Lord of the Rings: Game One

Crash

"Two features from The Hobbit have been retained in this game. Mapping in The Hobbit could become pretty unreliable owing to the structure of the game, and so it is in this case. The other feature of The Hobbit retained is the need to be ever careful and watchful over what and how many items you are carrying. In addition to adding weight to your burden, some objects increase your effective size, which can lead to trouble when negotiating a small door or tunnel. Liquids cannot be carried without a container and you must ration your acquisitions to just those you can manage to carry.

Lord of the Rings took over 15 months to program. After waiting for so long people may initially be disappointed with the result. The game is slow, the pictures are rudimentary, and, due to the glaring white background for the text, this adventure is almost unplayable on a colour TV. The prose is strangely stilted with descriptions which tell of objects within objects and upon objects, in a very dry and dreary manner. The dubious examples of humour in the game detract from such an auspicious work and there are times when you're not quite sure whether something is supposed to be humorous or not, like, were there really photographs in the original as found described in the first frame? Having said that, the game features a very good and informative EXAMINE command, a super friendly vocabulary which gets just about anything you want to do done, and it takes the interaction of characters to new heights in adventuring."
See the full review

Sinclair User

"Lord of the Rings is essential equipment for any adventurer. The storyline is solidly based on the book and has been faithfully reproduced. Melbourne has added some ingredients but these don't conflict too much with the main tale. There is also a good sized vocabulary to support the interpreter and large numbers of locations to explore, giving a fine feel of space. The graphics are relatively unimportant and, thankfully, the programmers have clearly attempted to cram in as much text detail as possible, rather than too many pretty but useless pictures.

The multi-role/multi-player option is pretty neat. Very few games have used it before but it helps to extend the breadth of an adventure."
See the full review