| The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest | |
|---|---|
 Official North American cover art |
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| Developer(s) | Headstrong Games (Wii) TT Fusion (Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable)[1] |
| Publisher(s) | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Platform(s) | Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable |
| Release date(s) | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure |
The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is a two player action-adventure video game developed by Headstrong Games for Wii and TT Fusion for Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. It is the first The Lord of the Rings game to be released by Warner Bros. Interactive, who obtained the lease following Electronic Arts's titles.
Contents |
Gameplay [edit]
Set following the events of the three books, players guide a young hobbit around The Shire (the hub world), who listens to stories told by Samwise Gamgee (a hobbit) about Aragorn. These stories make up the game's levels, with players controlling Aragorn in a third-person perspective through the events of the three books. Gameplay consists mostly of sword fighting, with some spear fighting, archery as well as horse-mounted combat. In the Wii and PlayStation 3 versions, a second player can drop in and play as Gandalf at any time during the game.[7] This feature is not available, however, in the DS, PlayStation 2, or PSP versions. These versions do however include an arena mode not appearing in the co-op versions.[8] The perspective and controls also differ between the versions.
Plot [edit]
The game's present time is set in The Shire, 15 years after the War of the Ring. Sam, now the mayor of Hobbiton, is preparing a grand party for King Elessar (Aragorn), who is on his way to Hobbiton along with Arwen. While awaiting the King's arrival, Sam re-tells the story of Aragorn's journey during the War of the Ring to his four children (Frodo, Elanor, Merry and Pippin), in which the player of the game takes part. The game's setting is largely based on the live-action film trilogy, but also incorporates elements from the original books (such as Aragorn receiving the sword Anduril before departing Rivendell with the Fellowship of the Ring), as well as expanded side-quests exclusive to the game.
Development [edit]
The existence of Aragorn's Quest was initially leaked by the Entertainment Software Association in their E3 list of debuting titles.[9] The game was officially announced in a press release a week later, on 28 May 2009, and marks the first title in a new franchise after Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment obtained the license for the Lord of the Rings series from The Saul Zaentz Company and New Line Cinema after years of the series being licensed to Electronic Arts. The press release noted the game would be available for Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2 and PSP sometime in Q3/Q4 2009.[10] In August 2009, the publishers announced the game would be delayed until Q1/Q2 2010.[11] No reason was given for the delay. On 10 March 2010, the publisher announced the game would also be available for the PlayStation 3 and support the PlayStation Move, a peripheral set to launch in Q3/Q4 2010. With this announcement also came a further delay, pushing the release date back to Q3/Q4 2010 for all platforms. Kotaku speculates that the additional support for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Move was the cause for the delays.[1] The game was released in September 2010.[12]
Critical reception [edit]
The game received mixed to positive reviews. GameSpot awarded the Wii version 7.0 out of ten and said "Despite some flaws, Aragorn's Quest is an engaging adventure across a well-realized version of Middle-earth."[13]IGN awarded the Wii version 7.0 out of ten and said "Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is fun and satisfying".[14] However, they awarded the PlayStation 3 version 6.0 out of ten.[15] Edge magazine awarded it 5 out of ten and said "Headstrong's effort shows a developer of some calibre, with a clutch of decent ideas, bowed beneath the weight of a multimedia franchise and hobbled by family friendly obligations".[16]Nintendo World Report awarded it 5 out of ten and said "it is dragged down by too many small flaws and gameplay that can only be described as derivative".[17] 1UP awarded it a C+ and said "The swordplay is far from perfect and the adventuring itself overly simplistic sure, but its accessibility is, ultimately, its most prevailing quality."[18]Gamezone awarded it 4.5 out of ten and said "Surely, Tolkien deserves better."[citation needed] Game Revolution awarded it a C- and said "This is one fantasy-adventure you may want to miss out on."[19]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (10 March 2010). "PlayStation Move Gets Its First Wii Port". Kotaku. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Release Information for DS". GameFAQs. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Release Information for PSP". GameFAQs. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Release Information for Wii". GameFAQs. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Release Information for PlayStation 2". GameFAQs. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Release Information for PlayStation 3". GameFAQs. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
- ^ http://kotaku.com/5272652/lord-of-the-rings-comes-to-wii-with-dashes-of-mario-link
- ^ http://www.aragornsquest.com/
- ^ Breckon, Nick (20 May 2009). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Revealed". Shacknews. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ Burness, Andrew (28 May 2009). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Officially Announced". IGN. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ Faylor, Chris (11 August 2009). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Delayed". Shacknews. Retrieved 11 March 2010.
- ^ "IGN: The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest". IGN. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ Petit, Carolyn (17 September 2010). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review for Wii". GameSpot. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ Harris, Craig (20 September 2010). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review – Wii". IGN. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ Harris, Craig (20 September 2010). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review -Playstation". IGN. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review". Edge. 30 September 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ Hernandez, Pedro (2 October 2010). "Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ Wolinsky, David (21 September 2010). "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review (Wii)". 1UP.com. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
- ^ "The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest Review for Wii". Game Revolution. 28 September 2010. Retrieved 7 November 2010.
External links [edit]
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