Originally published on Set The Tape
The beginning of the millennium was a time when the works of J.R.R. Tolkien were big business. Thanks to the Peter Jackson directed films, The Lord of the Rings was a hot commodity. This beloved, but still niche, fantasy book was available in almost every shop; you could find action figures, t-shirts, lunch boxes and more. People had Middle-earth fever, and as the Oscar winning film trilogy was nearing its conclusion other companies were doing whatever they could to try and cash in on the hype train. This is how we got the 2003 video game The Hobbit.
Long before a movie executive had the wild, and frankly terrible, idea to turn a short children’s story into a three film, nine-hour epic that would reportedly damage the New Zealand film industry, The Hobbit was the part of Tolkien’s catalogue that most tied into The Lord of the Rings, but one that tended to be overlooked. It’s needed so that Bilbo gets the ring, but most people who discovered The Lord of the Rings via the movies didn’t engage with The Hobbit, learning what they needed through in film context clues. As such, there was an almost untapped market when it came to The Hobbit, and making it more accessible would surely result in big money for the people doing that, right?
Sierra Entertainment believed that to be the case, and whilst the films were taking the box office by storm began work on their own piece of the Tolkien pie. Originally, Sierra began work on a Fellowship of the Ring game that would have had no connection to the films, but shifted onto The Hobbit. The Fellowship of the Ring game was released, having been finished by another developer, and was pretty panned in reviews and audience reactions. Despite having no connection to the films, a lot of people bought the game thinking it was a tie in, and it led to angry and disappointed fans. As such, Sierra made it clear early on that their game has zero connection to the film universe, instead hyping up the fact that it was based upon the original novel.
The game puts players in control of Bilbo Baggins (Michael Beattie), a hobbit who is recruited onto a mission to help a group of dwarves travel across Middle-earth to their ancestral home of the Lonely Mountain, where they would defeat an ancient dragon and reclaim the treasure it holds. The game follows the plot of the book fairly well, keeping most of the main beats of the story intact, building around what was in the book without adding too much that changed the basic structure. This was done under the supervision of Tolkien Enterprises, who had veto rights on any part of the development they felt strayed too far from the source material.
The game-play itself was based around platforming and combat, taking a few inspirations from The Legend of Zelda series. Played via third-person view, players take Bilbo through 3-D environments that you’re able to jump, climb, and sneak your way through. Each level has enemies for you to fight, using basic weapons like a stick and throwable rocks, until you eventually gain Bilbo’s sword Sting, as well as collectable items to discover in order to unlock and purchase upgrades. Each level also has quests to complete, some of which are needed to progress the story, whilst others are optional.
The game takes players to several locations from the book, such as dealing with Smaug inside the Lonely Mountain, freeing the dwarves from the dungeons of Mirkwood, and of course, the iconic encounter with Gollum deep within the Misty mountains. And like the book it was based upon, the game took a much lighter tone to the rest of Tolkien’s works. The visual style of the game seemed geared towards younger players, with a more cartoonish and fantastical design element to it that also helped to differentiate it from the Jackson film aesthetic.
When it was released The Hobbit received mixed, but positive reviews. The game was praised for sticking close to the source material, yet managing to expand it out in ways that allowed for a fuller game experience. The visual style and music were also noted as a positive in a lot of reviews, but many found the simplistic game-play to be an issue. It was felt that the game was too similar to The Legend of Zelda series, yet lacked any of the flair those games possessed. Some people also complained that the game was aimed at too young an audience for adult gamers to really enjoy, whilst being too challenging to be squarely for kids.
The Hobbit may have been trying to cash in on the hype surrounding the big screen versions of Tolkien’s work, but managed to be at least a few steps away from being a soulless cash grab. There are some interesting elements in the game, with a fun art design that sets it apart from other Tolkien adaptations at the time. It might be one for hardcore Tolkien fans, but there’s a fair amount of fun to be found with it.
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