The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - PC

It's surprising that it's not been done before. The saga of Middle Earth and its inhabitants is ideal material for a video game license. Years old, 8-bit attempts aside, it seems that it's taken the production of the blockbuster movie to convince the games industry to finally invest in the license. Now there's not one but two entirely different games, released on the same day, which plunge players into JRR Tolkien's fantasy world.

Developed by Surreal Studios, The Fellowship of the Ring is possibly the more timely of the two. Following the storyline of the original book, rather than just being a mere attempt to virtualise the recent film, it casts players as part of the fellowship in an involving third-person, action adventure. Remaining faithful to the epic masterpiece, the story takes players on a journey from the Shire to the River Andurin, exploring the massive environments of Middle Earth along the way. There are plenty of puzzles to be solved in due course, as well as a host of enemies with which to do battle, such as Orcs, Black Riders, and an evil Balrog. The overall quest, as we all should know, is to destroy the fabled One Ring of Power.

A fairly straightforward adventure title, Fellowship of the Ring also features some heavy role-playing elements - such as some extensive dialogue and the implementation of non-playable characters - which make for an immersive and involving experience.

PC-owning Tolkien fans will rejoice in the fact that they can finally take part in the Lord of the Rings saga.
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