Hello, my name is Charles and I’m here to review The Hobbit: The Prelude to The Lord of the Rings for the Microsoft Xbox, Nintendo Gamecube and the PlayStation 2.

The game is a licensed adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien‘s 1937 novel The Hobbit, and has no relationship with the Peter Jackson-directed The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. At the time, Vivendi, in partnership with Tolkien Enterprises, held the rights to the video game adaptations of Tolkien’s literary works, whilst Electronic Arts held the rights to the video game adaptations of the New Line Cinema films. The game sticks very closely to the plot of the novel, although it does feature some minor characters not found in Tolkien’s original.

The only character that’s playable in this game is Bilbo Baggins of the Shire (Weapons: Throwing Stones/Bilbo’s Walking Stick/Bilbo’s Elvish Blade! Sting).

The main cast of characters are

Gandalf the Grey (Weapons: Staff/Gandalf’s Elvish Blade! Glamdring the Foehammer),

Gollum,

The 3 Trolls: Tom/Bert/William,

The Dwarven Company: Dwalin/Balin/Kili/Fili/Oin/Gloin/Dori/Nori/Ori/Bifur/Bofur/Bombur,
Bard of Lake-Town,

Thranduil Greenleaf! Elven King of Mirkwood Forest,

Smaug the Dragon (Fire-Drake of the North),

Bolg the Goblin War-Lord and Beorn the Skin-Changer (Animal Form: A Ginormous, Black Bear).

The key locations are

The Shire (Hobbiton/Green Dragon Inn),

The Trollshaws,

The Misty Mountains,

The Goblin Tunnels,

Gollum’s Cave,

Mirkwood Forest,

Lake-Town and The Lonely Mountain.

In conclusion, I found this game to showcase the mystical imagination of J. R. R. Tolkien at its most perfect peak in terms of gaming proportions. Thus, I end this article with a Hobbit quote: The road goes ever on and on, Down on the road where it began, How far ahead the road goes on and I must follow it if I can!