While janky, unpolished and with mediocre production values, the game that spearheaded the resurgence of The Lord of the Rings in the gaming landscape after a decade of radio silence is not a bad effort, chiefly because it does its own thing and tries to stick closer to the books, instead of serving as a mindless movie tie-in. Tom Bombadil is in this, complete with Frodo and Sam wondering about who he is and what he meant by his claim of being odler than the trees and the stones; do you need to know more? Glorfindel is in this, as well as minor details like Frodo selling Bag End to the Sackvilles.
Released a mere week before the far more popular The Two Towers, Fellowship didn't stand a chance and is probably remembered as being worse than it really is because of this comparison.
Developer Surreal Software, who had made Drakan on PC and would go on to make its really good PS2 sequel as well as both outings of cult classic franchise The Suffering, crafted a melee system that can only be described as "acceptable", doing the bare minimum to toe the line between functional and annoying, without crossing over.
Depending on the level you control either Frodo, Aragorn or Gandalf, each with his own skills and attacks: Frodo is weak but can use the One Ring to become invisible for a brief time, Aragorn has an infinite bow and a kick move to topple enemies for a satisfying ground finisher and Gandalf can cast a variety of spells, ranging from offenive to healing to mind control.
Health comes at a premium, as healing items aren't overly abundant, so you'll be looking for ways to avoid taking damage. Hilariously, the best strategy is to hang back and let your invincible NPC allies deal with the enemies as you snipe from afar. There are frew things funnier than seeing a gaggle of hobbits make short work of a cave troll or two in such a way.
It's not much, but it's enough to be a passable game when you take the narrative element into account. If you are one of those hardcore LOTR book fans who were always annoyed by the liberties taken by the movies, this is as close an action game is likely to get to a faithful adaptation of Fellowship, and that has to be worth something.
Released a mere week before the far more popular The Two Towers, Fellowship didn't stand a chance and is probably remembered as being worse than it really is because of this comparison.
Developer Surreal Software, who had made Drakan on PC and would go on to make its really good PS2 sequel as well as both outings of cult classic franchise The Suffering, crafted a melee system that can only be described as "acceptable", doing the bare minimum to toe the line between functional and annoying, without crossing over.
Depending on the level you control either Frodo, Aragorn or Gandalf, each with his own skills and attacks: Frodo is weak but can use the One Ring to become invisible for a brief time, Aragorn has an infinite bow and a kick move to topple enemies for a satisfying ground finisher and Gandalf can cast a variety of spells, ranging from offenive to healing to mind control.
Health comes at a premium, as healing items aren't overly abundant, so you'll be looking for ways to avoid taking damage. Hilariously, the best strategy is to hang back and let your invincible NPC allies deal with the enemies as you snipe from afar. There are frew things funnier than seeing a gaggle of hobbits make short work of a cave troll or two in such a way.
It's not much, but it's enough to be a passable game when you take the narrative element into account. If you are one of those hardcore LOTR book fans who were always annoyed by the liberties taken by the movies, this is as close an action game is likely to get to a faithful adaptation of Fellowship, and that has to be worth something.