The Hobbit is the first novel of JRR Tolkien to be set in the milieu of Middle Earth. It was originally intended as simply a story for Tolkien’s children, but the publishers of his translation of the famous English poem Beowulf read it, and although it wasn’t completed, enjoyed it so much they asked him to submit it for publication. The rest is as they say, history.

Over 50 years later, riding high on the success of Peter Jackson’s wonderful film version of the Lord of the Rings, comes the prequel in game format. Those hardcore fans who criticise every nook and cranny of the film, and even point out the inconsistencies in Tolkien’s own writing should be well advised to keep clear of this game, as like the film version of LOTR, the Hobbit game takes a great deal of liberty with the novel of the Hobbit. Yet like the films, it doesn’t lose sense of the story of the Hobbit, nor of Middle Earth.

The Hobbit begins with a dream sequence that serves as a tutorial. The controls are fairly straightforward – move with the left joystick, attack with the X button, and jump with the A button. The B button cycles through weapons, and Y buttons puts you in 1st person perspective, which is essential for aiming your rock throws. The left trigger is used to sneak, and the right trigger is used to “lock on” to enemies. Whilst the tutorial and first level help you get a hang of the controls, there is a lack of instruction to achieve certain objectives. For example, you can use your walking stick to lever yourself and jump further, and to collect certain items even in the first level you need to be able to do this, but you aren’t told how to do this “pole vault jump” until a later level in the game. Whilst the collectable item is not vital to completing the level, it is if you’re one of those who like to collect everything and get 100% for every level.

The game pretty much follows the novel of the Hobbit, and the locations are as per the chapters in the original story; well, at least some part of them. The Shire is a beautiful sprawling level, and a great introduction to the gameplay – as you learn to take jobs from the other Hobbits, collect gold, courage crystals (which add to your health) and learn how to pick locks, which is a kind of side puzzle involving pressing buttons when a meter reaches the green area, but before the time runs out. Mirkwood is eerie and dark, with twisted trees much like how you would imagine them from the story. Another level of note is Riddles in the Dark, which plays through the Orcish mines in the Misty Mountains. This ia very well conceived, but it misses out on introducing Gollum to players of the game! Instead we get a cut scene that presents narration over 2-D drawings and then moves into 3D animation worthy of a Disney movie, but this is a defining moment of the book, if not the entire Lord of the Rings Story, and it’s left me feeling more than a little cheated that I couldn’t interact with Gollum.

Although it has been a while since I read the book, I don’t recall Bilbo having to do so much jumping and climbing. Good thing he’s a fit little hobbit, because that’s what makes up the majority of the game – jumping from platform to platform, and climbing ropes and then jumping from them onto platforms. Whilst this is ok for the most part – it is a platformer after all – it’s made frustrating by the camera that never seems to be exactly where you need it to be. Sometimes objects such as trees and ropes obscure your view, and other times the camera is fixed in a position where it is impossible to accurately position yourself for a jump. The game is rather unforgiving too, as if you miss a jump, you will fall to your death and start at the last save point. Although these occur frequently, it’s never frequently enough, and the game gets bogged down by repeatedly having to do the same part of a level over and over.

Sneaking areas are placed here and there to break up the gameplay a little, but it is similarly unforgiving. Leave yourself hanging out of the corner of a box too near a goblin, and wham – caught! But later in the game you acquire the Ring, and pressing the Black button makes you invisible. However, you can’t stay visible for long, and some of the ‘eviler’ creatures can still see you. Furthermore, the sneaking button also is the button that slides Bilbo, so sometimes you slide right into view of the enemy when you’ve meant to sneak. While this is no doubt hilarious to the orcs, it’s damn frustrating for the player.

Thankfully the fighting is good enough to give the game some positives. I liked the fighting the most, as Bilbo can find pickups that strengthen his attacks, and allow combos that look cool and are easy to execute. Yet, sometimes when fighting multiple enemies, the camera is in such a position that you can’t see what’s attacking you. Also, blocking is handled by using the D-pad, which is a nice idea considering all the other buttons are in use, yet all but useless in practicality. Also in the heat of battle, you may accidentally press the “use potion” button that is mapped to the D-pad, instead of block, which is a pain.

One thing that strikes you about the Hobbit is its graphics. They are obviously designed to appeal to a younger audience, so they are bold and vibrant. The levels are quite sprawling, and feature a rich tapestry of colour throughout. They don’t push the Xbox to its limits, but there are some nice water effects, and Bilbo’s cape has a nice sheen to it. The soundtrack is also very pleasant, being atmospheric and medieval, and picks up in the heat of the battle. The voice acting has been done adequately, although naturally not by any of the cast members of the film. Sounds and effects are pretty standard for a platformer, a nice chink when you get prisms and gold, nice bashing sounds for fighting, but it’s nothing spectacular, while the ambient sounds add to the mood of the levels – crickets and birds in the lands around The Shire, and howling wolves in the Misty Mountains, and spooky noises in Mirkwood Forrest.

Conclusion:
The level of frustration and difficulty make me wonder why they aimed The Hobbit at a younger audience. I’m no spring chicken by any means, but I can’t recall any other platformer being this hard, and I really can’t see younger players becoming engaged enough to keep going. It’s not a bad game, just hard, and made more frustrating by a camera which should be implemented better.

Pros:
+ Large and colourful levels
+ Excellent use of music
+ fun at first

Cons:
– great degree of difficulty
– repetitive gameplay, even for a platform
– Camera that is never where you need it to be

65/100