We visited Middle-Earth today with Steve Pritchard, Development Director of Headstrong Games, and Scott Warr, taking us through the new action adventure title. Our time was spent observing the Move controller in action on the PlayStation 3 console which I also later got to try myself on the show floor. It really allows you to get those meaty slashes and thrusts in as well as allowing you to protect yourself with the shield.

Steve shared with us that there were many avid Tolkien enthusiasts on the development team and no-one wanted to release a game that was not true to the books and everyone felt the pressure to deliver for the fans. With that in mind they also wanted to broaden the target market to bring new gamers into the LOTR world, yet at the same time not alienate the hardcore gamers whilst doing so. A challenging goal indeed and whilst I don’t think you can make a single title that meets both casual and hardcore needs, they did a decent job. The end result is a solid casual experience with perhaps just enough for those hardcore gamers who are addicted to all things Tolkien like me.

Rather aptly story telling is the vehicle driving the game with Sam telling the story to the children of how Aragorn rose from ranger to eventually become King. It is a perfect fit and heightens the sense of nostalgia as you move from Bree all the way to the Black Gates. You get to play as Aragorn and take him on this great voyage of self discovery and if you have a second player they can join you as Gandalf. The second player can drop in or out at any time and is really there to support Aragorn through healing. Gandalf does have an ability to attack but definitely is a supporting role. Your mates, Gimli and Legolas, are in the thick of things alongside you but alas you don’t get to play as them.

I am not a fan of one hundred hour games and was pleased to hear you could complete the main story in eight to ten hours if you were a fairly skilled player. There are plenty of side quests you can embark on to extend this experience and they are bound to entice you since who wouldn’t want to know what else lurks in the depths of Moria…other than the Balrog of course! Some of the quests can only be done with two players in the game so if you are a completion junkie you will need to grab a friend to 100% this title.

So many times promising titles are let down by terrible voice acting. I was thrilled to discover that the majority of the audio clips were taken directly from the LOTR movies and where additional audio was required they approached the movie actors. Thankfully Sean Astin was onboard for this adventure and you get to hear him tell Aragon’s story. It just would have been too jarring to have another actor play Sam. Similarly whilst playing I noticed key dialogue on the screen and once again why try to improve what the master got right the first time. Everywhere you look the developers have taken care to immerse the player in the LOTR experience and have done so with respect and restraint.

Weapons are consistent with the LOTR story in that you get some Mithril armour and the standard swords but nothing that does not fit into the world. This was done on purpose to remain consistent with the story and ensure the immersion remained real. It could have gone horribly wrong if you started collecting enchanted weapons along your quest. Mostly you will pick up items through your journey, however, by collecting “silvers” which you find along the way, you can also purchase additional arrows etc…to replenish your inventory.

I tried the Move controller and it responded well in terms of sword fighting and using my shield to defend and attack with. I did struggle somewhat to shoot arrows effectively, however, this could just be me needing to spend more time settling down with the Move controller. Scott didn’t have any problem at all picking off enemies with the arrows during the demo so I am going to put this down to my learning curve.

The Wii and PlayStation 3 versions are very similar in terms of content with just less voice audio available on the Wii version. Lord of the Rings: Aragon’s Quest is launching on the 14th of September in the US and during October 2010 in Europe. It will be available on the PlayStation 3, Wii, PS2, DS and PSP. Having had the pleasure of experiencing this first hand and even with my biased LOTR baggage, I am excited by what I saw and am looking forward to adventuring around Middle Earth with Aragorn soon!