Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Q&A

There's absolutely no shortage of Lord of the Rings games currently in development, though some have gotten a bit of a higher profile than others. This past E3 equalized everything, though, as each and every game based on the timeless fantasy epic that's currently in development was proudly on display by its respective publisher. Universal's PS2 game, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, is easily among the most impressive of the lot. The action adventure game retraces the events of the first book in the story and lets you play through the narrative as three of its most important characters: the brave hobbit Frodo, the powerful wizard Gandalf, and the mighty ranger Aragorn.

Aragorn's role will be especially combat-heavy.

Surreal, the game's developer--which is also famous for the Drakan series of games--promises that it will provide the experience most loyal to Tolkien's timeless story. We were quite anxious to find out more about it, so we managed to get in touch with Todd Clineschmidt, the lead designer on the game, to provide us with some input.

GameSpot: So the game is based on Fellowship of the Ring. How will it retrace the significant events in that narrative?

Todd Clineschmidt: The game follows the entire narrative of the first book, Fellowship of the Ring, beginning in the tranquil Shire and ending on the hostile shores of the River Anduin. All of the key events from the book are brought to life in the game, such as the Barrow downs, the Flooding of the Ford, and so on.

GS: The three playable characters will be Frodo, Gandalf, and Strider. Will scenarios be designed around the special abilities and affinities of each? Can you give us examples?

TC: Yes, each player character's abilities will be put to the test throughout the game. For example, we have designed areas suitable to Frodo's stealth and creature-avoidance abilities, which greatly vary according to those scenarios designed for Aragorn's melee and bow combat or Gandalf's spell-based attacks. Each playable character offers a different experience, and therefore our approach has been to design and tune each area specifically for the character played there.

Another thing we are doing is to have AI-driven members of the Fellowship journey in real-time with the player as they progress through an area. For example, as Aragorn, you set out to reach the top of Weathertop in search of Gandalf. Frodo and Sam, as in the narrative, come along with you. In our game, you won't always be required to journey alone.

Here we see the mighty warrior taking on some foul orcs.

GS: Will there be any instances when players will be able to see key events in the narrative from the eyes of more than one character? For instance, will we be able to see something like the hobbits' flight from the dark riders from both Frodo's and Aragorn's perspective?

TC: Not exactly. The same scenario will not be played out multiple times from different characters' perspectives.

GS: What sorts of abilities will the characters acquire over time? Gandalf could presumably learn new spells, but what about the stealth-oriented Frodo or the combat-oriented Aragorn?

TC: It depends. Some of the player (or "playable"--I thought this word fit better) characters will gain new weapons throughout the game. For example, Frodo will acquire Sting when appropriate. However, Gandalf will not gain new spells but instead start with a complete magical arsenal. To stay as true to the narrative as possible, this approach is the most logical.

GS: What memorable Middle-earth locations will you guys re-create in the game? Are there any you're especially proud of?

TC: We are creating all of the key locations found in the narrative. The regions include The Shire, The Old Forest, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendell, Moria, Lothlorien, and the River Anduin. Found within each of these regions are the specific locations, such as the Barrow Downs in the Old Forest or the Midgewater Marshes in the Weathertop region. I'm proud of all of the areas. Each is unique and offers a different look and feel, consistent with Tolkien's detailed descriptions.

GS: How large are the game's environments, and how long do you think it will take players to get through the game?

TC: Because we have created all of the key areas found in the narrative, the game is quite large. We are estimating 15 to 20 hours of gameplay.