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The rather cheeky Middle-earth Trilogy from Level 9 Computing<br />
game, you could choose which<br />
character you wanted to play from<br />
Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry. Your<br />
selection didn’t make a great deal of<br />
difference, but if you managed to<br />
complete the game (no small feat) you<br />
could play through again from<br />
different perspectives.<br />
The game began in The Shire,<br />
where you were able to explore the<br />
Hobbit’s homeland before setting off<br />
on your journey to Rivendell. In fact, it<br />
was possible to stray from the story<br />
and head in the opposite direction,<br />
over the Blue Mountains towards the<br />
forested planes of Harlingdon and the<br />
ocean beyond. So while the game<br />
followed the plot closely, it was<br />
possible to explore some of the places<br />
only mentioned in the book (or<br />
included on Tolkien’s map of Middleearth).<br />
The game threw in a number of<br />
unique plot twists too, so even fans<br />
were in for a few surprises. Saying<br />
that, at the time of release many fans<br />
were disappointed with the game,<br />
possibly because an in-depth<br />
knowledge of the book was not<br />
assumed. The text was riddled with<br />
grammatical errors too, making it look<br />
like a rushed job rather than a game<br />
that had been in development for 15<br />
months. On a more general note, the<br />
game cost a staggering £16! However,<br />
it did come in fancy packaging with a<br />
paperback copy of The Fellowship of<br />
the Ring thrown in.<br />
In 1988, Melbourne House released<br />
Lord of the Rings Game Two on the<br />
Spectrum, C64, Amstrad CPC, PC,<br />
Apple II and Mac. It was subtitled<br />
Shadows of Mordor and specifically<br />
covered book four of The Two Towers,<br />
following Frodo and Sam’s quest<br />
rather than Aragorn’s plotline. While<br />
not a great departure from the first<br />
game, it was certainly a lot more<br />
polished, with far fewer typing errors<br />
and improved graphics used to<br />
illustrate the text. Characters also<br />
displayed more independence. They<br />
would go off and do their own thing<br />
rather than follow you dumbly whilst<br />
singing about gold.<br />
The company always intended to<br />
release a trilogy of games and the<br />
final instalment duly appeared in<br />
1989. Subtitled The Crack of Doom, it<br />
covered the events in book six of The<br />
Return of the King, climaxing in the<br />
ring forging scene on top of Mount<br />
Doom. Unlike the first two adventures,<br />
you could only control Sam Gamgee<br />
but overall the game was a marked<br />
improvement over its predecessors. It<br />
was only released on the C64, PC and<br />
Mac, and rather strangely, the game<br />
was never released outside North<br />
America, The Tolkien Trilogy, released<br />
in 1989, actually consisted of The<br />
Hobbit and the first two Lord of the<br />
Rings games.<br />
Speaking<br />
volumes<br />
The PC and Amiga were home to the<br />
first fully graphical adventure game<br />
based on the book. It was entitled<br />
At £16, Game One was almost three times more than standard<br />
games at the time!<br />
**21**
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