Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

by WXP Inc.

Product Features

• Playable characters: Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf are all playable, each with their own unique characteristics.
• Huge environments: Many regions to explore including, The Shire, Old forest, Bree, Moria, and Weathertop.
• Epic storyline: Beautiful 3-D cinematic cut scenes deliver key story elements.
• Favorite characters: Favorites from the story appear in the game including Tom Bombadil, Farmer Maggot, Old Man Willow, and the Balrog.
• Movie-quality production: The professional voice acting and facial animation system brings each character to life.

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00006IZKO
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (100 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,336 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Preview

Thanks to the wonderful magic that lawyers weave, there are actually two games licenses for The Lord of the Rings, one based on the original books and the other on the films. The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of the former, which strangely doesn’t have a direct counterpart from the latter. Just to add a final nail of complexity to the coffin of confusion, because the movie did such a good job of visualizing the book, all the games have ended up looking very similar. At the end of the day, though, it means Tolkien fans have two games to look forward to this Christmas.

Although it may look similar, The Fellowship of the Ring appears to be a much deeper role-playing game style affair than its rival. Taking control of either Frodo, Gandalf the Grey, or Aragorn, you get to hunt some orc with the best of them, but you also get to delve deeper into the detail of the book, embarking on subquests and meeting with characters that the movie didn’t have time for, such as Tom Bombadil and Glorfindel. It’s rare that a game trying to do so many things at the same time gets them all right, but the mixture of fighting, talking, and puzzle solving here makes this the definitive Tolkien game for real fans, and may even end up teaching the films a thing or two about adapting such a well-loved tale. --David Jenkins

Product Description

Following the storyline of J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Fellowship of the Ring, this third-person action/adventure lets you play as part of the fellowship on a journey from the Shire to the River Anduin. Faithful to J.R.R. Tolkien's epic masterpiece, the game allows you to explore the massive environments of Middle-earth while solving puzzles and fighting enemies like Orcs, Black Riders, and an evil Balrog in the quest to destroy the fabled One Ring of Power.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

143 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful adaptation, September 10, 2002

By 

Robert E Head (Kent, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Video Game)

I had the pleasure of play-testing this game in its final weeks of development.

For starters, the game is based on the book and not on the New Line movie. As a consequence, you will find a number of story elements in the game that were not in the movie, such as the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, and the Barrow Downs. The novel has been expertly translated into a 3rd-person action adventure, and there is a lot more action in the game than actually occurs in the book.

In this game, Middle Earth has been faithfully rendered (under the watchful eye of Tolkien's estate) by the talented 3D modelers, graphic designers, animators, game designers, and developers at The Whole Experience. The first thing that really struck me was the sheer beauty of the game -- the score, the environmental details (run through a pile of leaves just for fun), the textures, the fluid character animation. Some of the more interesting elements of the book also shine in the game. For example, the sense of foreboding, fear, and deadly seriousness constrasted with the light-hearted nature of the hobbits. The Black Riders are quite intimidating, especially at first. And there are climactic moments in the Barrow Downs that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. The One Ring, of course, plays a large role in the game. When used, the world changes, becoming shadowy and revealing secret areas of the game. The tension between the advantages and cost of using the ring creates interesting tradeoffs.

The gameplay is 3rd-person, similar to the Tomb Raider series. When you are targeting something with a ranged weapon (like a rock or a bow and arrow), it switches temporarily to first person. In each section of the game, you play as either Frodo, Aragorn, or Gandolf. The three characters are substantially different in their capabilities. Frodo is presented as an agile hobbit with plenty of jumping, leaping, climbing, etc. He's not great in melee combat, but excels at thrown projectiles. Aragorn is an impressive warrior, as well he should be. Playing Aragorn is empowering, with a thrilling and deadly sequence of sword strokes that makes him the best at melee combat. Gandolf can also fight well with a sword, but his primary weapon is magic, and he's got a cool set of spells he can cast to vanquish his enemies.

Of course, the game is not only (or even primarily) combat. In addition to general exploration and adversaries, there are a number of well-designed puzzles to be solved. Some of them are potential stumpers, I suspect.

In short, there is nothing earth-shatteringly new from a gameplay perspective. Nevertheless, the game excels as a wonderful and emotive adaptation of a much beloved book.

31 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great story/animation, poor game BIG disappointment for xbox, September 28, 2002

By 

forrie (Nashua, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Video Game)

JRR Tolkiens "Lord of the Rings - Book 1 'The Fellowship of the Ring' storyline is closely followed in this Xbox adaptation (allows some Xbox magic with great sound track, music & above average graphics). The animation sequences between scenario runs are delightful with audio dialogue. The whimsical artwork used was nice, aimed at the younger audiences to reduce the blood/gore, slash/gash & the frightening darken minions of the Dark Lord.

That ends this great attempt to make a great game from the greatest fantasy trilogy of all time. Peter Jackson's movie trio lives up to JRR Tolkiens work with a few film adaptations to make each film a stand alone art form.

Summary; This game is best reviewed in the PROS vs CONS format to best describe the game players expectations of this XBOX game.

PROS - The background music is awesome. The animation sequences of the characters is quite good (great transition between scenarios). The characters voices & dialoque are very effective to the story being told. The games storyline is true to the author. You can SAVE OFTEN (and you must!!!!).

CONS - LONG & FREQUENT Game BOOT (loading) between scenarios. NO Middle Earth Maps to be used. NO mapping or auto mapping features (as in MORROWIND) (you must memorize quickly or die). This means NO REFERENCING for location. NO GOING BACK or EXPLORING. Limited Inventory features. THIS IS ONLY A CONTINUOUS SLASH/GASH GAME. You only play FRODO, STRIDER & GANDALF at specific check points (NO OPTIONS). (for example; Frodo from start to BREE. STRIDER from BREE to RIVENDELL etc. no other choices) LIMITED path advance (NO ROAMING as in MORROWIND). ONLY FRODO USES STEALTH. STRIDER & GANDALF MUST FIGHT or RUN or be KILL by EVERYONE (this is NON-STOP). Almost everything is resolved by killing, destroying or dying. (again only FRODO can use stealth). You must move quickly or die!! You must CONSTANTLY search for food, health & magic potions (this distracts the game player from reaching specific scenario goals). VERY FEW rest points to enjoy the game. CANNOT STOP or GO BACK AND EXPLORE MIDDLE EARTH!!

These are only the most frequent perks & annoyances while playing this game. It is to bad so much effort went in, the basic game is there, but the features are to limited to make this a [current price] must have Xbox library game. If you want detail, free roaming, the ability to be cunning, a great investment would be "MORROWIND".

I am truly disappointed in this Xbox games attempt to tell the "CLASSIC" JRR Tolkien "Fellowship of the Ring" story. See the movie, skip or rent the game. ENJOY.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intellectual Game which sticks to the original story, June 23, 2004

By 

Richie (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Video Game)

To begin, this game is not for those who cannot problemsolve, by themselves. This is not a puzzle game, but you do need to explore in order to get to the next level. Unlike the second two movie-like games, this isn't a rambo style 'kill'em all game' but a true hobbit's game.
If you can get to this point in the review, you will probably like this game. It sticks to through the original chapters of the story, such as the Old forest, Tom Bombadil, Barrow Wights, and many othe small intricasies of the original Tolkien novel.
The warning, I say once again, is you need to figure things out on your own. Watch out for the shadow of the black riders!