The Lord of the Rings games follow hotly on the heels of the critically acclaimed movie. Released by Surreal Software, perhaps better known for Drakan on the PC and Drakan: The Ancient Gates on the PS2, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is third-person action/adventure game closely based on the original story rather than the abridged version used in the movie

The demo contains three sections of the game as a whole, and it's obvious the choice of the sections to show off were influenced heavily by the movie, as the sequences borrow heavily from major set pieces within the movie.

The game itself is an action/adventure game, and there are a number of different quests that need to be undertaken during each section of the game. You start in Bag End with Gandalf the Grey explaining to Frodo about the One Ring, and the start of the quest to return it to Mordor. You play the part of Frodo, and your quests are simple: Find the Bag End deed so you can sell Bag End, find the front door key, and then find sell Bag End. The first two are fairly straightforward, with the deed hidden in a chest, and the key near the front door.

Once outside Bag End, you are able to explore a very small portion of the Shire itself. This section is not entirely complete in the demo, and you can't actually finish the third part of the initial quest.

The second demo section places you in the role of Aragorn. Here you must lead Frodo and Samwise to the top of Winterhaven, fighting off Dire wolves and trolls along the way. In the final section you take on the role of Gandalf leading the Fellowship through Moria.

I can't say I was terribly impressed with the demo as a whole. It is obvious that the same 3D engine that was used for Drakan has been re-used, however the quality of the models, the animation and the finish leaves a lot to be desired. Control is clumsy, especially when trying to maneuver your characters, and the range of movements varies form character to character. For example, in the initial part of the demo, Frodo is able to leap about and climb ladders, yet when we switch to control of Aragorn, gone is the jump ability and in it's place is a none too effective kick. Combined with a combat system that contains many different moves that eventually degenerates to bashing the mouse key whilst wildly flailing the mouse about trying to attack and enemy, it rapidly becomes frustrating.

The section where you control Gandalf was a little more interesting, as you get to play with some of the different spells at Gandalf's command. However this section also caused the most grief trying to play it. The level is set in an enclosed space, and unfortunately the camera reacts really badly when confronted with confined spaces, often tilting upwards in the middle of a fight in an enclosed hallway.

The level are, however, very well done, with very atmospheric lighting, especially in Moria, and good overall design, although this is let down greatly by the poor character animation and collision detection.

I can only hope the finished game is a lot more polished than the demo is - as it stands the game is a struggle to play.