Back in the summer of 1930, an Oxford University professor called Tolkien began writing a tale about a little creature he called a Hobbit. He probably wasn't banking on his fantasy stories one day evolving into a worldwide phenomenon, but there you go.

It's a funny old world, and so is that of Middle Earth, the home of the Hobbits and all the other creations that grew in the fertile grounds of Tolkien's imagination.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring is an action/adventure game based on Tolkien's literary work, rather than the film adaptations. It focuses specifically on the first book of the celebrated trilogy, with Frodo, Aragorn, Gandalf and friends on a quest to protect The One Ring from the big bad guy, dark lord Sauron.

The action, relatively simple and stat-free fantasy wandering, begins in The Shire, with Frodo needing to transfer the deeds of Bilbo Baggins's home Bag End and collect the ring before he begins his quest.

Characters casually stroll around Hobbiton (Frodo's home village), and once engaged in conversation, tend to offer sub-quests. These sub-quests are optional to the main plot and have a tendency to expand once the initial tasks are completed.

The tasks are, for want of a better word, gentle. Rounding up pigs for a farmer, helping an elderly postman to obtain his "medicinal herbs" and getting the ingredients for Fatty's pies are low-impact pursuits. They offer an alternative to the more stereotypical fantasy challenges and actually do a great job of easing you into the pace and priorities of the location.

The major incentive for performing sub-quests and narrative-based missions is to increase your karma level. You begin with a full quota of karma but if you do anything morally wrong (like wearing the ring too much, attacking innocent animals or taking neighbours' possessions) you lose karma. And if too much of the vital stuff is lost, your quest fails.

Wearing the ring has two benefits. You become invisible - useful for dodging most enemies - and you also gain the ability to detect previously hidden secret areas. As a game mechanic this works well, encouraging you to deplete your karma in order to explore new areas and, as a result, to engage in more tasks to replenish it.

Although starting as Frodo, as you progress through the quest you also get to play as Aragorn and Gandalf. Each character has particular attributes: Aragorn is more than a bit useful with the bow, and he carries a sword a great deal more satisfying than Frodo's girly twig of a walking stick.

But Gandalf is the daddy, with more tricks up his sleeve than David Blaine and Paul Daniels squished together - an ugly, yet somehow appealing thought.

The game world on the whole looks very attractive, and when combined with fitting music and above-average voice acting, it sets the tone and authenticity of a Middle Earth experience more than adequately.

The game is a long one. Expanding sub-quests, combined with many and varied mission objectives and the added exploration of secret areas (via the ring) could well provide more hours of entertainment than reading the entire trilogy back to back.

But if it were all rainbows and roses then this game would have a shiny Elite badge on the front of the review. That it doesn't is down to the flawed gameplay - flawed to the point of pad-throwing frustration.

Combat, a major part of this title, is a repetitive and unrewarding experience hampered by cumbersome controls and offering little variety. Weapons and magic have to be selected via a click-through icon, which means you're often getting pounded while you pick the right tool for the job.

The game is also too basic in areas that Xbox can easily improve. Many inviting locations can't be entered, an annoyance gamers have had to put up with over the years as a result of platform limitations. To not then take advantage of a cutting-edge console possessing the power for huge worlds is an oversight.

You're also stuck on a very linear path that must be travelled in order to progress through the game. As such, there's little feeling of going on a journey; more like you're on a conveyor belt chugging from one location to the next. Gameplay immersion is demanded by an ever-increasing number of players that want to feel that they have the freedom to explore.

And with a game based on one of the most interesting fantasy worlds ever created, it's a shame you can't stray more from the beaten path and really feel part of Tolkien's world.

"Be wary, noble traveller. The scenery might be lovely, but the journey through LOTR: FOTR may be tedious, and may be a little simple for your fantasy gaming tastes.”

1. Looking and sounding good
2. Authentic recreation
3. Plenty to do

1. ...if you can stick it!
2. Rather repetitive fight mechanic
3. Uninspired gameplay

Power
A great-looking game, although the frame rate occasionally chugs for no apparent reason.

Style
A strong point: music and character voices are excellent and there's a solid Middle Earthy feel.

Immersion
The lack of space to explore and 'closed-off areas' make you feel like you're on rails.

Lifespan
A long quest, but with the exception of hardcore fans, many may turn back due to the 'samey' gameplay.

Summary
Might be a bit too simple for RPG fanatics, but this is a half-decent and smart-looking stab at the Rings world.