The Best of Lord of the Rings

There are good things in this game: the RPG mechanics are fine (at various points in the story you play as Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf), the visuals are beautiful in parts, and certain aspects of game design are fantastic (Gandalf's magic-casting stands out). Little touches make it appealing to true fans, like when Aragorn receives the repaired Sword of Elendil, and it glows during fighting. It would be a great game for even non-LOTR fans to play, since a good deal of backstory is provided in lengthy cinematics throughout the game. Fellowship's greatest asset, of course, is the story itself, as well as the bevy of villainous creatures that provide great boss-fight material. I'm sure many other games wished they had a Balrog to offer.

But the story deviates strangely from the book in order to satisfy the format of an RPG game. The final boss-fight (which we won't spoil here) is completely unrelated to anything devised by J.R.R. Tolkien, and it seems hollow, strange, and unsatisfying. The puzzles sprinkled throughout the game are random and often frustrating, as is your first encounter with the Ringwraiths (inevitably, you die many times--too steep a difficulty curve right out of the gate). This game is still strongly recommended, but with many caveats. Proceed with caution and you're likely to enjoy yourself. Expect a masterpiece and you'll be wishing you saved your money for a different PS2 title. --Jennifer Buckendorff

Pros:

• Great story and great characters (of course)
• Missions that require problem-solving as well as combat
• Gorgeous maps
• Getting to play as Gandalf

• Painfully long cutaway scenes
• Cheesy ending
• Often-tedious fights

We apologize for the rumor that seems to be sweeping game sites--we're not sure how it got started. There's no way to play the game in four hours, unless maybe you set it on "easy," but probably not even then. (We are playing through with all three characters, of course.) Maybe Diablo fans are unimpressed with the skimpy inventory management, but we think that's just nitpicking. But don't think we write fan mail every day! There are some things we would have done differently: while we like movie scenes interspersed with game scenes, we are really tired of watching some of the intro cinematics over and over again. And why can't we trade in some of the skills we bought for new ones? By level 9, we really wished we had bought differently. And what was the deal with the ending--couldn't afford the real actor's voice for the final scene? That seemed distinctly out of character with the rest of the game.

But we love being able to tear into a crowd of Orcs, as well as the nuances of certain timed and more strategic missions. While it may not be a game we play repeatedly once we're done, we'll treasure the fond memories of the time we had together. As with everything associated with LotR, the magic touch for fans is in the details. It's great to look into the stream in Fangorn and pick out the reflection of Treebeard; we wish every game got it the way this one does. Thanks again for your terrific title.

Best wishes,
The Amazon.com Video Game Editors
--Jennifer Buckendorff
$14.99
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