Xbox cover
The Hobbit is one of J. R. R. Tolkien's novels. An Xbox version developed by WXP, a PC and PS2 version developed by Surreal, and a GBA version developed by Pocket Studios. All versions of the game are published by Black Label Games, an imprint of Vivendi Universal Interactive.
The games are adaptations of the The Hobbit The video game includes sections of the novel, such as Frodo Baggins' travels to places such as The Old Forest, his encounter with Old Man Willow, and the meeting of Tom Bombadil He also goes to the Barrow-downs and fights the Barrow-wight.
In the game you can play as Frodo, Aragorn, and Gandalf. It is rated T for teen. The game is basically a slash 'em' up style video game, with fighting taking up most of the game time.
Characters
The three playable characters in the game are Aragorn, 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) and the sword Sting, which is given to him by Bilbo. Frodo can also pick up stones and shoot them in a ranged attack, as well as utilizing the Ring to give him invisibility. Aragorn uses his long sword. Gandalf uses his sword and his array of magical spells: Fire Blast, Staff Strike, Chain Lightning, Heal, and Attract.
Enemies
The enemies in the game are: Barrow-wights, Black riders, Ruffians, Cave-trolls, Stone-trolls, and Orcs. The bosses in the game are the Balrog, The Old Barrow-wight, the Fell beast, Bill Ferny, Harry Goatleaf, Old Man Willow, Nazgûl and Watcher in the Water.
Synopsis
The narrative
The Shire
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 is making 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.
Afterwards, the group arrives at The Old Forest. Frodo must find Merry, Sam and Pippin who have lost themselves in a forest labyrinth. He must then free Merry and Pippin from the clutches of Old Man Willow. Finally Tom Bombadil intervenes, rescuing the Hobbits and setting them off in search of 12 water lilies. Once recovered Tom takes them to his house to recuperate.
Then they head to The Barrow-downs. Frodo's companions are again lost, and Frodo has to find them in the fog of the wight-haunted downs. In the final barrow Frodo finds his new weapon, the Westernesse Dagger, and uses it to defeat the Barrow-wight Boss with the help of Tom, who guides the hobbits to Bree.
Act Two starts in Bree when it is apparent that Merry is missing and gameplay switches to Aragorn. Having found Merry he then hunts for objects to construct Hobbit decoys to fool the Nazgûl that they are still on their trail, battling ruffians along the way.
Aragorn escorts Frodo and Sam to the summit of Weathertop. On the way wargs and Orcs are first introduced into the game. 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 Shaws. Aragorn must clear the area of enemies including orcs, wargs and several Trolls. Once all enemies are defeated Glorfindel takes the company to Rivendell.
Act 3 begins with Gandalf as the 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. With Gimli the dwarf as a companion, Gandalf must navigate the dark maze of the Dwarrowdelf fighting off the Orcs and Cave-trolls that stalk its shadows. In the Balin's Tomb Gandalf must find an escape route as the other characters fend of trolls. Play then switches to Frodo in the 21st hall, retaining Gimli 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 Moria boss the Balrog.
Act 4 sees Aragorn resume the role of playable character after a brief interlude in Lothlórien. First there is a short level in which he spies out an Orc-dam on the river Anduin in which the game introduces better orcs. Player 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 and then as Aragorn, before Aragorn battles the Games final boss, the Fell Beast.
Voice Cast
- Frodo/Celeborn (voiced by Steve Staley)
- Aragorn/Tom Bombadil (voiced by Daran Norris)
- Gandalf (voiced by Tom Kane)
- Elrond/Bilbo (voiced by Jim Piddock)
- Gimli/Boromir (voiced by James Horan)
- Sam (voiced by Scott Menville and Cliff Broadway)
- Merry/Gollum (voiced by Quinton Flynn)
- Galadriel/Lobelia Sackville-Baggins (voiced by Jennifer Hale)
- Pippin (voiced by James Arnold Taylor)
- Legolas (voiced by Michael Reisz)
- Lady Goldberry (voiced by Kath Soucie)
Uncredited Voice Cast
- Arwen (voiced by Kath Soucie)
- Angelica Baggins (voiced by Kath Soucie)
- Rosie Cotton (voiced by Jennifer Hale)
- Robin Smallburrow (voiced by James Arnold Taylor)
Game Boy Advance port
Game Boy Advance screenshot
A Game Boy Advance version of this game was later released in September of 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. 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.
References
- GBA Release dates. GameFAQs. Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
- Xbox Release dates. GameFAQs. Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
- PS2 Release dates. GameFAQs. Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
- PC Release dates. GameFAQs. Retrieved on February 9, 2008.
