Lord of the Rings Trilogy E3 2005 Hands-On Report

We got a chance to play Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Jamdat, a side-scrolling mobile game that incorporates puzzle and action elements while spanning all three storylines from the famous trilogy. In the game, you play as Aragorn on six levels, which include Weathertop and Minas Tirith and culminate in The Black Gate. Unlike the typical treatment of The Lord of the Rings, Trilogy emphasizes adventure gameplay that includes equal doses of exploration and puzzle-solving. You'll find yourself pushing crates to reach higher ledges, flipping switches to get through timed traps, and generally needing to problem-solve to make it through most areas. While some of the puzzles help you platform through the environment, others open up parts of the level, keeping you safe from harm.

While the puzzles are a big focus of Trilogy, there are a few other gameplay elements as well. Combat plays a big role, especially given that you're confronting enemies often. You can use a sword or a bow and arrow for offensive attacks. Defensively, you have a magic ability you can use to heal yourself, and you'll be able to replenish your magic through pick-ups along the way. There's even a stealth element that will help you through certain sections. While standing in stealthy areas, your avatar will be shaded so it's obvious that option is enabled. Although sometimes stealth is important, other times light is necessary. On one particularly interesting level we heard about, you must use your bow and arrow to light torches in a dark environment, which let you see sufficiently enough to progress through the level.

Throughout the game, you confront quite a few quintessential LOTR bad guys, including orcs and ringwraiths, the latter of which are quite difficult to fight in hand-to-hand combat, as would be expected of these horrifying enemies. All the characters are well done and look quite a bit like their movie counterparts. Overall, the game seems to have a nice combination of The Lord of the Rings mythology and side-scrolling action gameplay.

LOTR fans can expect to see this game available in the near future, so stay tuned.