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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (video game)
Encyclopedia
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is a 2002 cross-platform
video game developed based on the first volume
of J. R. R. Tolkien
's The Lord of the Rings
. WXP
developed the game for Xbox
, while Surreal
developed the PC and PlayStation 2
version, and Pocket Studios delevoped the game for Game Boy Advance
. All three versions of the game are published by Black Label Games, an imprint of Vivendi Universal Interactive. The game was released to mixed to average reviews,earning a score of 59/100 based on 19 reviews at Metacritic
,whilst IGN
gave it 7.5/10
The Old Forest
Frodo must find Merry, Sam and Pippin who have lost themselves in a forest labyrinth. However giant spiders lurk behind the trees, and the forest has a mind of its own. Once he finds all of his companions he ventures to the Withywindle and must free Merry and Pippin from the clutches of Old Man Willow, the first boss. Finally Tom Bombadil intervenes, rescuing the Hobbits and setting them off in search of 12 water lilies whilst defending themselves from the giant spiders. Once recovered Tom takes them to his house to recuperate.
The Barrow-downs
After a brief time with Tom Bombadil and his wife, Goldberry, Frodo and his companions journey to the Barrow-Downs. Frodo's companions are again lost (probably taken while he slept) and Frodo must find them in the fog of the wight-haunted downs. Along the way Frodo encounters Barrow-Wights, ghost-like creatures that claw at him. In the final Barrow-Down Frodo finds his friends and the Westernesse Dagger, which he uses to fight the Old Barrow-Wight. The Old Barrow-Wight is much stronger than the others and spews mist at Frodo. Eventually, Tom Bombadil finds them again. He kills the Old Barrow-Wight with a spell, and guides the hobbits to Bree.
Act Two starts in Bree when it is apparent that Merry is missing and gameplay switches to Aragorn. As Aragorn begins playing he will have to fight a boss, Bill Ferny. Bill Ferny carries a large pike. Once he is dead, Aragorn sets out to find Merry again. Having found Merry he then hunts for objects to construct Hobbit decoys to fool the Ringwraiths and wild men. Harry Goatleaf releases wolves that Aragorn has to fight in Bree. After fighting a few wolves, Aragorn will have to confront Harry Goatleaf. After Aragorn kills him, he gets some of the objects he needs to construct decoys. After finding almost all the objects, Aragorn meets two wild men attacking Bob, a stable-cleaning hobbit. Aragorn kills them and enters The Prancing Pony.
Weathertop
Aragorn escorts Frodo and Sam to the summit of Weathertop. On the way Wargs and Orcs are first introduced into the game, they are extremely fast at attacking 'beware'. Aragorn must battle a troll on the summit before returning to the campsite to protect Frodo from the attacks of the Ringwraiths armed with a burning brand.
The Troll Shores
Aragorn must clear the area of enemies including orcs, wargs and about 5 Trolls. Once all enemies are defeated Glorfindel takes the company to Rivendell. In other versions the enemies are mainly goblins(including the Xbox version).
Gandalf becomes a playable character as he searches for the doors of Moria. As he attempts to open them, play switches to Aragorn as he fends off the Watcher in the Water before returning to Gandalf on entering Moria. in the other system versions you must defeat the watcher in the water with Gandalf. With Gimli the dwarf as a companion, Gandalf must navigate the dark maze of the Dwarrowdelf fighting off the orcs and trolls that stalk its shadows. In other versions you do not fight all enemies like trolls and so not have Gimli as a companion at all. The game becomes more objective based when the Fellowship reaches Balin's Tomb from which Gandalf must find an escape route as the other characters fend off the trolls, using slabs of stone which redirect the light onto the huge keyhole, and the only thing to open the humungous door is the light, this is a real puzzerler. Play then switches to Frodo in the 2nd hall, retaining Gimli (no Gimli in other versions) as a companion, who must find a way through the various ladders, walkways and bridges to reach and open the gates on the other side. Act 3 reaches its conclusion on the bridge of Khazad-dûm where Gandalf duels with the Moria boss, a Balrog.
After a brief interlude in Lothlórien, Aragorn resume the role of playable character. There is a short level in which he spies out an orc-dam on the river Anduin as the game introduces its final minor enemy, the Uruk-hai. Play then moves onto the final level of the game at Amon Hen in which Aragorn battles his way through most of the previously-encountered enemies to the Seeing Seat. The very summit has to be reached twice, first as Frodo who must get to the top of a stone hill while other members of the fellowship are dueling orcs. Aragorn battles the Games final boss, one of the Nazgûl atop a Fell Beast, using his sword and bow and arrow at the top of the hill.
The game ends in a cut-scene where Legolas shoots the Nazgûl's winged mount with an arrow. Meanwhile, Lady Galadriel looks into her fountain (as she did in the first cut-scene) and the game ends. Beating the game unlocks infinite health and ammo for the next time you play.
, Gandalf
and Frodo Baggins
. Each with their own weapons (which vary throughout the game). Frodo uses 3 melee weapons at different stages in the game: a walking stick at the start of the game, a dagger (from the Barrow Downs) after defeating an Old Barrow-wight, and a short sword; Sting, which is given to him by Bilbo. Frodo can also pick up stones and throw them in a ranged attack, as well as utilizing the Ring to give him invisibility. Aragorn uses a long sword, Andúril, and a bow. Gandalf uses his sword Glamdring and his array of magical spells: Fiery Blast, Staff Strike, Chain Lightning, Heal, and Attract.
as Frodo and Celeborn, Tom Kane
as Gandalf, Daran Norris
(as "Darren Norris") as Aragorn and Tom Bombadil, Scott Menville
as Sam, James Arnold Taylor
(as "James Taylor") as Pippin, Quinton Flynn
as Merry and Gollum, James Horan
as Gimli and Boromir, Michael Reisz
as Legolas, Jennifer Hale
as Galadriel and Lobelia, Jim Piddock
as Elrond and Bilbo and Kath Soucie
as Goldberry. All of the above voice actors (along with Cliff Broadway) provided additional voices for the game.
version was released in September 2002 to North American audiences, and to Europe two months later. It greatly differed from its counterparts on other consoles, most notably for its RPG-style battle system. However, the game was poorly received by critics. Most of the complaints came from the extremely slow gameplay, as well as the first few characters being notably weak, this is aided later on when the full 9 join in, but doesn't last as shortly after, the entire group has Frodo continue on alone for a short bit, while being short but extremely hard. It was also notorious for its poor quality; the game contained many glitches which greatly hindered the player's progress and sometimes even forced them to restart the entire game.
Cross-platform
In computing, cross-platform, or multi-platform, is an attribute conferred to computer software or computing methods and concepts that are implemented and inter-operate on multiple computer platforms...
video game developed based on the first volume
The Fellowship of the Ring
The Fellowship of the Ring is the first of three volumes of the epic novel The Lord of the Rings by the English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It takes place in the fictional universe Middle-earth. It was originally published on July 29, 1954 in the United Kingdom...
of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
. WXP
The Whole Experience
The Whole Experience is an independent video game developer based in Seattle, Washington. The founders of WXP are Patrick Moynihan, Jeff Connelly, Sky Kensok and Lyndon Sumner.- Game titles :WXP-developed games include:...
developed the game for Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, while Surreal
Surreal Software
Surreal Software is a video game developer based in Kirkland, Washington, USA, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Surreal Software, best known for The Suffering and Drakan series, employed over 130 designers, artists and programmers. Surreal was acquired by Warner Bros....
developed the PC and PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
version, and Pocket Studios delevoped the game for Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. All three versions of the game are published by Black Label Games, an imprint of Vivendi Universal Interactive. The game was released to mixed to average reviews,earning a score of 59/100 based on 19 reviews at Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
,whilst IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave it 7.5/10
Meters
There are meters in the game found on the top right and left corners of the screen. For Frodo, at the top left is health and the top right is purity. When Frodo wears the One Ring his purity goes down. Wear it for too long, and a Black Rider finds you. Aragorn only has a health meter. While Gandalf has a health meter and a spirit meter in the same place of a purity meter, which reduces when casting spells. It goes up when he drinks Miruvor.Items
There are many items in the game. One of them is mushrooms, commonly found in The Shire. Another is Cram, a bread made by the men of Dale. It can be found in Bree, Weathertop, The Troll Shaws, Orc Dam, Moria, Hollin, and Amon Hen. Lembas is a waybread made by the elves of Lothlórien. It can be found in the same places as Cram. Another item is Miruvor, a drink to replenish Gandalf's spirit meter. Lembas, Cram, and Mushrooms all replenish health.Plot
The narrative of the game can be roughly divided into four acts, each played out by one of the three main characters, with some variation. The first act deals with Frodo's journey to Bree. It begins peacefully in the Shire as Frodo has to make the final arrangements for his departure. Although there are many optional quests involving the inhabitants of Bywater and Hobbiton, the main story focuses on the selling of Bag End. Once this is complete and the Ring is retrieved Frodo must escape the Shire undetected by Black Riders to meet with his companions at Maggot's Farm.The Old Forest
Frodo must find Merry, Sam and Pippin who have lost themselves in a forest labyrinth. However giant spiders lurk behind the trees, and the forest has a mind of its own. Once he finds all of his companions he ventures to the Withywindle and must free Merry and Pippin from the clutches of Old Man Willow, the first boss. Finally Tom Bombadil intervenes, rescuing the Hobbits and setting them off in search of 12 water lilies whilst defending themselves from the giant spiders. Once recovered Tom takes them to his house to recuperate.
The Barrow-downs
After a brief time with Tom Bombadil and his wife, Goldberry, Frodo and his companions journey to the Barrow-Downs. Frodo's companions are again lost (probably taken while he slept) and Frodo must find them in the fog of the wight-haunted downs. Along the way Frodo encounters Barrow-Wights, ghost-like creatures that claw at him. In the final Barrow-Down Frodo finds his friends and the Westernesse Dagger, which he uses to fight the Old Barrow-Wight. The Old Barrow-Wight is much stronger than the others and spews mist at Frodo. Eventually, Tom Bombadil finds them again. He kills the Old Barrow-Wight with a spell, and guides the hobbits to Bree.
Act Two starts in Bree when it is apparent that Merry is missing and gameplay switches to Aragorn. As Aragorn begins playing he will have to fight a boss, Bill Ferny. Bill Ferny carries a large pike. Once he is dead, Aragorn sets out to find Merry again. Having found Merry he then hunts for objects to construct Hobbit decoys to fool the Ringwraiths and wild men. Harry Goatleaf releases wolves that Aragorn has to fight in Bree. After fighting a few wolves, Aragorn will have to confront Harry Goatleaf. After Aragorn kills him, he gets some of the objects he needs to construct decoys. After finding almost all the objects, Aragorn meets two wild men attacking Bob, a stable-cleaning hobbit. Aragorn kills them and enters The Prancing Pony.
Weathertop
Aragorn escorts Frodo and Sam to the summit of Weathertop. On the way Wargs and Orcs are first introduced into the game, they are extremely fast at attacking 'beware'. Aragorn must battle a troll on the summit before returning to the campsite to protect Frodo from the attacks of the Ringwraiths armed with a burning brand.
The Troll Shores
Aragorn must clear the area of enemies including orcs, wargs and about 5 Trolls. Once all enemies are defeated Glorfindel takes the company to Rivendell. In other versions the enemies are mainly goblins(including the Xbox version).
Gandalf becomes a playable character as he searches for the doors of Moria. As he attempts to open them, play switches to Aragorn as he fends off the Watcher in the Water before returning to Gandalf on entering Moria. in the other system versions you must defeat the watcher in the water with Gandalf. With Gimli the dwarf as a companion, Gandalf must navigate the dark maze of the Dwarrowdelf fighting off the orcs and trolls that stalk its shadows. In other versions you do not fight all enemies like trolls and so not have Gimli as a companion at all. The game becomes more objective based when the Fellowship reaches Balin's Tomb from which Gandalf must find an escape route as the other characters fend off the trolls, using slabs of stone which redirect the light onto the huge keyhole, and the only thing to open the humungous door is the light, this is a real puzzerler. Play then switches to Frodo in the 2nd hall, retaining Gimli (no Gimli in other versions) as a companion, who must find a way through the various ladders, walkways and bridges to reach and open the gates on the other side. Act 3 reaches its conclusion on the bridge of Khazad-dûm where Gandalf duels with the Moria boss, a Balrog.
After a brief interlude in Lothlórien, Aragorn resume the role of playable character. There is a short level in which he spies out an orc-dam on the river Anduin as the game introduces its final minor enemy, the Uruk-hai. Play then moves onto the final level of the game at Amon Hen in which Aragorn battles his way through most of the previously-encountered enemies to the Seeing Seat. The very summit has to be reached twice, first as Frodo who must get to the top of a stone hill while other members of the fellowship are dueling orcs. Aragorn battles the Games final boss, one of the Nazgûl atop a Fell Beast, using his sword and bow and arrow at the top of the hill.
The game ends in a cut-scene where Legolas shoots the Nazgûl's winged mount with an arrow. Meanwhile, Lady Galadriel looks into her fountain (as she did in the first cut-scene) and the game ends. Beating the game unlocks infinite health and ammo for the next time you play.
Characters
The three playable characters in the game are AragornAragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
, Gandalf
Gandalf
Gandalf is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In these stories, Gandalf appears as a wizard, member and later the head of the order known as the Istari, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West...
and Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
. Each with their own weapons (which vary throughout the game). Frodo uses 3 melee weapons at different stages in the game: a walking stick at the start of the game, a dagger (from the Barrow Downs) after defeating an Old Barrow-wight, and a short sword; Sting, which is given to him by Bilbo. Frodo can also pick up stones and throw them in a ranged attack, as well as utilizing the Ring to give him invisibility. Aragorn uses a long sword, Andúril, and a bow. Gandalf uses his sword Glamdring and his array of magical spells: Fiery Blast, Staff Strike, Chain Lightning, Heal, and Attract.
Development
The full motion videos of the game were created by Blur Studio. The music of the game was composed by Brad Spear, who also served in the voice editing and post-production. The voice acting was directed by Jeff Pobst and Rob Pearsall. Huck Liggett and Martha Mayakis were the agents responsible for voice casting. The voice cast consists of Steve StaleySteve Staley
Steve Staley is a voice actor who is also known as Steve Cannon. He is represented by Arlene Thornton & Associates.When he is not working in the booth, he teaches a voice acting class at Kalmenson & Kalmenson in Burbank, California....
as Frodo and Celeborn, Tom Kane
Tom Kane
Tom Kane is a prominent American voice actor with over 25 years of experience. He is most widely known for his animation work...
as Gandalf, Daran Norris
Daran Norris
Daran Morrison Nordland , usually credited as Daran Norris, is an American film and television actor and voice artist. Since 1977 he has participated in more than 400 films, video games, and television projects. He is best known as Gordy from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, the voice of...
(as "Darren Norris") as Aragorn and Tom Bombadil, Scott Menville
Scott Menville
Scott David Menville is primarily an American voice actor, actor, musician, and comedian.-Early life and career:The son of Chuck Menville, he was bassist for the Southern California rock band Boy Hits Car, which released three albums until he left the band in 2006. He was with the group since...
as Sam, James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor is an American voice actor, Impressionist, and Announcer. He is the current voice provider for Fred Flintstone as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Johnny Test in Johnny Test...
(as "James Taylor") as Pippin, Quinton Flynn
Quinton Flynn
Quinton Joseph Flynn , is an American voice actor, actor and writer....
as Merry and Gollum, James Horan
James Horan
James Horan may refer to:* James Horan , American character actor.* James Horan , a late Parish Priest of Knock....
as Gimli and Boromir, Michael Reisz
Michael Reisz
Michael Reisz is an American actor and voice actor. He was one of the writers of the hit television series Boston Legal until its ending in 2008...
as Legolas, Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale
Jennifer Hale is a Canadian-born American actress and singer best known for her voice over work in video games like Grandia II, the Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Tales of Symphonia, the Metroid Prime trilogy, the Metal Gear Solid games, Brütal Legend, and Disney's...
as Galadriel and Lobelia, Jim Piddock
Jim Piddock
James Anthony "Jim" Piddock is an English actor, writer, and producer who began his career on the stage in England, before emigrating to the U.S. in 1981.-Life and career:...
as Elrond and Bilbo and Kath Soucie
Kath Soucie
Katherine Elaine Soucie is an American voice actress. She is sometimes credited as Kath Soucie, Katherine Soucie, Kath Souci, Kath E...
as Goldberry. All of the above voice actors (along with Cliff Broadway) provided additional voices for the game.
Game Boy Advance version
A Game Boy AdvanceGame Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
version was released in September 2002 to North American audiences, and to Europe two months later. It greatly differed from its counterparts on other consoles, most notably for its RPG-style battle system. However, the game was poorly received by critics. Most of the complaints came from the extremely slow gameplay, as well as the first few characters being notably weak, this is aided later on when the full 9 join in, but doesn't last as shortly after, the entire group has Frodo continue on alone for a short bit, while being short but extremely hard. It was also notorious for its poor quality; the game contained many glitches which greatly hindered the player's progress and sometimes even forced them to restart the entire game.
Sequel
A sequel was planned for this game, and was to be titled The Lord of the Rings: The Treason of Isengard for PS2 and XBOX, which was a discarded title for the book The Two Towers. The game was in development, but was cancelled before its release.External links
- The Whole Experience, developers of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Xbox)
- GameRankings reviews