I'M NOT a Tolkien fan so this had to be pretty special in order for me to be even mildly impressed.

But it wasn't. Granted, the graphics are excellent and the attention to detail is exceptional. The way Frodo (that's you, by the way) interacts with other characters in the game is very pleasing.

But my problem was I didn't have a clue what was going on, to the point where it took me literally hours to get into a scrape.

OK, quite early on in the game I had a run in with some farmer, but this amounted to nothing more than throwing rocks to distract a dog so I could pick up some object or other.

Even at this early stage in the game, I had lost interest. Only the opportunity to hit the dog square on the nose would have cheered me up.

If, like me, you want instant carnage, LOTR is not for you. Because to be honest, my dedication to gameplaying doesn't extend to reading through three hefty novels that I've never previously been interested in so as to have some inkling as to what is going on.

That said, the presentation of the game is superb and it is very atmospheric for a brief moment I did get caught up in the fantasy of it all.

But after five minutes the novelty wore off and confusion set in, which suggests this is a game LOTR fans would revel in, but the rest of us won't.

Graphics 4/5

Sound 3/5

Game play 23/5

Game span 4/5

Overall 3/5

Hywel Jones