When you reach Bree and get to take control of Aragorn and then Gandalf, the
game goes through a shift in focus and becomes far more combat focused.
You'll fight cutthroats, trolls, and orcs as you make your way through
Weathertop, Moria, and the River Anduin (Rivendell and Lothlorien are thrown in
for good measure, but only serve as the setting for cutscenes and little else).
As Aragorn you'll have your sword and a bow to work with, and it can be fun
dueling with enemies. The bow is not a practical weapon for most combat,
as melee enemies always make a beeline for you and it is difficult to move
around and keep focused on your target. When you come across an enemy that
likes to throw things, it is far quicker to simply run up and hack him rather
than using your bow. The arrows are relatively weak and take several hits
to take out an enemy, so you end up in a protracted fire arrow, sidestep, fire
again cycle.
Gandalf carries a sword for melee combat as well, and also has an arsenal of
offensive spells. You'll find yourself relying heavily on the sword
as Gandalf's magic energy depletes rather quickly and does not recharge on its
own. There are power-ups available to replenish this energy, but they are
not plentiful enough to allow you to make use of Gandalf's magic nearly as much
as you'd like.
Combat is easy enough to control until you get into tighter quarters. In
this situation it can be difficult to keep the camera on your enemy making it
easy to lose track of him. Most likely as an effort to combat this, the
game allows you to use the left trigger to "lock on" to enemies.
Unfortunately this is also the button used to switch weapons and the game can be
pretty fickle at times in deciding whether it wants to lock onto an enemy or
switch weapons. Needless to say this can be quite a problem in the heat of
combat.
Fetch-it quests, stealth, combat... if it seems to you that the game has trouble
making up its mind what it wants to be, then you are right. It has a
disjoint feeling, almost as if you are playing two different games back to back.
As a result you're left with a game that does an average job at everything
without excelling at anything. This detracts from the epic feel of the
story that fans of the book will be expecting, while underwhelming those
unfamiliar with the story.
The game does do a good job of recreating the environments in the book, and if
you enjoyed the books you'll like the game's atmosphere. I only have a
couple of complaints with the game's graphics and environments. The first
is that the game uses a very dark palette in just about every location.
Sometimes the only way to make out what is happening is to turn the brightness
of your TV higher and play in a darkened room - playing during the day can be a
difficult task. The other issue with the environments is that they are at
times very constrained. You will be stuck to a narrow path even though you
can see off into the distance. It can be annoying to find your freedom to
explore restricted by a small log, tiny creek, or invisible glass wall..
As for sound, the game's music is well done with each piece fitted for the mood
of the scene. There are also a plethora of background noises that add a
lot to the game's atmosphere, like the sounds of people talking and glasses
clinking when you walk past a pub in Bree. While the game's voice acting
is certainly adequate, it is devoid of real emotion or drama. The
characters sound like they are having a discussion over a business lunch rather
than discussing the fate of life and the world as they know it.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
65%. Overall it is an adequate but lackluster title with limited
appeal outside of the realm of The Lord of the Rings fans.
« Page 1
