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Review : The Hobbit for PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and PC
This weekend my Saturday plans were dashed so I picked up a used copy of The Hobbit for PS2. It is an action adventure RPG game based on the original book by JRR Tolkien. It is a true multi-platform development and there is an identical version available on the PS2, Gamecube, Xbox and PC. This game was developed by a Texas studio Inevitable and published by Sierra. For those of you who not know the Hobbit is the story of Bilbo Baggins the uncle of Frodo and takes place many decades before the Lord of the Rings.
It is pretty obvious that when they designed this game they based it on Nintendo's classic Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time. If this game you play Bilbo Baggins who moves through a well detailed 3d environments with the same feel and similar controls as Link from Ocarina. That is not a bad thing because Zelda games are few and far between. Un-like Zelda the level designs are pretty linear and the game progresses on invisible rails. You do not get much chance to explore on your own and you are tasked with performing tasks related to your quest to get to the next chapter in the game. It is pretty neat that the chapter names and much of the dialog is right out of the book. The voice acting is pretty good.
Early on there is a dream sequence of Bilbo fighting against an army of orcs and it gives you a great opportunity of what you are to expect later on in the game. You fight with the dagger Sting that glows it's bright blue. The graphics are colorful cartoony and pretty well designed. The graphics do feel like a well made Nintendo style game on the PS2 but was graphically held back by the lowest common denominator of cross platform game development.
The game is either too easy or too damn hard. Most of the game is pretty easy but some of the puzzles and sneaking around is way to hard for a game aimed at kids. It took be about being discovered and eaten two dozen times before I could actually sneak past the trolls.
It is pretty gutsy to make a game based on one of the most beloved children's fantasy books of all time especially with all the attention on the Lord of the Rings. This is actually a good choice for someone who is waiting for another Zelda game. I can't wait to finish this game and head back with the One Ring to the Shire for a big pipe of Hobbitweed.
Jake at May 23, 2004 
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Comments
They didn't get Leonard Nimoy to perform his ballad?
Posted by: Matt at May 24, 2004 4:10 PM
I played through it on Xbox. It actually wasn't as bad as all of the reviews made it out to be. I thought it was quite fun.
That part with sneaking past the trolls was a total bitch. I lost count on how many tries it took me.
Posted by: Kevin at May 24, 2004 9:10 PM
