't based on the movie.

Developed by Black Label Games and WXP, this one is the 'purist' version, based on the first Tolkien book, and it's a pretty decent play, to boot.

There's another LOTR game coming out, developed by EA, which is based on the second movie - the Two Towers, and differs from this offering by following a more 'quick fix' action game.

I'm already putting the EA version down because, to be honest, it's gonna have to be pretty good to knock 'Fellowship' off as the best Tolkien title.

Here's the basic idea: The game follows the sojourns of Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf from the start of the book, based in the Shire, to final confrontation between some rather angry-looking Uru-kai. There's plenty of variety involved thanks to each character having different abilities and goals.

Frodo Schmodo - give me Gandalf the Great anyday!

While the entire fellowship is with you, you won't get to see them much. They appear during some battles and boss fights, but that's about it. While it may infuriate some perfectionists, the game would have been difficult to plan had the whole posse been there, and most will get over this pretty quickly.

Anyway, playing as Frodo, you do get to engage in a bit of combat, but the first level set in the Shire (which looks amazing), and most of his areas afterwards revolve around adventuring and puzzle solving.

His main 'ability' is to use stealth to get around enemies that would otherwise whup his skinny little butt, and he can also use the ring - but use it too much and he becomes corrupted.

As you progress through the games expansive levels, you'll get to play as Strider and the Wizard, which are predominantly combat-based characters.

Before we go any further, let's talk combat. Not exactly the most free-flowing combat engine (see Blade 2 for how its done), it starts out as frustrating. At first I thought it was utter pap - until you get the hang of the fighting system - or understand the alternatives available.

You see, blocking is fairly easy, but it's quite hard to get a completely 'successful' block, if you will. While blocking, the damage inflicted upon your character is reduced, but it's rather hard to get a perfect block, where you lose no energy at all.

As a result, it's better to continually circle or strafe around your opponent, while moving in close every now and then for a quick thwack.

Of course, you can always make use of bows and arrows, while Gandalf has some seriously powerful spells at his disposal; some single enemy, some area effect.

Gandalf's spell attacks are the bomb!

On the whole, the game is quite long and is reasonably faithful to the books. The gameplay is pretty run-of-the-mill, but what makes this game enjoyable is the audio-visual aspect, coupled with what is arguably one of the best fantasy stories ever told.

Starting off as Frodo, you'll get to explore Bilbo Baggins house, which is basically a tutorial of sorts. Move outside his abode and you'll be witness to some lovely vistas. It's not the best-looking game on the Xbox, but it is rather grand in scope.

You can see all the off into the hills, there's trees (and they're three-dee!!), grassy knolls, bridges, rivers and fields.

Graphically, the game is well above par, making use of some rather lovely texture maps. Wood, whether it be in tree form or the floorboards of Bilbo's house, looks awesome, and Gandalf's spell effects come complete with some seriously sexy volumetric lighting.

Bump-mapping makes everything a little more peachy and the particle effects - especially when it comes to spells - round out a pleasing array of ocular goodies.

The clipping range is tremendous - on all platforms - as you can see almost all the way to the horizon during the outdoor levels.

Being a fan of both the books and movies, it was a delight to just explore the Shire in all its 3D glory, but then things quickly turn ugly and you'll have to start thwacking enemies or sneaking by them.

Frodo's levels, in general, weren't quite as exciting as the Aragorn's and Gandalf's, but that's just my personal opinion.

Playing as Aragorn is heaps of fun - lots of carnage

That said, the Ring Wraiths are pretty scary and help add a bit of suspense to Frodo's sojourn.

Those who dig adventuring, puzzle solving and sneaking about will be impressed with Frodo's jaunts, but this reviewer preferred the more strategic and bloody Aragorn/Gandalf missions.

Aragorn, as most will know, is a master swordsman and can also make use of ranged weapons, which come in very handy.

During combat, attacking a single enemy is made a little less haphazard by using a target system very similar to that employed by Zelda, but sadly there is no cycle or change target option, which can get you into trouble.

Gandalf is probably the most entertaining character - particularly for spectators - because in addition to Glamdring, his blade, he can cast a number of spells, which are plenty of fun - mainly because they look so damn cool and are devastatingly powerful to boot.

Even the end bosses seem easier when you let loose with a flurry of spells.

While eight levels may sound a little weak, they are huge and most gamers would take quite some time to finish the game. Starting off the Shire, the other seven levels are the Old Forest, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendell, the Mines of Moria, Lothlorien and the River Anduin.

Some parts of the story have been omitted, which is a shame, but this will only really annoy the die-hard Ringers - most will revel in exploring the areas made famous by the first LOTR book.

While it's no where near the perfect LOTR game - I reckon they should use the Halo game engine, complete with the Needler - The Fellowship of the Ring is still well above average.

Fans of the books shouldn't hesitate to pick this up as there's plenty of combat, balanced out with a good amount of Ye Olde adventuring and story telling, resulting in a blend which should suit a broad range of gamers.

There's an old saying that suggests there are two types of people on this planet we call Earth - those who have read The Lord of the Rings, and those who haven't. In the case of this game, it's unlikely that it will soar to the heights of Tolkien's fantastical yarns, but it's still a faithful reproduction of the written trilogy.

Game: The Fellowship of the Ring
System: Playstation 2
Players: 1
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Black Label Games
Distributor: Vivendi Universal

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explantion)

The Fellowship of the Ring is on the shelves now.

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