If Frodo can be thought of as a sneak, then Aragorn is without a doubt the
fighter of the game. He has the expected skills with the sword Anduril and can
throw out a few special combo attacks. Aragorn also has bow for ranged attacks.
I found the control rather difficult when using the bow. I never seemed to get a
feel of exactly where I was aiming. Almost making this a moot point is that the
ranged attacks are a secondary choice, both for your character and the enemies. If
they get the chance to bum rush the stage, so to speak, they will and then
you’re much better off going back to the sword.
Your final playable character, and the most entertaining, is Gandalf. Gandy
is surprisingly apt at hand-to-hand fighting, but I enjoy firing spells.
Selecting which spell to cast is a fairly pain-free undertaking as you just use
the R2 button to scroll until you find your spell of choice. Gandalf has both
offensive spells, like the multiple enemy Staff Strike that will surround
Gandalf with an expanding energy ring to damage the evildoers, and defensive
spells that can heal you or even confuse the bad guys into pummeling each other.
It seems like this combination of characters and the amazing depth of
Tolkien’s wonderful world would make for an exciting game. But somewhere,
somehow things went bad. The environments are not very alive - it is the little
things like trees not swaying and, as mentioned, invisible walls stopping you in
your tracks. The voice acting is a little above average, but since it is not
done by the same actors as in the movies, some may find it a little distracting.
The controls are serviceable, but not as smooth as they could be. Also, you can
switch to a first person mode at times, yet you are only allowed to move
side-to-side while not being able to move forward or backward. Just bizarre.
Another flaw of the game is the very long load times. They have a negative
impact on the game as they completely take away any flow and sense of urgency
that may have been building beforehand. The game can easily be finished over a
rainy weekend when you have an extra 10-15 hours.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
68%. The Fellowship is best experienced as a rental and only then by
true Tolkien fans and not the casual gamer. The general lack of interesting and
fun gameplay makes this a hard sell. Just watch the DVD again…
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