Games
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
Other Platforms
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
Game Info
Publisher: Universal Interactive
Developer: Pocket Studios
Genre(s): Role-Playing Game
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: September 24, 2002
Summary
A striking role-playing scenario unfolds as the Fellowship begins the great Quest. Take your handheld along as you develop a variety of characters, created by Tolkien but fully realized by you. This first installment demands strategy and quick-thinking, as the horrific servants of the Dark Lord struggle to reclaim the Ring. [Universal Interactive]
Also On Metacritic
FILM: LOTR: Fellowship of the Ring
GAMES: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GamePro
Most distressingly, inventory management is a total nightmare; identifying and using a healing ’shroom is an amazingly laborious process.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
It ain't particularly exciting, but it ain't exactly bad, either. [Dec 2002, p.272]
Pocket Games
While LOTR hits a lot of highs, the overall quest and gameplay are just a little better than average. It's a strong rental. [Spring 2003, p.40]
Game Over Online
Rings strikes me as a game where the developers seized on the most immediate details (that of the visual scenery and all the supporting cast) and suddenly lost scope of the entire game.
Read Full Review >IGN
Then there's the TERRIBLE fight sequences -- the book's magic may not be as flashy and constant as a Final Fantasy game, but at least the hack-and-slash could have been more engrossing.
Read Full Review >Play Magazine
Rather than pressing left to walk left proportionately with the landscape, you must mash the diagonals, ultimately wearing an indelible groove into your thumb. [Nov 2002, p.103]
G4 TV
Delivers much of what fans might want from an RPG. And the graphics and music are sweet. But there's a lot here to make players sleepy as well.
Read Full Review >Cheat Code Central
I found the interface to be more problematic than most games of this genre.
GameZone
What could have been a nice game for LOTR fans instead became a lesson in frustration because of the bugs.
Read Full Review >TotalGames.net
A few small sub quests (such as delivering a message for someone) do not lift the title out of the sea of mediocrity it’s floating in.
Read Full Review >Nintendo Power
Features characters and situations that are missing from the recent film adaptation. [Dec 2002, p.222]
Game Informer
I think I'd rather have Gandalf turn me into something unnatural - like a hairy newt - rather than play this game again. [Dec 2002, p.150]
GameSpy
Remarkably enough, the controls are worse than the graphics...If you're looking for a great Tolkien experience, go to your local library and read the books.
Read Full Review >GamerWeb Nintendo
It’s plagued by poor design, flooded with glitches and fails to capture any of the drama or emotion present in the book or the movie.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
The entire game is so unpolished and full of bugs that it's unfathomable how it ever passed quality assurance in the first place.
Read Full Review >Yahoo! Games
One of the buggiest games ever released for the GBA, if not one of the buggiest games ever released, period. One flaw even makes it impossible to complete the game.
Read Full Review >netjak
One of the worst games I have ever played. It is an underdeveloped, bug-ridden title that is an insult to Game Boy Advance owners and Lord of the Rings fans alike.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Master chief gave it a2:
The worst game i ever played has about a thousand glitches.
John R. gave it an 8:
Great following of the story line decent graphics(especially for an RPG) but the fighting and glitches dont make it special.
Mr. Bob gave it a 2:
This game sucked in every way. It was a complete waste of time and money. Can you tell me why their faces were green? It's glitchy and the worst game I've ever played.
Kyle M. gave it a 9:
I am a huge fan of LOTR. This game was awesome! The people who said graphics and display is terrible are wrong. The only thing wrong was the glitches. Bilbo never gave me the Mithrill Armor. So then I quit and my game was gone!
Ed M. gave it a 10:
This is a great game although i can't find th willow withies in the old forest. for gods sake it isnt mad of the film its from the book "j.palm". havnt u read it or r u illiterate?
G. G. gave it a 9:
This game rocks! But is not as good as the Lord of the Rings Two Towers and the fighting stinks!
Zepplin Cow gave it a 2:
It does one of the best jobs I've ever seen of setting low goals, then constantly failing to meet them. Hockey puck, anyone?
