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Whoo!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 10
Date: September 12, 2002
Author: Amazon User

if it is like the book (which it is how it is described) this should be great! graphics are premium. You can play gandalf, frodo, gimli, legolas, or aragorn. whoever you will do best with! you can play the life of the character in the book. which ever charater you choose you will see have different goals to achieve and different places to go.

Clarificaton

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: September 18, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Actually, the information in Max's review is slightly incorrect. The game allows you to play as Frodo, Gandalf and Aragorn. Gimli and Legolas are of course present, but you don't control them directly.

....not very exciting....

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 1 / 28
Date: September 22, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was OK... it was just a bit too boring... I got bored of playing it and decided not to waste any space on my xbox for the game so i deleted my file... the only good thing about this game were the graphics, which were very good!

Just not what it could have been...I wanted so much more.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 11
Date: September 27, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I applaud the effort that went into building this game, but they really needed a few more months on it.
The graphics look kind of blurry and some of the textures just don't fit right. I liked the sound effects...particularly the cabinet doors opening and closing in Frodo's home, but the singing from Tom Bombadil was pretty awful and Frodo's clumsy dancing made it even more ridiculous.
The problem is the combat, the stupidity of the enemies and the unforgiveable load times.
The enemies move in ways that don't make sense, can't seem to see you unless you strike them, and get trapped by little knee-high obstacles that they should be able to walk over or around.
Ring Wraiths just aren't scary at all when a two-foot hedge prevents it's efforts to grab Frodo. They sure don't seem very motivated.
But the load times are very long and jar you out of the experience. I took this game back to the store and exchanged it for Dynasty Warriors 3. Dynasty takes about five seconds to load a level or scenario that is about a mile across and has hundreds if not thousands of soldiers and horses in full battle.
You play from one end of the map to the other killing hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and even big boss captains that have their own fighting skills. And ALL of this happens with that one five second load time. You run inside of a castle, you fight your way down the stairs, you jump on a horse and gallop a half mile to the front lines...ALL of this without a single load time.
In Lord of the Rings, if Frodo is the only character on screen and wants to walk into a Hobbit hole, it loads for a good fifteen seconds, then you want to leave...well there is another twenty seconds of load time. If you accidentally hit the wrong button and walk back in a door you just came out of...it's gonna take you a minute before you get your character back again.
This is really unforgiveable with the hard drive on the Xbox being not being used at all. Even when Gandalf is in Moria, he would stand at the door of a room and wait for it to load, so it would be black until the graphics loaded.

The game is also very short...too short for an epic. It took me five hours to get to Moria and I was just walking around alot, taking my time.
Any game that costs $50 better give me alot more gameplay than 10-12 hours worth.

The melding of two great nerd loves: video games and LOTR

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: September 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I just finished playing two hours of the new Lord of the Rings game.

Wow.

Few times have I been so moved by a game. Grand Turismo 3, Ico & Grand Theft Auto 3 on the PS2 moved me deeply. Munch's Oddysee, NFL 2K3 and Max Payne on the Xbox rocked me.

But LotR floored me.

I've played two hours and haven't even left the Shire. I've met so many characters, walked around just in awe. Inside and out! I can't even imagine what it's going to be like once I get into the quest.

Graphically...well, this is the reason I bought an Xbox. I love my PS2 but there is *no way* the game could look this good on it. The textures, character movements and landscapes are simply stunning. Stunning. I stood on a little hill and looked off into the distance - there was no fog, no pop-ups, just mountains. Beautiful mountains. Did I mention the character movements? There is nothing, I repeat nothing, on Earth like looking at Frodo walk around. It is exactly how I pictured him moving. His shoulders moving one way, his little cape going another. It's amazing. I can't say enough about the look of this game. Too bad this isn't an Xbox exclusive (PS2 will get this in October) because if it was, it would definitely be a reason to buy the system.

As far as gameplay goes, it's actually pretty standard. Your basic "get a mission, fulfill it and get some kind of reward" type of play. Nothing groundbreaking there. But that's not what I expected. What I expected was to be immersed in the world of LotR, and in that sense it pays off in spades. Spades, I tell you.

What's amazing is that it captures perfectly the mood of the book. There is that sense of whimsy combined with a sense of impending doom that is unbelievably tension building. And I've not even encountered the Wraiths yet! I can't imagine what it will be like when I get into the "action" part of the game. I get dreamy when I realize that Bombadil, Rivendell, Moria and Lothlorien await me.

Simply put, amazing. I'd say get the Xbox for the graphics, but if that's not possible then definitely get this baby when it comes out for the PS2.

You have hours and hours of neglect (for the outside world) awaiting you. And that's a good thing.

GET THIS GAME

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 28, 2002
Author: Amazon User

i was scared when i was first playing this game me being a huge tolkien fan, thinking whether or not its going to be any good or of they just made it so they could get money out of it. this is a MUST HAVE for any tolkien fan whether it be of the books or even just the movies. IGN didnt give it that good of a review, i dont know whats up with that, i think it deserves an 8 overall for sure. the old forest part is probably to least exciting part of the game but after that its pure fun! nothing is better than killing trolls with aragorn in the troll shaws and then taking on the wraiths. bottom line........GET THIS GAME.....plus gloin makes an appearence in Rivendell!

Great story/animation, poor game BIG disappointment for xbox

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 31 / 35
Date: September 29, 2002
Author: Amazon User

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.

Don't waste your money!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 4
Date: October 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Seriously. Do yourself a huge favor, rent the game first, and then realize that it must be made by the same people who made the "Noah and the Ark" Nintendo game that my father gave me for Cristmas one sad, sad year.

a fun game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: October 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

this is a fun game. the graphics are very good, especially in the cutscenes. the game starts off slow, but quickly gets better. after the first level, there's alot of action and fighting. it also gets hard, especially in moria, because there are many enemys to fight. gandalf is probly the best character to play because of his magic and sword fighting ability. frodo is the worst because while you control him, he only fights with a stick and rocks, but the main enemys frodo fights are spiders and bees. he gets a sword later. if you like the book, you'll love the game. if you've never read the book, play the game. its a little similar to zelda. its worth buying.

bad game dont buy

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 6
Date: October 01, 2002
Author: Amazon User

i have the game got it the first day it came out the game sucks it was nouthing like i was thinking it would be. save your money for a nouther game
dont buy !!!!!!

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